Football: Sheffield deflated

Sheffield United. . . . .1

Queen's Park Rangers. . .2

TWO freak goals thrust Sheffield United deep into relegation trouble, just when they looked capable of garnering at least a point.

Both Rangers' goals came from deflections, which gave Alan Kelly no hope - and left United third from bottom of the table.

This was something of a a flattering victory for QPR who conceded 20 corners as they struggled to contain constant pressure. However, Dave Bassett, Sheffield United's manager, refused to blame misfortune. 'You make your own luck in life. We didn't finish well enough and the quality of our final passes and crosses weren't good enough,' he said.

Rangers took the lead when a clever dummy by Ian Holloway allowed Les Ferdinand's cross to reach Bradley Allen. He only half connected with his 18-yard shot, but the ball spun off Paul Beesley's boot and rolled gently into the net.

Tony Roberts had almost handed Sheffield the lead earlier when he collected Glyn Hodges' corner comfortably enough, but then dropped the ball. He managed to scoop it up after it bounced off the foot of his post.

Sheffield were out of luck again in the 51st minute when Chris Kamara's 20-yard shot took a deflection, but Roberts, diving flat out, pulled off a remarkable save.

Rangers, under pressure throughout much of the second half, put the match beyond doubt in the 75th minute. Holloway's 20- yard shot hit Brian Gayle and the ball looped into the net.

United's only consolation came just two minutes from time when Jamie Hoyland stabbed in Hodges' cross after Brian Deane had flicked it on.

Sheffield United: A Kelly; N Gage (M Ward, 71 min), D Barnes, J Hoyland, B Gayle, A Beesley, C Bradshaw, C Kamara, A Littlejohn, B Deane, G Hodges. Subs not used: A Cork, P Kite (gk). Manager: D Bassett.

Queen's Park Rangers: T Roberts; D Bardsley, R Brevett, S Barker, D Maddix, A McDonald, C Wilson (D Peacock, 64mins), I Holloway, L Ferdinand, B Allen, A Impey. Subs not used: A White, J Stejskal (gk). Manager: G Francis.

Referee: V Callow (Solihull).

Goals: Allen (0-1, 19 min); Holloway (0-2, 75 min); Hoyland (1-2, 88 min).