Barnsley made heavy weather of beating a QPR side that defended with a death wish at Oakwell. An own goal from Jermaine Darlington, followed by strikes from Neil Shipperley and Robbie Van Der Laan left Rangers to climb a mountain Barnsley helped them halfway up before Bruce Dyer's late goal sealed Rangers' third defeat of the season.

Barnsley showed their opponents no mercy after Stuart Wardley missed an absolute sitter when the game was goalless and finely poised.

Just as they were against Gillingham in midweek, Rangers were punished for some shambolic defending. But Barnsley are a completely different proposition to Gillingham and punished Rangers more emphatically, scoring three times in the opening 45 minutes.

Chris Kiwomya scored twice in the second-half but it was too little, too late. The home side's first came in the 23rd minute, when Darlington poked Carl Regan's right-wing cross into his own net under pressure from Darren Barnard. Rangers had been warned. Ex-QPR man Mike Sheron failed to connect with a free header from Barnard's free-kick after three minutes and an unmarked Shipperley shot wide after QPR failed to clear a corner.

The opening goal was followed by more abysmal QPR defending, particularly from set pieces, with Richard Langley clearing a deflected Sheron header off the line following Barnard's uncleared corner and Lee Harper tipping away Shipperley's shot after yet another corner wasn't dealt with.

A second goal was inevitable and duly arrived on 34 minutes. Already making a nuisance of himself on the left, Barnard popped up on the opposite flank and after exchanging passes with Matt Appleby, crossed for Shipperley to steer the ball past Harper at the near post. Shipperley had another free header saved from yet another uncleared corner, before the third goal came on the stroke of half-time.

Sheron bundled his way into the area and after getting the ball stuck under his feet, teed up an unchallenged Van Der Laan, who gave Harper little chance with a firm drive into the bottom corner. QPR's ineffectiveness wasn't confined to one end of the field. While Barnsley passed and moved, exploiting the space being presented to them, Rangers' very different approach of launching the ball towards Peter Crouch caused Dave Bassett's team no problems at all.

Gerry Francis' answer was to revert to three up front, with Sammy Koejoe coming on to join the attack and Tim Breaker slotting into a flat back four at right-back. Matthew Rose and Steve Morrow paid the price for their overwhelming first-half generosity by being hauled off, with Christer Warren curiously moving to centre-back to partner Clarke Carlisle, with Jermaine Darlington switching to left-back.

For all the adjustments made at the break, Shipperley still wasn't challenged when he headed against the post in the 51st minute. Wardley followed his early gaffe by blasting over at the far post when picked out by Rowland's cross from the left and Crouch's weak header was comfortably held by Kevin Miller.

Barnsley had clearly taken their foot off the gas, and Koejoe was allowed to wander into the box and fire straight at Miller after Crouch's touch. Rangers did find the net on the hour mark, when Kiwomya's movement was finally rewarded with an accurate delivery from Rowland, allowing him to head past Miller and give his side a fighting chance.

And eleven minutes later, the same routine brought Rangers and Kiwomya a second, with Rowland's cross being headed in for Kiwomya's sixth goal of the season. Rangers pressed forward for the equaliser, trying to repeat their stunning comeback at Stockport last season, but Barnsley had been shocked back into life and closed the gaps in their lazy defence in the final stages, although Koejoe sneaked into the box with three minutes remaining but was unable to connect with a diving header.

And any lingering hopes of a QPR comeback were quashed in the last minute, when Barnsley wrapped the game up with their fourth. Sean McClare might have tried his luck from close range himself but instead pulled the ball across the face of goal for Dyer, who made no mistake. In truth even a 4-2 scoreline flatters Rangers, whose overall display warranted the kind of thrashing they were heading for at half-time and almost certainly would have been subjected to had Barnsley not eased up in the second period. But it could all have been so very different.

In a match with six goals, the crucial moment came after 19 minutes. Kiwomya pounced on an error by Barnard and raced towards the edge of the area where he laid the ball across for a completely unmarked Wardley, who woefully side-footed straight at Miller.

Rangers: Harper 6; Carlisle 5, Morrow 5 (Breacker, 45: 6), Rose 5 (Koejoe, 45: 6); Darlington 6, Langley 7, Wardley 5, Rowland 6, Warren 6; Crouch 5, Kiwomya 8. Subs not used: Perry, Connolly, Miklosko.