Stevenage saw off a QPR XI with a 2-0 win at The Lamex this evening.
First half goals from Greg Tansey and Luke Freeman saw Boro to victory in an impressive display by the hosts in their first pre-season outing at home.
Boss Graham Westley made three changes to the starting line-up from Saturday’s 6-0 win at Biggleswade with Roarie Deacon, Simon Heslop and Dani Lopez coming in for Luke Jones, James Dunne and Jordan Burrow. Luke Freeman moved to left-back and Darius Charles partnered Jon Ashton in central defence.
QPR meanwhile included the likes of Anton Ferdinand, Jose Bosingwa and Luke Young within their otherwise youthful line-up.
Boro began to assert their authority early on in this game and went close with two early efforts. Greg Tansey saw his shot deflected behind for a corner whilst Oumare Tounkara saw an effort scrambled away after being played in by Dani Lopez.
The Frenchman proved a handful all game for the QPR defence, timing his forward runs well and linking up impressively with his strike partner at times.
In fact throughout the 11 the passing was crisp and the movement was good, something the management will undoubtedly be pleased with at this early stage of pre-season.
It took until just before the quarter hour for the visitors to muster a real chance from a corner but Chris Day was able to gather a weak shot in with ease.
The deadlock was broken on 25 minutes by Greg Tansey. Sam Wedgbury played a great ball down the line, finding Tounkara onside once more. The Frenchman cut inside and saw his effort deflected, only for the ball to be passed into the path of Tansey who swept the ball over the ‘keeper and into the back of the net from the edge of the area.
Boro continued to push forward with efforts from Filipe Morais and Lopez before the lead was doubled right on half-time in eye-catching style.
A mazy run by Luke Freeman saw him evade three challenges before the winger finished with a cool chip over the diving keeper into the far corner.
The second half was a more even contest although Boro continued to create the best of the chances going forward.
A good run by Dunne saw him feed Tounkara but the visiting ‘keeper got down well to save, whilst the box-to-box midfielder saw an effort of his own float just wide.
Jordan Burrow, Robin Shroot, James Dunne, David Gray, Matt Ball and Jack Deaman all came on as subs during the half as Westley rotated his players and gave them a chance to impress.
The visitors were often neat and tidy in possession and had a couple of half chances to reduce the deficit but failed to really test Day, mostly due to the constant pressure put on them by Boro defensively.
It was a real team display from the hosts with great effort and commitment combining with some impressive passages of play and two excellent finishes.
Two games, two wins, eight goals scored and two clean sheets. The 936 supporters in attendance tonight will be hoping for more of the same on Saturday when Watford visit The Lamex.
Boro: Day; Wedgbury, Ashton (Deaman), Charles, Freeman; Morais (Gray), Tansey (Dunne), Heslop, Deacon (Shroot); Tounkara (Burrow), Lopez (Ball)
QPR (first half): Lennox, Gibbons, Bosingwa, Young, Ferdinand, Sendles-White, Petrasso, Doughty, Hitchcock, Balanta, Andrade.
QPR (second half): Lumley, Magri (Comley), Brown, Ferdinand (Furlong), Monthe, Petrasso (Young), Doughty (Mitchell), Laurent, Balanta (Fitzpatrick), Carreiro, Skapetis.
Attendance: 936