Football
ESPN staff 9y

Hull boss Steve Bruce relieved as late goal clinches victory over QPR

Hull City manager Steve Bruce said he felt "a touch of relief" after Dame N'Doye scored a last-gasp winner to frustrate 10-man Queens Park Rangers at the KC Stadium.

Rangers had Joey Barton sent off before the break, but it looked as though Hull -- who had led through Nikica Jelavic before one-time Hull target Charlie Austin levelled -- would be held until the late drama unfolded.

"You could say there's a touch of relief," Bruce told Hull's official website. "Conceding in the last minute has happened to us five or six time this season, so I certainly know how [QPR boss] Chris Ramsey will be feeling.

"But he should also be remarkably proud of the way his team defended for their lives. For long periods, they frustrated the heck out of us and it didn't look as though we had enough craft to make the chance we needed.

"The longer it went, the more difficult it became for us. We had five forwards on trying to get the goal."

Bruce was magnanimous to QPR star Austin, who celebrated his goal by clutching his knee -- a reference to Hull's decision not to sign him from Burnley after a medical.

"I congratulated Charlie for the way he's handled himself after what happened here because it wasn't easy,'' he said.

"He didn't even know he had a bad knee at the time. But he's certainly a proper centre-forward, and our loss is definitely QPR's gain."

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