Wednesday 1-2 Q.P.R.

KASPARS Gorkss hit a late winner for Queens Park Rangers as Wednesday slumped to another Championship defeat on Saturday.

Jay Simpson had given the high-flying visitors the lead as early as the tenth minute before Jermaine Johnson levelled just three minutes later.

But Gorkss headed in an 82nd minute winner to leave the Owls grounded with just one win in their last seven matches.

Wednesday boss Brian Laws kept faith with the same starting eleven that took a positive 1-1 draw from Bristol City last weekend, although reverting to the usual 4-4-2 formation with Marcus Tudgay and Luke Varney in attack.

Neither side took command in the opening exchanges, which defences dominated, but it took a moment of skill from the visitors to break the deadlock just ten minutes in.

It came from Akos Buzsaky, as the former Plymouth Argyle man produced a superb ball from the edge of the box to give former Owls loan target Jay Simpson the chance to drill Rangers ahead in front of the Kop.

Buzsaky and fellow loanee Adel Taarabt looked the business in the Rangers midfield, and both caused Wednesday problems throughout - if only Brian Laws could call on either player to bolster his midfield.

In contract, the Owls duo of Darren Potter and James O'Connor looked determined throughout but struggled to match the creativity of their opposite numbers.

It could have got worse for Wednesday just minutes later as the jet-heeled Wayne Routledge broke free down the wing and flashed a shot across Lee Grant only to see his effort hit the woodwork.

The game had burst into life and with Wednesday's first real attack on goal they grabbed the leveller.

Potter sent Johnson free and the Jamaican showed a cool head to drive towards goal and produce a top-drawer finish into the far corner to make it 1-1.

The visitors had enjoyed the best of the opening exchanges, but with Wednesday grabbing their equaliser they soon took command of the game and could have turned it on its head.

Luke Varney came agonisingly close to doing just that when he got by two Rangers defenders and sent an effort by the Rangers stopper but saw his effort come back off the foot of the post.

Both sides saw chances come and go before half-time, but it was Jim Magilton's men who came closest to grabbing the lead at the interval when Grant did superbly to deny Routledge from close range.

Half-Time: Wednesday 1-1 Rangers

In contrast to the first half, Wednesday came out all guns blazing in the second half and looked the more likely to open the second half scoring.

They failed to trouble the Rangers stopper on too many ocassions though, with only a Potter free-kick to show for their efforts.

The visitors were far from out of the game though as Taarabt and Buzsaky continued to cause problems at the other end, the results of their tricky seeing Simpson come close with a snapshot.

The Owls' last outing on home soil saw them thwarted by the woodwork on a number of ocassions against Preston, where they fell to a 2-1 defeat.

And it was more of the same against the Londoners as another attempt, this time from the edge of the box from Tommy Miller, hit the post to the relief of Rangers and their fans in the bottom tier of the West Stand.

Despite Wednesday's good start to the second 45, Q.P.R. got themselves steadily back into the game and former Crystal Palace man Ben Watson came close to them regaining the lead as the clock ticked along.

Wednesday saw the warning signs but they could do little to stop Rangers bagging the points with eight minutes remaining.

Alejandro Faurlin swung in a corner which Gorkss met with his head to fire the visitors into a lead they were to never relinquish.

Full-Time: Wednesday 1-1 Rangers