Irish championship round-up: Havery Vale claims two assists, Chiedozie Ogbene given minutes
HOW MAY I ASSIST YOU: Queens Park Rangers' Harvey Vale in action. Pic: Lee Keuneke/PA Wire.
Republic of Ireland newboy Harvey Vale claimed two assists while Paul Smyth, Rayan Kolli and Richard Kone all scored twice as QPR thrashed relegation-threatened Portsmouth 6-1 at Loftus Road.
The south-coast club are now without a win in six matches - a run which has included five defeats - and are just one place and one point above the drop zone.
Rangers, who had lost three home games in a row, were on top from the start and went in front after seven minutes.
Vale's attempt to slip Kolli in on goal was cut out by Regan Poole, but the loose ball dropped to Smyth, whose strike from near the edge of the penalty area was helped in by a deflection off Pompey defender Connor Ogilvie.
Kolli doubled Rangers' lead on 24 minutes, collecting Smyth's pass and firing a low, right-footed shot beyond goalkeeper Nicolas Schmid from 25 yards.
It was 3-0 five minutes later as Vale, included in Ireland's World Cup play-off squad this week after switching his international allegiance from England, was involved again, supplying a perfect pass in behind the Portsmouth defence to Smyth, who slotted past Schmid.
Pompey pulled a goal back out of nothing seven minutes before half-time when Swift, who gave the ball away in the build-up to the opening goal, scored with a right-footed strike from 25 yards that went in off a post.
Portsmouth appeared to be finding a way back into the game, but Kolli's 55th-minute goal essentially sealed Rangers' win.
The young striker got the better of Conor Shaughnessy on the right, galloped towards goal and netted with a clinical finish, firing into the far corner of the net.
Kone made it 4-1 with an 86th-minute penalty after Esquerdinha was adjudged to have been tripped by Colby Bishop on the left-hand side of the box.
The striker netted again just over a minute later, racing onto Vale's through-ball and thumping home.
Elsewhere Wrexham came from behind to strengthen their Championship play-off hopes with a 2-1 win at Sheffield United, who brought on Chiedozie Ogbene in the 72nd minute.
The Red Dragons were second best in the first half and fell behind to an Andre Brooks goal in the 49th minute, but former Sheffield Wednesday striker Josh Windass soon levelled before Sam Smith headed in a 78th-minute winner.
The victory keeps Wrexham level on points with sixth-placed Southampton as they bounced back from Tuesday's 3-1 loss to Watford.
For United, a four-match winless run has left them 13 points from the top six with seven games left to play and any hopes of a late play-off push of their own are seemingly over.
Meanwhile a Shea Charles wonder goal helped promotion-chasing Southampton secure their ninth win in 12 games with a 2-0 victory over Oxford.
Cyle Larin was also on target as Saints extended their unbeaten run to 14 games in all competitions and consolidated their place in the top six.
With his side having already played 17 times since the turn of the year, boss Tonda Eckert made changes to a team that had shown signs of fatigue during the mid-week triumph over Norwich.
With the influential Leo Scienza still out with a groin injury, Eckert moved Finn Azaz out to the left and brought in Cameron Archer to play behind Larin. Azaz and Ryan Manning were both withdrawn in injury time.
Finally Patson Daka missed a penalty dented Leicester's Sky Bet Championship survival bid in their 0-0 draw against Watford, who featured James Abankwah at right back for the full match.
Daka's 40th-minute spot-kick was brilliantly tipped on to the post by home goalkeeper Egil Selvik. The striker also headed wide of a near open goal in the second half as the Foxes failed to climb out of the bottom three.
A largely sterile draw did little to improve Watford's fading play-off hopes, either. Indeed, it took Ed Still's side 70 minutes to manage a shot on target
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