Football: WHAT A GAL

MARTIN ROWLANDS and Kevin Gallen were the goal heroes as QPR held on by the skin of their teeth against a battling Brighton comeback to keep up the pressure on leaders Plymouth.

The Seagulls probably deserved a point for all their pressure, but QPR boss Ian Holloway was not worrying about that.

"We needed to show quality today," he said. "They are a big, strong, well-organised side and though we didn't quite get our organisation right in the second half you won't get any negatives out of me."

QPR had started shakily, and Brighton had a shout for a penalty as early as the sixth minute. Gary Hart dropped down the right to cross deep to Trevor Benjamin, and when the ball came back to Charlie Oatway his shot seemed to be blocked by Clarke Carlisle's arm, only for the referee to wave it away.

Brighton boss Mark McGhee was convinced that it was a penalty.

"I've seen the video and I can't see how the ref has not given it," he said.

"I think the ref knows he has to send the lad off as well - and he hasn't got the courage to do it."

Rangers survived that scare and then grabbed the lead on 20 minutes with a stunning goal.

Rowlands turned Hart superbly on halfway before storming forward, cutting inside and firing a superb shot into the far corner from the edge of the box.

Brighton were playing some good football, but they found themselves further behind two minutes before the break.

Paul Furlong flicked on a long ball into the path of Gallen and he eased away from Danny Cullip before calmly slotting the ball into the net.

"Kevin is playing the best football of his life and I expected him to score that," said an impressed Holloway.

He was not so impressed in first-half injury time though, as Brighton pulled one back.

Paul Watson's corner was met by Cullip's bullet-header and though Chris Day got both hands to it, he couldn't stop it from going in.

Brighton called the shots in the second half as they stormed forward, while QPR found it difficult to hold on to the ball. Rowlands almost scored with another superb individual run but most of the action took place at the other end as the visitors piled on the pressure.

Cullip shot over from six yards with three minutes to go while Watson went close with two free-kicks and Leon Knight saw his close- range effort superbly saved by Day.

"Chris Day has earned his corn in the last couple of weeks," said Holloway. "But I think the whole team has."

Rangers held on to keep their unbeaten home League record, and despite their efforts Brighton boss McGhee felt his team didn't deserve anything.

"We huffed and puffed but we didn't have enough to do the job," he said.

He also ruled out the chance of reaching automatic promotion places. "We are too far behind QPR now. And even if they falter, Bristol City are still ahead of us - we just have to look at getting 75 points."

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