JARROD BOWEN’S record-breaking double wasn’t enough for Hull City on Saturday, as they let slip a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 against QPR at Walton Street.

Steve McClaren’s substitutions worked a treat as Josh Scowen and Tomer Hemed came off the bench to complete the salvage mission.

But it looked like being so different when Bowen netted in the opening and closing minutes of the first half, becoming the first Hull player ever to score in eight successive home games.

The visiting boss was pleased with his side’s resilience in the second half, but warned they must use the result as a springboard for the rest of the season.

“Today was big,” he said.

“Once we equalised, I could see us going on to win the game. But the key for me was the character, because we haven’t always shown that from behind.

“It is a result we have to take advantage of in the next eight games.”

Just before giving Hull a seventh-minute lead, Bowen missed a great opportunity when one on one with Joe Lumley, but the QPR stopper thwarted him from close range. 

After being played in by Kamil Grosicki, though, the top-scorer finished emphatically for his 20th of the campaign.

Bowen doubled Hull’s lead as the half entered stoppage time with a strike similar to his first. He controlled Grosicki’s cross excellently before firing into the bottom left corner.

After the break, QPR missed a gilt-edged chance when Massimo Luongo diverted Pawel Wszolek’s drive over the bar from six yards out. It was a warning of what was to come.

Hull’s use of the flanks was an impressive theme throughout, and they were particularly prominent down the left. Campbell almost finished off a cross with a thumping effort, but QPR survived after Joel Lynch cleared off the line.

They were made to rue that miss, too. Scowen halved the deficit two minutes past the hour mark with a scuffed shot from distance that really shouldn’t have beaten David Marshall.

Rangers could have levelled through Scowen again. After a build-up of pressure with 15 minutes left they won a corner, which was hooked towards goal and only stopped by Reece Burke. At the other end, a smart save by Lumley denied Bowen his hat-trick.

Five minutes after coming on, and six from time, Hemed bundled home the equaliser, undoing all of Hull’s great first-half work. But they couldn’t kill the game off and it proved costly.

Nigel Adkins admitted he was frustrated to see his side throw away three points, something he called a “missed opportunity.”

“We’d said before the game how important it was to go and it win it,” he said.

“There were two avoidable goals in the second half and we should have seen the game through. It was a great opportunity missed to go four points behind the final play-off place.”