10-man Spiders up against it
Queen's Park 1 Forfar 3
Queen's Park - McGeown, Walker, Douglas, Little, Brough, Stewart, Lachlan, Hamilton, Daly, Quinn, Murray. Subs: Gallacher, Henry, Watt, Holms, McPherson (GK). Forfar - Brown, Mowat, I Campbell, Bishop, Tod, Fotheringham, Sellars, Harty, Gibson, R Campbell, Watson. Subs - Gordon, Smith, Deasley, Smith, Curtis (GK). Crowd 603. |
Thanks (!) to the miracle of Dave McNeil's excellent QPTV the comic-book defending in the 5-2 defeat raised a few chuckles in sunny Italy to drown out Homer's moans.
The Spiders got back on track with a 2-1 win at Montrose - having to come from behind again - to put us in sight of the play-off spots.
Today's visit of in-form Forfar is another vital encounter.
The Loons are a big, strong team and won 4-0 at Berwick and then beat Elgin in midweek.
We had to come from behind to draw 2-2 in our only meeting this season, so it will be tough.
We're still without long-term absentees Martin Ure, Paul Harkins and now club skipper Richard Sinclair, who broke a bone in his foot in our last home game against Stranraer.
Ross Dunlop, Frankie Carroll and keeper Peter Hamilton are also on the casualty list, while we'll be missing Giuseppe Capuano and Martin McBride today through suspension.
When you see that list it's just as well coach Gardner Speirs dipped into the January transfer window and came up with some new signings.
Keeper Mark McGeown and midfielder Paul Stewart both started against Montrose and young striker Ryan Martin got a late run.
The coach was happy and encouraged by their performances and Homer is looking forward to seeing McGeown and Stewart today. Martin is not in the squad.
Tot up that lot and there were six changes from that last home game with Stranraer.
Youngster Gavin Lachlan came in for his fourth start of the season and he was fortunate to have skipper Tony Quinn alongside him.
No Queen's fan will be surprised to hear that Quinno, who got the winner at Montrose, has been playing with an injury for weeks. He also appeared today with a bandaged wrist.
By the way, just in case you missed it Queen's notched a noteable double in January.
Barry Douglas was named SFL Young Player of the Month across all three divisions, while Gardner Speirs was Division Three Manager of the Month.
Douglas also seemed to be carrying an injury today. Why else would he be wearing gloves on such a beautiful sunny winter's day?
Forfar have problems of their own. They are missing suspended duo Stephen Tulloch and well-known nuisance Chris Templeman.
They also have defender Mark McCulloch and midfielder Martyn Fotheringham out through injury.
It was a promising start by Queen's. In the first minute a neat build-up involving Quinn and Murray set up a shot for Hamilton that was deflected for a corner.
The corner came to nothing - but the same could not be said for Forfar's first attack.
The visitors took the lead the first time they ventured into the Queen's penalty area.
There were four minutes on the clock when Lachlan couldn't control a headed clearance and the ball dropped perfectly for Sellars, who rattled a shot behind McGeown.
Still, Queen's play better coming from behind.
Not the start Queen's would have envisaged, but they created a couple of chances when first Daly headed a Murray cross into Brown's arms and then Quinn only narrowly failed to connect with Douglas's left wing cross.
A training ground free kick routine almost saw Hamilton in and then Murray's attempt to get on the end of a nice inside pass from Douglas was stopped at the expense of a corner.
It was the first of three quick corners for Queen's as they applied a bit of pressure but with no reward.
Queen's were holding their own and Quinn almost brought them level with a fine header just over from another Douglas inswinger.
The difference in the teams' attacking potential was shown in 35 minutes, when Watson's glimpse at goal produced a shot off a post and a scrambled clearance over the bar by Brough.
Queen's may have been enjoying a fair share of possession but Forfar looked to be carrying more threat on the few occasions they got forward.
Queen's needed to support Daly, who was winning more than his share of ball up front against Forfar's big central defenders, and Murray.
But a minute later that Forfar threat saw Queen's reduced to 10 men.
Harty got ahead of Little in a chase for a through ball and the Queen's man brought him down from the back outside the box.
Little saw red, the Forfar free kick came to nothing, and young Lachlan was sacrificed as another youngster, Paul Gallacher, came on to bolster the central defence.
An uphill fight now for Queen's. But that earlier 2-2 draw with Forfar was achieved with 10 men, so who knows.
We had a similar incident on 40 minutes when Daly was brought down from behind by Tod as he was heading for the box. This time referee McLean deemed it only a yellow card, despite Gulliver's protestations.
Half-time: Queen's Park 0 Forfar 1
Gallacher was booked early after the restart for a professional foul near the halfway line.
McGeown was lucky when he missed a corner in a ruck of players, but was back on his line to take Gibson's shot low down.
Brown was called on to make his first save of the half, pushing a cracking Hamilton drive over the top.
That was the prelude for another Spiders burst, two quick corners followed by a good Murray run ended by a fine tackle from Bishop that had Queen's fans screaming 'penalty!'
Ross Campbell was booked for persistent fouling, Quinn his victim this time.
Referee McLean then had another last man tackle to adjudicate. This time Hamilton was stopped on the edge of the box by Ian Campbell in 64 minutes and again the referee determined it was a yellow card. Go figure.
Anyway, Douglas punished Forfar in the best way possible with a magnificent trademark free kick, thrashing the ball over the wall and into despairing keeper Brown's left hand top corner.
Game on - but not for long.
Five minutes later Forfar hit the front again as the Queen's defence went to sleep.
Hamilton did well to block a cross and concede a corner on the left. McGeown came for Ian Campbell's flag kick and got nowhere near it and Watson rose behind him to head high into the net.
And it was 3-1 for Forfar in 72 minutes when Harty was found in acres of space inside our box by Ian Campbell and the veteran striker nutmegged McGeown. Too easy, and less than Queen's deserved.
Henry came on for Walker.
Queen's were still going forward, but it was very subdued in the stands. Quinn again went close with a flying header, turning a Stewart cross just over.
Holms then replaced Hamilton but the game had effectively ended.
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See you all
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SFL Div 3 |
P |
Pts |
| Livingston | 36 | 78 |
| Forfar Athletic | 36 | 63 |
| East Stirling | 36 | 61 |
| QUEEN'S PARK | 36 | 51 |
| Albion Rovers | 36 | 50 |
| Berwick Rangers | 36 | 50 |
| Stranraer | 36 | 47 |
| Annan Athletic | 36 | 43 |
| Elgin City | 36 | 34 |
| Montrose | 36 | 24 |