Both Ian Holloway and Mick McCarthy criticised the officials for failing to recognise the game's opening goal should not have stood as QPR maintained their 100 per cent winning start to the season on home soil.

It proved a day of centenary milestones, with QPR celebrating 100 years of playing at Loftus Road as club legends flooded the pitch at half-time, moments after Jamie Mackie had opened the scoring on his 100th start for the club.

Massimo Luongo appeared to handle the ball in the build-up to that goal before Luke Freeman added a second, rendering substitute Bersant Celina's fine late strike a mere consolation.

“We had a massive stroke of fortune where he should have seen handball," said Holloway.

“Mass moved it with his hand and the fourth official should have seen it, who should have the power to tell the referee. But he said he didn't see it.

“Mick saw it, I saw it. He didn't deliberately cheat, but the referee is paid to spot that and I'd be fuming if I was Mick.”

There was little between the sides until the opening goal, though it was certainly QPR who looked most likely to force the issue.

Conor Washington glanced a header wide, Freeman saw a fierce effort beaten away by Bartosz Bialkowski after Flynn Downes had slipped on the edge of his own box and Josh Scowen nearly caught Bialkowski out with a miscued cross that flew goalwards.

So despite the feeling of injustice, the home side were good value for their half-time lead, earned when Luongo drove through the middle of the Ipswich defence, then slipped a pass to Pawel Wszolek on the right.

He in turn sent a low cross into the box where Mackie skipped ahead of debutant Callum Connolly and steered in a first-time finish.

Four minutes into the second half QPR doubled their lead when Freeman was afforded too much space on the edge of the Ipswich box and hit a left-foot pot-shot that beat Bialkowski low down at his near post.

Substitute Matt Smith saw a lashed effort deflected onto the crossbar as QPR looked to be cruising.

But Celina set up a nervy finale – in which Tom Adeyemi volleyed over the crossbar – when he cut in from the left flank to the edge of the D and rifled a fierce effort beyond Alex Smithies.

Holloway added: “We need to become resilient and trust each other.

“Then hopefully we can build something that really matters to the people in this area, because last Saturday (Game 4 Grenfell staged at Loftus Road) I was so proud of us. We are resilient as people from this area.

“They're our neighbours up the road and we were there for every one of them. And I am bursting with pride.”