Stoke City vs Queens Park Rangers. Sky Bet Championship.
Britannia StadiumAttendance11,147.
Tuesday 27 November 2007 23:54, UK
Stoke manager Tony Pulis praised his side's ruthless first-half display after sweeping aside QPR.
Stoke manager Tony Pulis praised his side's ruthless first-half display after sweeping aside QPR to secure a first home win in four attempts. Richard Cresswell and Liam Lawrence both netted inside the opening 20 minutes to pave the way for a comfortable 3-1 victory at the Britannia Stadium. The Hoops had Dexter Blackstock sent off for scything down Ryan Shawcross but pulled a goal back through Rowan Vine before defender Leon Cort wrapped up the points late on. Victory lifts promotion-hopefuls Stoke up to eighth while Luigi De Canio's Rangers remain third bottom. "I'm very pleased with the result," beamed Pulis. "The first goal settled us down and I thought in the first half we played really well. "I was very pleased with the first-half performance but disappointed with the second half. When they went down to 10 men I didn't think it would suit us because the expectation then is us to romp away with it. "It's nothing more than a mind set. But it was a tough game and I'm very pleased with the result." Pulis expressed sympathy over Blackstock's second-half dismissal. He added: "I don't like seeing players sent off to be honest and I don't like seeing players booked. It's a game of challenge and we are taking that challenge out of the game.