QPR 1 Sunderland 2

LAST weekend, Roy Keane was prevented from seeing the latest James Bond film when his family vetoed his preferred choice of movie.

Last night, as his players cruised to a convincing 2-1 win over Queens Park Rangers, the Black Cats boss will have discovered what he was missing.

Non-stop action, some deadly marksmanship and, after the hosts reduced the arrears with 17 minutes left, even the cliff-hanger ending. Most pleasingly, though, after a succession of stuttering performances, Sunderland finally played as if they had a licence to thrill.

Buoyed by Daryl Murphy's 17th-minute opener, Keane's side produced the kind of performance that should be a precursor to promotion.

When their passing is as slick and measured as this, the Wearsiders look far too classy for life in the Championship. But when their finishing is as wasteful, that is surely where they will remain.

They will not run into too many hosts as inviting as a shambolic QPR side and, as last month's defeat to Cardiff proved, the leading sides in the division are clinical as well as classy.

So while Grant Leadbitter grabbed a deserved second on the stroke of half-time, a host of missed opportunities meant the visitors were hanging on after substitute Ray Jones punished them for their first display of slack marking.

Given the numerous chances that had come their way, Sunderland should not have been shaken once QPR finally stirred.

Tellingly, the misses started early and never really stopped. Starting with the same vim and vigour they had shown in the latter stages of Friday's match at Molineux, the visitors would have claimed a sixth-minute lead had Leadbitter shown the composure to match his well-timed run into the penalty area.

The move was simplicity itself, Murphy flicking Darren Ward's hanging kick beyond a static Rangers defence, but Leadbitter's driven finish lacked the polish required to beat the legs of Simon Royce.

It was ironic, then, that his next touch of note inadvertently helped Sunderland take the lead.

With the home defence having failed to clear a corner, Leadbitter's deflected shot was drifting at least half a yard wide before an unmarked Murphy nodded it in from the edge of the six-yard box.

With the Irishman appearing to be at least half a yard offside, the goal bore similarities to Malcolm Christie's opener for Middlesbrough at the weekend. The difference, however, was that Sunderland's strike was entirely in keeping with the general run of play.

Murphy had already gone close before he found the back of the net, lofting the ball beyond both Royce and the left-hand upright after latching on to Stephen Elliott's through ball.

With their hosts at sixes and sevens in defence, the Wearsiders were every bit as rampant as they had been when they put Leeds to the sword in September.

They would have doubled their lead had Royce not repelled Murphy's ferocious rising drive on the stroke of half-time but, with an elan that spoke volumes for their growing confidence, a swaggering Sunderland did not have long to wait for a deserved second.

Again, the QPR defence stood static as Ross Wallace sent Leadbitter galloping clear. Again, Royce raced from his line, just as he had done in the opening minutes.

This time, though, there was to be no reprieve for the goalkeeper as the midfielder calmly rounded him before slotting the ball into an empty net.

Rarely have Sunderland appeared so superior this season. Indeed, while Dexter Blackstock finally threatened with a 28th-minute strike that flew narrowly over the crossbar, the only threat to Sunderland's momentum was a three-minute stoppage to clear two plastic bottles that were thrown at linesman Mark Scholes.

The missiles came from home fans, angry at Scholes' failure to flag Murphy offside. Thankfully, like the majority of QPR's passes, they landed nowhere near their target.

The same could not be said of Leadbitter's passing, with the youngster totally justifying Keane's faith in his ability.

He was again preferred to Dean Whitehead last night, a decision that is unlikely to be reversed in the foreseeable future, despite his manager's continued reluctance to name an unchanged team.

Stanislav Varga appears equally unmoveable - the Slovakian has been a near ever-present since signing from Celtic - and while a succession of nervy performances had raised eyebrows, the centre-half finally justified his continued inclusion as QPR threatened to rally after the interval.

Lee Cook's swirling set-pieces proved dangerous but, with Varga and Steve Caldwell combining well, the Black Cats successfully repelled the succession of long balls that quickly became the home side's only attacking threat.

They continued to pose a potent threat at the other end, Elliott glancing a header over the top and Leadbitter shooting wide when well placed. But they could not convert any of the non-stop chances that came their way.

They could hardly complain, therefore, when they were made to pay for their first moment of hesitancy in the 73rd minute.

Nick Ward's lob should have been cut out on the edge of the area, but it was allowed to reach Jones and the substitute casually drilled a low ten-yard shot past an exposed Ward.

That should have convinced the visitors about the danger of spurning chances, but Wallace still contrived to produce the miss of the season six minutes from the end.

Whitehead rolled the ball across the face of the six-yard box after replacing Leadbitter but, from no more than two yards, the Scotsman somehow managed to balloon the ball wide of the target.

When David Connolly hit the base of the left-hand upright in stoppage time, it became clear that a third goal was simply not going to come