Wanderers 2, QPR 1. AT 32, Bob Taylor's been around long enough to know the score. He didn't kick up a fuss when he was dropped for the Barnsley game in midweek and it didn't bother him in the least, as he spearheaded Wanderers first win in six games, to hear the Reebok fans paying tribute to former goal king John McGinlay, who 24 hours earlier had announced his retirement.

"West Brom fans did the same for me," two-goal Taylor responded, drawing parallels with his own enduring affinity with the Baggies supporters, who chant his name at every opportunity.

But he admits he will be disappointed if he doesn't make the starting line-up at Sunderland on Saturday.

Within minutes of exorcising the potential curse of the 200th and 201st goals of his career, Taylor started the search for tickets to satisfy his army of family and friends in the North-east, confident that he will be in the thick of the action.

"Sunderland's only 12 miles from where my parents live," he explained. "So I want to be part of it and obviously I'd be surprised if I wasn't.

"But the gaffer has his reasons why he plays people and why he doesn't and that's down to him."

Todd has combined a rotational policy with man-management principles in an attempt to get the best out of his quartet of strikers and it paid off on Saturday as Taylor returned to help resume normal promotion service. "The gaffer was probably right in resting me," he acknowledged. "Sometimes as a striker you get to an age where you do need to be rested. And with Eidur (Gudjohnsen) coming through with flying colours, two good things came out of it.

"In fact I half expected Eidur to be playing because he'd done so well. But it's about taking chances and I've taken mine. It does me no harm."

Considering they'd gone five games without a win, Wanderers didn't dwell too long on the victory over a below-strength and below-par QPR.

They have bigger fish to fry and, within minutes of banking their first three-point deposit since Taylor's last strike had helped beat West Brom on February 13, all thoughts quickly turned to the Stadium of Light.

"If you can't be up for a game like this, which has so much importance attached to it and will be played in front of a full house, there's something wrong with your make-up," Scott Sellars suggested.

And Colin Todd fired the opening shots in the pre-match sparring when he reminded Peter Reid of the injustice of the 3-0 defeat at the Reebok in November.

Acknowledging that all hope of catching the runaways had evaporated over the last three tortuous weeks, the manager knows the next game, although not the title decider it was once billed as, could still have a major bearing on Wanderers' fate.

"I can remember Peter Reid saying we battered them here," Todd recalled. "And I said to Peter at the time 'If you think we battered you here, we'll batter you up there.'"

At least Wanderers make their first visit to the new Roker with a win behind them to bolster confidence that, despite assurances to the contrary, had been seriously undermined by a return of just three points from five games. It wasn't the most comprehensive of performances. Early scares and a tense ending when fears were again aroused that a lead so hard-earned and well-deserved might be squandered by a defence short on self-belief, left critics wondering whether they really have what it takes to claim that second automatic promotion slot they so desperately desire.

Gerry Francis returned to London knowing Rangers' failure to cash in on three early, copper-bottomed scoring chances had cost them three priceless survival points.

"I can take heart from the first 25 minutes," he agreed, "but you can't ask for better chances, when you only have the goalkeeper to beat. If we'd taken one of them it would have put pressure on Bolton and got the crowd on their back."

But he couldn't argue with the quality Wanderers produced after Jussi Jaaskelainen, watched by Finland's national manager, made a vital save from Tim Breacker and Kevin Gallen missed two sitters.

Taylor showed the instincts and the bravery of an old-fashioned centre-forward when he dived in where the boots fly to head Wanderers in front after Sellars had worked a short-corner with Michael Johansen.

Undeterred by a painful knock on the side of his head, he dived in again a few minutes later and would have repeated the feat if Paul Murray hadn't been on the line when he stooped to meet another Sellars corner, this time headed on at the near-post by Neil Cox - the most effective play in Wanderers' set-piece repertoire. In fact Taylor looked determined to make a point as he turned Matthew Rose inside out before drilling a shot inches wide of Ludo Miklosko's right hand post.

The Rangers keeper prevented Taylor doubling his money straight after half-time and did well to palm away Claus Jensen's 30 yarder but he was beaten all ends up when the pair combined to put Wanderers in total command on 58 minutes.

Jensen, who is looking more effective and influential with every game, started the sweeping move deep in his own half when he worked the ball out to the tireless and ever-willing Johansen. But he didn't stop there. As his fellow Dane surged down the right, Jensen found space in the centre, received the return delivery in his elegant stride and as Taylor cut in from the left to make himself available, his pass was the final incision in a carve up which ended with an unstoppable low drive.

It was Wanderers at their free-flowing best, football of the highest order and deserving of the Premiership stage. Apart from the obvious joy it was also personal relief for Taylor.

"The 199 had been hanging round my neck like a curse for the last three weeks and I'm glad it's out of the way now," he explained. "But I'm also glad I got the second because that would have left me on 13 for the season and you don't want that!

"I've also made a few quid for some of my mates who've been betting on me getting the 200th. One of the guys has won £60-£70 and one of the apprentices has won £40. It's good to enjoy a win for a change, even though the other teams have all won their games and we're still in the same position." They might have been worse off pointswise, though, if they hadn't come through a tense 20 minutes at the end after Mike Whitlow's foul on the flying Chris Kiwomya led to Keith Rowland ramming Rangers back into contention from the penalty spot.

It was nail-biting, edge-of-the-seat time when Whitlow limped off 10 minutes later, forcing Wanderers to regroup at the back and leading to a few untidy skirmishes in and around the box.

With the seconds ticking away, a lone voice in the West Stand bellowed "Don't panic!" and you could almost taste the relief in the air when the final whistle blew.

"The crowd seem to be getting very tense at the moment," Sellars said after nerves had calmed and heartbeats returned to normal. "I don't know what seems to be the matter with them. That tension comes across to the team but I think we handled it quite well.

"They had a few chances early on and their early misses helped us. It was an open game again, which is not what we want at the moment, but I don't recall them having another chance after the penalty."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.