Grant Hall rescues point for QPR at renamed stadium

Posted Sunday, August 11, 2019 by PA

Grant Hall’s late equaliser rescued a point for QPR as they drew 1-1 with Huddersfield at the newly renamed Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium.

Karlan Grant’s penalty three minutes into the second half put the Terriers within sight of their first win since suffering relegation back to the Sky Bet Championship.

Elias Kachunga, on as a half-time substitute, burst into the box and was brought down by Yoann Barbet.

Striker Grant calmly steered home the resulting spot-kick – his second goal in as many games this season – but Mark Warburton’s side hit back with seven minutes remaining.

Ryan Manning launched a free-kick from the left towards defender Hall, who climbed above Colin Quaner and directed his header into the far corner of the net.

Rangers, who signed 14 players over the summer, produced a scintillating performance in winning 2-1 at Stoke last weekend.

They were unable to produce a similar display this time, struggling to create chances and rarely looking like finding an equaliser before their perseverance paid off late on.

Substitute Ilias Chair saw an effort saved by visiting keeper Kamil Grabara and later teed up Ebere Eze, whose strike was blocked by the head of Huddersfield defender Tommy Elphick.

Bright Osayi-Samuel did almost haul Rangers level with 15 minutes remaining.

Osayi-Samuel had little joy on the flank but went close to scoring when he cut in from the left and curled a shot inches over the bar.

Huddersfield survived another scare when Hall was just unable to connect with Chair’s ball in from the right.

But Rangers kept going and were rewarded the next time a ball was launched towards Hall.

There were emotional scenes before kick-off as Kiyan Prince’s father Mark addressed the crowd.

After QPR opted to gift the naming rights to their Loftus Road stadium to a charity, fans voted for the ground to take the name of the foundation set up after Prince, who as a youth-team player at the club was stabbed to death in 2006 at the age of 15.

The foundation is spearheaded by his father and educates young people about the consequences of knife crime.

A defeat on such a poignant day would have been particularly disappointing for Rangers, who continued to push forward after Hall’s goal and had Huddersfield hanging on in the final minutes.