QPR picked up a massive three points against Birmingham City in a six-pointer Good Friday meeting at Loftus Road on Saturday afternoon.
There were chances to grab an early lead for QPR. A lively Chris Willock dinked a ball into the box for Ilias Chair's header to be tipped away by a great John Ruddy save. Minutes later Kenneth Paal whipped in a delicious cross begging to be tucked away, but Lucas Andersen fired onto the crossbar.
There were scares at the other end in the opening 20 minutes too. Tyler Roberts lofted a distance shot uncomfortably close to dipping under the bar and a Steve Cook and Asmir Begovic mishap almost saw the ball creep across the line from a backpass.
Begovic almost found himself making headlines again in the first half as Jay Stansfield beat the shot-stopper one-on-one on the break, only for a sloppy touch to deny a tap-in. Back in possession, Andersen soon met a lobbed pass in the box but took a touch and blasted over - if there was one Rs player you'd think had the quality to take it first time a la Robin Van Persie, it would have been him.
The home side were quickest out of the blocks after the break too with the physical Jimmy Dunne setting the pace for his side. Field found himself in the right place and the right time again when a chance fell to him around 50 minutes, and nearly saw the close-range volley deflected in.
The Championship relegation battle then endured a pretty dire spell between referring interventions and injuries but was soon sparked back to life as Stansield went close and Chair blasted a wild half-volley over the bar. Meanwhile, Sinclair Armstrong was brought on, to the delight of the Loftus Road faithful.
QPR were made to regret their missed chances with 30 minutes left to play with a number of players too slow to react to a Birmingham City attacking move that resulted in Juninho Bacuna stabbing past Begovic. That lead lasted just minutes before Cook smashed home a volley from a free kick with his second bite of the cherry.
The Rs controlled the game after drawing level as Cifuentes turned to Paul Smyth, Jack Colback and Ziyad Larkeche to find a goal. QPR huffed and puffed right until injury time, when the winner came from an unlikely source of Jimmy Dunne.
The full-back ran onto a loose ball and cannoned a shot at the Birmingham City goal from distance, his effort soaring over Ruddy and into the back of the net. There are few better ways to bag three points than that.
Here's how the QPR players rated at Loftus Road on Saturday afternoon.
1. Asmir Begovic - 5
He clearly can set QPR on the break well, so frustrating when he misses the opportunity. Nearly embarrassed by Stansfield in the first half and Cook was rightfully frustrated at his positioning when a backpass nearly went horribly wrong.
2. Kenneth Paal - 6
Was posed problems by Laird and stood off too long for the Blues' goal. Delivered a sumptuous cross after 14 minutes which was begging to be turned in by Andersen.
3. Jake Clarke-Salter - 7
Pretty confident overall and the most solid in defence. Could ask questions as he sprawled for the goal but damage had been done in the run-up to that chance.
4. Steve Cook - 8
In the thick of it today. The centre-back is a little hap-hazard at times but his enthusiasm is commendable. Got his goal by hammering the ball in from a set piece and made two vital defensive interventions early on. A solider.