Queens Park Rangers 2 Bristol City 1: Gary Johnson allowed frustration to get the better of him after his side were denied a share of the spoils in controversial circumstances at Loftus Road.

City's manager believed the visitors should have been awarded a penalty midway through the second half when Nicky Maynard went to ground under a clumsy challenge from Rangers defender Fitz Hall.

But Lancashire referee David Phillips brushed aside strident claims from the striker, his team-mates and several hundred travelling fans ideally-placed to see what happened behind the goal and waved play on.

It was all too much for Johnson who, at the final whistle, marched on to the pitch to angrily remonstrate with the official and his assistants, making his feelings known emphatically during a heated exchange which lasted at least a minute before it was ended by a steward.

Johnson's sense of injustice was understandable, given that television pictures confirmed what just about everyone inside the stadium knew already.

"I was disappointed because the officials between them have failed to make a decision," fumed the Londoner, whose team had pulled a goal back and was threatening a full recovery when the incident occurred.

"The referee looked over at the linesman with a question mark on his face, the linesman looked over at the referee like he had no idea and they both let play go on as though nothing had happened in the hope that time would pass and we'd all forget about it.

"I think it's terrible. As a manager, you want someone to say 'yes' or 'no', and not just let things drift. I always respect referees, but I just felt I needed to make my point at the end of the game. Johnson indeed had a point; Hall clearly played the man before the ball, an impression confirmed by Maynard afterwards.

"I was trying to stay on my feet, because I felt I was in a position where I could score," insisted City's 11-goal top scorer. "But there has been contact and that's why I've gone down.

"It wasn't a case of me going down and looking for a penalty and that's why I was so frustrated when the referee didn't give it. I thought it should definitely have been a penalty."

That Maynard had earlier scored what is very likely one of the Championship goals of the season so far to put City back in contention was of scant consolation to the record signing, who beat Rangers keeper Radek Cerny with a startling volley on the turn which flew into the top corner from the edge of the 18-yard box 13 minutes into the second half.

"It was bothering me that I hadn't scored in eight or nine games and it was nice to end the draught," said the 22-year-old forward. "But it doesn't mean a thing to me because we've lost a game we should have taken something from."

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the situation, it is clear that City are going through a sticky patch and today's home clash with Watford represents a potential tipping point. Although Johnson's avowed aim is to make the play-offs, his team is exhibiting every sign of allowing a season which promised much to fizzle out. This holiday encounter in London represented a microcosm of the campaign so far, City dominating possession and territory for long periods but, at the same time, lacking the killer instinct required to translate these advantages into the hard currency of goals.

The almost complete absence of any tangible end product in the final third of the pitch, allied to a propensity to shoot themselves in the foot when defending their own penalty area, means City are, at this moment in time, not in possession of the firepower required to win enough games to sustain a promotion push. Flattering to deceive on an alarming scale, City made a QPR side under the new management of Paul Hart appear second best before shipping two soft goals against the run of play in the space of seven first-half minutes.

Having spent much of the contest up to that point hemmed into their own half, Rangers must have surprised even themselves when Gavin Williams failed to clear a Wayne Routledge cross towards the far post and presented a veritable gift for Jay Simpson, who swept the loose ball past keeper Dean Gerken with a deft swish of his right foot. Worse followed when Rangers next attacked, City's defence backing off and permitting Mikele Leigertwood an opportunity to smash the ball between Gerken and the upright to afford Rangers valuable breathing space.

Maynard produced a moment of magic on 58 minutes to render the outcome unsure, turning inside the giant shadow of Kaspars Gorkss and letting fly with a volley which fairly screamed into the top corner from 20 yards out.

But try as they might, City lacked the wherewithal to conjure an equaliser, substitute David Clarkson squandering their best chance from 15 yards and no amount of hard-luck stories can disguise the fact that, in it's current guise, this City team is ill-equipped to score the weight of goals required to pursue a top-six finish with any real conviction.