A scrappy Queensland denied the Western Force an historic Super 14 victory with a grinding 29-18 comeback win at Suncorp Stadium.

The Reds scored 26 unanswered points after being given a first-half scare by the spirited competition new boys to trail 18-3.

The sin-binning of lock James Horwill proved expensive for the home side which leaked 13 points in the 10 minutes it was down to 14 men.

In a match punctuated by errors, Queensland only grabbed the lead in the 70th minute when back-up goalkicker Julian Huxley landed an angled penalty goal for a 19-18 advantage.

Then, through the boot of Chris Latham, the Reds dominated field position for a driving maul try to standout prop Greg Holmes with five minutes left.

Hooker Stephen Moore put the icing on the cake in the last play of the match when he barged over against the tiring westerners.

There were plenty of embarrassing moments for both sides in the ugly affair but the Reds were understandably jubilant at breaking through for their first win of the season.

"We'll take that," Huxley told ABC radio. "You don't get anywhere without some resolve and guts."

But the win may have come at a cost with playmaker Elton Flatley benched with a shoulder injury.

The disappointed Force also have their own concerns with skipper Nathan Sharpe walking off midway through the second half with a suspected neck problem.

Billed as a grudge match with the Force, containing nine former Reds, pillaging Queensland playing stocks last year, there was plenty of spice and scuffles.

Wallabies front-rowers Holmes and David Fitter engaged in a bitter running battle throughout with several front-row scuffles.

Fitter's fellow Force prop Tai McIsaac, a former Reds hooker, was prominent against his old team as the Force won the scrum battle, highlighted by a first-half tight-head.

The visitors also dismantled the shaky Queensland lineout in the first half when the Reds appeared disjointed and rudderless.

The Reds did have all the running in the opening 10 minutes but the match turned in an instant when a Flatley fumble opened the door for Cameron Shepherd to toe ahead, regather and send Scott Staniforth over.

The home team's confidence immediately disappeared and transferred to the Force with Josh Graham and Scott Fava both breaking the line from Henjak passes.

Their 5-3 lead quickly jumped to a shock 15-point advantage just after Horwill collared fullback Ben Hilgendorf with a dangerous high tackle.

Referee Matt Goddard labelled the coathanger "hopelessly unacceptable" and sin-binned the youngster.

With the Reds down to 14 men, Shepherd slotted a 36m penalty before flanker David Pusey crossed out wide to silence a stunned Brisbane crowd.

Pusey's try came after a poor clearance kick by Lloyd Johansson, The ensuing play saw halfback Matt Henjak, mixing good with bad, handle twice as flanker Matt Hodgson delivered a pivotal flick pass to give a two-man overlap.

Reds skipper John Roe sparked the revival by dummying his way over from 5m scrum just before the break.

Fava was inspirational for the Force, while rival No.8 Roe was among his team's best.

Roe said the lesson had been learnt from the Reds first three losses of the season when they wilted in the final 20 minutes against NSW, the Crusaders and the Blues.

"It could be a good thing for us to come from behind and have to work hard and really grind out a win," Roe said.

"I think some of the young guys tonight learned what it means to stay composed and disciplined."

He attributed the first-half errors to "trying too hard" and being rattled by the niggle in the match.

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