A first goal in senior football from Ray Jones finally finished off the Cobblers in a thrilling first round tie.

The R's second half substitute headed home in the 87th minute to clinch the Hoops a deserved place in round two.

In a free-flowing second half, Kevin Gallen handed the R's a dream start with the second goal of the game inside the opening two minutes.

Dexter Blackstock's foray down the left flank resulted in a Rangers free-kick and the skipper curled a low shot past the unsighted Bunn.

But the Cobblers refused to lie down and second half substitute Jerome Watt pulled a goal back seven minutes later with a 25-yard thunderbolt.

And when Andy Kirk pulled the Cobblers level 13 minutes from time, extra time loomed large.

But Jones had other ideas, sparking huge celebrations and the prospect of a plum Premiership draw in round two with a stunning late winner.

Earlier, Rangers led 1-0 at the break courtesy of Lee Cook's 17th minute solo goal.

In an R's side showing wholesale changes from the 1-1 draw with Preston North End on Saturday, Cook repaid the faith shown in him by gaffer Gary Waddock by opening the scoring at a sparse Loftus Road.

Those that did make the effort to attend were duly rewarded when Cook's jinking run and shot was deflected past Mark Bunn to hand the R's a deserved advantage.

In all, Waddock made seven changes for the visit of the League One outfit to Loftus Road - the most significant of which saw 18 year-old Andrew Howell come in for his first team debut.

Jake Cole, Marcus Bignot, Marc Bircham, Stefan Bailey, Shabazz Baidoo and skipper Kevin Gallen were also given their chance, as the R's boss played 'tinkerman' with one eye on the visit of Ipswich Town on Friday night.

It was the returning Gallen who was gifted with Rangers' first chance, when an out-swinging cross from Bignot wasn't dealt with by the Cobblers back three.

Unfortunately for the R's veteran, his impromptu header cannoned off the back of Luke Chambers, before being hacked to safety.

Cole spared the hosts' blushes on five minutes, diving full stretch to his left to claw James Quinn's half volley round for a corner.

It was a Rangers regular that almost opened the scoring six minutes later.

Cook was gifted far too much time and space on the edge of the box and the R's left winger duly let fly, unlucky to see his fizzing 22-yard drive fall narrowly wide of Bunn's left hand post with the keeper seemingly beaten.

Dexter Blackstock's perseverance almost paid dividends on 15 minutes, but after his superb run and cross from the by-line, Gallen's looping header finished inches wide of the post.

The hosts' impressive start deserved a goal and it duly arrived on 17 minutes, courtesy of that man Cook.

Gallen's hooked clearance on the edge of his own box found Blackstock and when he fed Cook, the winger tricked his way past two Cobblers defenders before his deflected shot completely wrong-footed Bunn.

Cook was being gifted the freedom of the park by the League One side and when the Cobblers defenders continued to back off in the 24th minute, only the width of the post stood between the left winger doubling his and his side's tally.

Baidoo - playing in an unorthodox right midfield role - almost got in on the act in the 30th minute, only to see Bunn save his header from the edge of the six-yard box.

The hosts continued to probe as the half reached its conclusion, with the lively Blackstock heading high and wide from an acute angle and Gallen seeing two efforts in as many minutes saved by the overworked Bunn.

Northampton front-man Kirk fired a brief warning shot to the R's when his right footed purler fizzed off the post on the stroke of half-time, but in truth that was as good as it got for the Cobblers in a one-sided first period.

The Cobblers made one change at the break, with Watt entering the fray at the expense of Bradley Johnson.

But the substitution failed to reap dividends for John Gorman's men and it was Rangers who were soon celebrating goal number two on 47 minutes.

Club captain Gallen marked his first start of the season with a goal, curling a daisy-cutter free-kick from an acute angle round the wall and past a static Bunn.

Baidoo was proving a constant menace at the start of the second half, turning his marker inside-out before blasting a fearsome 12-yard shot inches wide of Bunn's left hand post.

Despite the one-way traffic, Northampton refused to lie down and substitute Watt handed them an avenue back into the tie with a speculative long range shot on 54 minutes.

Cole appeared to be in the perfect position as he dived down low to his right, but the ball somehow found its way past him to the delight of the travelling Cobblers faithful.

Blackstock's pace continued to cause problems for the Cobblers defence and when Bailey fed him in an unfamiliar right midfield role, the former Southampton striker' first time shot was gathered at the second attempt by Bunn.

In truth, Rangers were huffing and puffing their way into the next round, until the returning Bircham sprung them into life on 71 minutes.

His fine sliding tackle and cross found Baidoo and the former Arsenal trainee was unlucky to see his stinging shot fire straight at Bunn.

Egutu Oliseh was handed his first start in English football with 16 minutes to go, but it was an opening to forget for the Nigerian, who was on the pitch for just 15 seconds when the Cobblers equalised.

Kirk's superb turn and shot from 15-yards gave Cole absolutely no chance, as all of Rangers' earlier hard work went to waste.

Remarkably, there was still time for a fifth and final goal and it was Ray Jones who leapt off the bench to score it.

The 17 year-old rose tallest on the edge of the six-yard box to head home Bignot's inch-perfect cross, to finally finish off a plucky performance from the Cobblers.

QPR: Cole, Bignot, Stewart (Kanyuka 90), Rehman, Howell, Baidoo, Bircham (R Jones 84), Bailey, Cook, Gallen (Oliseh 76), Blackstock.

Subs: P Jones, Donnelly.

Scorers: Cook 17, Gallen 47, R Jones 87

Bookings: R Jones 90

Northampton Town: Bunn, Crowe, Chambers, Kirk, Aiston, Jess, Burnell, Brett Johnson (Bojic 68), Dyche, Bradley Johnson (Watt 46), Quinn (Gilligan 85).

Subs: Harper, Cross.

Scorers: Watt 54, Kirk 77

Referee: P Miller

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