March Day 2 Report: QPR 3, Unathletic Tugas 5

Last year's promotion to Division three's upper tier meant tougher competition for QPR.

This was confirmed in Sunday's match versus league leaders Unathletic Tugas, who had a perfect 2-0 record ahead of the match against the OPS soccer team, without conceding a goal.

QPR did something about that statistic right away. After an opening 15 minutes with a few chances on either side, QPR opened the scoring with Sergio Guillermo who punched the ball into the net after a few goal line clearences. 1-0 for QPR.

One minute later a shot from Tugas ricochet from QPR one player to another and the official assigned a penalty that none of the QPR players could explain. 1-1.

Ten minutes on and Tugas come back to take the lead. 2-1 Tugas at the half.

During the break Fasano re-styled the line up, looking to impose QPR's play and to exploit Tugas' weaknesses. The strategy worked: just 5 minutes in, Fred Kodjayan floated a cross into the box that met Sergio Guillermo's header for the tying goal and a brace for the MCSCS man. 2-2.

Ten minutes on, it was Soben Thambidurai who took advantage of Tugas' high-sitting defence, beating them in a race and slotting the ball passed their goalkeeper. 3-2 QPR. Second goal of the season for Soben, who has confirmed his goalscoring pedigree so far. 

Alas, Fasano's plan came undone with 15 minutes left: three consecutive goals by Tugas undid QPR's come back. Final score: QPR 3, Tugas 5.

"I'm proud of the effort out there. We showed that we were no pushovers and have the quality necessary to excel in this division. Today we played one of the top teams and could have won the match. I take responsibility with a few too many experiments out there, which I believe gave me a definite idea with respect to players' versatility in terms of roles. We're still forming, showed character even in tough situations", team captain Fasano remarked at game's end.

Box Score

QPR 3, Unathletic Tugas 5

QPR Roster:

Goalkeeper: Roman Pasternak
Defenders: Kevin Gocool, Adam Guirguis, Marc Mulchan, Cam Power, Michael Allison, Andrew Sansalone, Marco Covi.
Midfielders: Bernardo Melendez, Sergio Guillermo, Rocco Fasano, Frederic Kodjayan, Alex Manore, Ezra Houser, Enan Hoque, Dan Yanful,   

Forwards: Hadi Fazli, Soben Durai.

Absent:   Ryan Chippy, Chris Olford, Paul Bovdis