Reggae Boy Gray helps seal QPR victory
LONDON, England (CMC) — Reggae Boy Andre Gray’s second-half penalty, coupled with Rob Dickie’s late goal, secured Queens Park Rangers (QPR) a 2-1 comeback win against English Championship play-off rivals Luton at Kenilworth Road on Sunday.
The Hatters led when a shot from Cameron Jerome, 35, who is of Grenadian descent, squirmed through goalkeeper David Marshall on 37 minutes for his fifth goal of the season.
The visitors levelled on 55 minutes when 30-year-old former Luton striker Gray scored from the penalty spot after he was fouled by the prostrate Kal Naismith.
It was the seventh goal of QPR’s campaign for Gray, who also scored for Jamaica in a 3-2 defeat against Panama in a World Cup qualifier in January.
He was adjudged Player-of-the-Match.
A corner from Chris Willock, a 24-year-old forward of Montserratian descent who replaced Gray on 78 minutes, glanced off Dickie’s shoulder in a crowded six-yard box to claim the points on 83 minutes.
The Hatters drop to seventh after their first home league defeat since November 27 while QPR’s second win in eight league matches lifts them up to fourth.
Meanwhile, Reggae Boyz goalkeeper Dilton Barnes has ended a loan spell at Aldershot Town and returned to QPR.
Barnes, 25, whose Jamaica debut came last July in a Concacaf Gold Cup match against Costa Rica, made four appearances for Aldershot, a fifth-tier National League side, during a short spell.
Having spent four years with League Two side Colchester United, Barnes joined QPR in 2019 and later had loan spells in Scotland with Hibernian and in England with Burton Albion and Yeovil Town before joining up with Aldershot.