Southampton's final game of pre-season saw Alan Pardew's side given a strong workout by the Championship outfit.
In front of a sparse Loftus Road stadium, Saints took to the field on a drizzly day in West London looking to carry on the momentum from last week's win over Scottish side Hearts, going into the new season.
Before the match got underway, fans of both QPR and Saints were united in paying their tributes to Sir Bobby Robson, a man who started his managerial career at nearby Fulham.
Black armbands were worn as a further mark of respect to the man who touched the lives of many in the football world.
A manager who followed in the footsteps of Robson at a club where the former England manager enjoyed much of his success, Jim Magilton led the opposition out for his first pre-season game in charge at Loftus Road.
The former Saints midfielder looked relaxed as he and his assistant John Gorman tried to spark an even looking game into life.
Marek Saganowski went closest for Saints in the early stages as he tried to squirm a shot in with his back to goal, but a familiar piece of play was the visitors' undoing.
Wayne Routledge's in-swinging corner was met powerfully and relatively unchallenged by Rangers defender Kaspars Gorkss who found the back of the net in the eighth minute.
Adam Lallana carried much of the threat from Saints going forward but he couldn't get the better of goalkeeper Andy Marshall or the Hoops' defence as he made in roads from the right hand side.
Joseph Mills on the left, fresh from signing a new three year deal at the club, was also heavily involved going forward, as a rare couple of headed chances came his way, the best of which came from a Lloyd James cross, but the youngster's effort flew wide of the far post.
However, just as Saints seemed to have got back into the match, Colombian forward Angelo Balanta struck a second goal for the hosts after a neat move.
On 34 minutes, Balanta collected the ball in the Saints half before playing a clever one-two with Martin Rowlands which left the striker almost one-on-one with Kelvin Davis, and he made no mistake by slotting home into the bottom corner of the goal in front of the Saints fans.
Just before the break James fired over for Alan Pardew's side having worked an opening on the right for himself. It was to be his last taste of the action as the Saints boss made a double switch at the half time interval.
Simon Gillett and Graeme Murty were introduced for James and Paul Wotton as Saints sought to freshen up things in a week where the squad had been put through their paces by the coaching staff.
Murty provided Saganowski with the Pole's best effort of the game, but the striker's effort took a deflection which saw his shot loop out of play for a corner just past the hour mark.
Three minutes later there were changes from both sides as Matthew Paterson was replaced by Grzegorz Rasiak and Adel Taarabt was introduced for Rowan Vine.
Taarabt, the loanee from Tottenham Hotspur, combined well with Balanta within minutes of his arrival on the pitch, but he couldn't find the target with his effort.
He did, however on 70 minutes, as he collected the ball inside the Saints half and took the ball all the way towards Davis' area before firing a crisp shot into the bottom right hand corner for an impressive goal.
One of Saints best chances fell to Rasiak five minutes from the end of the game as he headed fellow substitute Oscar Gobern's cross from the left goalwards only to see it deflected wide.
The hosts nearly added to their lead at the end, but new signing Alessandro Pellicori's header was at a comfortable height for Davis, who aside from the goals didn't have much else to do.
With the 2009/10 League One campaign just under a week away, Saints boss Alan Pardew will hope to have addressed his squad's shortcomings ahead of a tough opening fixture against Millwall at St. Mary's.
QPR: Marshall, Ramage (Brown 76), Borrowdale (Alberti 76), Mahon (Ainsworth 76), Hall (Stewart 66), Gorkss, Routledge (Ephraim 66), Rowlands, Vine (Taarabt 63), Balanta (Pellicori 76), Agyemang (Helguson 46). Subs (not used): Putnins.
Saints: Davis, James (Murty 46), Harding, Wotton (Gillett 46), Lancashire, Perry, Lallana, Schneiderlin, Saganowski (Thomson 74), Paterson (Rasiak 63), Mills (Gobern 81). Subs (not used): Bialkowski.
Referee: Mr. P. Crossley
Att: 3,164
