Few highs could ever compare with the sheer unbridled joy of Tuesday night ... but there have been other moments to savour as well. However, experience - bitter more often than not - shows that many of those highs have been quickly followed by a depressing low. Defeat against our old rivals Albion Rovers today would have taken some of the gloss off the midweek heroics, and there could be little doubt beforehand that if such a prospect was to be avoided, we would have to raise our game again. Only a fool would doubt Rovers would be dying to put one over on us, and Billy Stark is certainly no fool. He let the players enjoy their moment, and then no doubt reminded them that the league has to be our priority this and every term. Most of the midweek troupers were available for selection, with only Richard Sinclair's injury proving too much to be overcome. Frankie Carroll was back in the picture, but there was still no sign of Steve Reilly getting over his troublesome knee problem. That meant the centre back pairing of Whelan and Agostini was called back into action, and the boss made three changes from the starting line-up in midweek, Whelan, Trouten and Quinn coming in for Sinclair, Dunn and Canning. The team wasn't changed all that much then, but the circumstances and the game had. In truth, the first half was as flat as the proverbial.There were precious few chances made, and none taken. Chaplain went closest in the early stages, hitting the side net when he could have done better. That was after 21 minutes. Queen's had been even quieter, but finally sparked into life just before the half-hour when Dunlop, Ferry and Weatherston all combined, but the final ball was lacking quality. Cairns was between the sticks again and earned his keep a few miniutes later when he clutched a solid shot from Chaplain again. Trouten then curled one wide, before the last action of the half saw Dunlop booked rather harshly. Half-time 0-0. You felt the game had to improve the break, and from a Queen's perspective it certainly did after 54 minutes. Weatherston broke down the left and his left-footed effort flew over Ewings and into the corner of the net. Did DW mean it? who cares, we were one up. There was a bit more meat to the challenges now, particularly from the home side. And with the meaty challenges came more bookings as the timing became worse. McGhee was lucky to see just yellow when he decked Trouten, moments after fouling the same player and then firing the ball at him as he lay on the park. He was followed into the book by Chaplain and Doyle. Apart from that, there was still not too much happening to trouble the scorers. Savage brought a good low save from Cairns, While Alan Trouten should have done better when sent clear down the right. Sadly, all he could do was shoot wide. Everybody in the Hampden ranks would have settled for the 1-0 victory now, and the boss seemed to have the same frame of mind when he replaced Ronald and Weatherston with Dunn and Canning. But Gulliver felt there was a final twist to come in this one, and it arrived with barely seconds remaining. Rovers won a corner and played a short one as Queen's went to sleep. When the ball finally arrived in the middle, Savage got there first and sent a looping header over Cairns and under the bar. If we're being honest, we would probably have settled for a draw before the game began. There was bound to be a reaction to the midweek heroics, and the sheer amount of football we've played recently. The good news is that our old boy Bryan Felvus never really got the chance to put one ove on us. And in addition, we got the point; we're still unbeaten in six; and we go to Perth on Tuesday in a reasonable frame of mind. We're sick as parrots having lost the late goal, but it could be a lot worse. As lows go, it wasn't the deepest, but it sure wasn't any high. What's next ... watch this space. Full
Time: Albion Rovers 1, Queen's Park 1.
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