Truth be told, we were possibly a tad fortunate to beat Dumbarton at HQ earlier this season. To repeat the medicine today would require a massive effort as the Sons have improved considerably since then, while we are just a shade short on the old personnel side at the moment. Whatever the outcome today, we have the consolation of knowing it won't be as bad as our last visit to the new home of the Sons of the Rock. On that dismal April day in 2002 we scored a late penalty, and then missed an even later one with the last kick-off the ball. A 1-1 draw was the outcome, which consigned us to the sad status of worst team in Scottish senior football. To make matters worse, the result saw our hosts promoted, so we had to sit and suffer while they celebrated. Defeat today would be sore, but nowhere near as painful as that result. Queen's have moved on since then, while Dumbarton have come back down to the lower division. Both teams have designs on the title this time round, and both look likely to be in the final shake-up. Talking of shake-ups, any hopes the boss had of playing the same XI as last week disappeared with the absence of Mark Cairns due to a shoulder problem. Then the injury woes got worse with the loss of Jonny Whelan. (Rumour has it the old fool did his knee by falling UPstairs). And with none of the suspensions yet served, it would be fair to say resources were just a bit stretched. As is usually the case with QP in such circumstances, the call went out to our youngsters. Robert Dunn must have felt positively ancient warming the seats in the dugouts with Tommy Murray, Chris Coquhoun, Zander Cowie and David Waters. It's encouraging to know we have kids coming through, but would we have enough on the park to deal with the potent threat of Dumbarton? In the end, the starting line-up didn't show too many personnel changes, with Crawford in for Cairns and Bowers taking the place of Dunn. But the shape was very different with a back four of Canning, Agostini, Ronald and Dunlop; four in the middle - Cairney, Kettlewell, Quinn and Ferry, and Bowers and Weatherston up front. A healthy crowd of almost 1100 gathered in the Strathclyde Homes Stadium, with more than a fair share of them sporting black and white. And the visiting fans were delighted with the way the team started. An excellent playing surface begged for the ball to be passed along the deck ... and we duly obliged. There were no signs of any inferiority complex as we took the game to our hosts right from the off. Only two minutes were on the clock when we carved out the first half-chance, but Bowers couldn't keep the shot on target.Then Dumbarton had their wee spell, but Dillon couldn't make the most of the opportunity when he had a free header on goal. For all our absentees, Queen's were looking very solid at the back. Ronald was the model of calm, and Big D was a real rock at the heart of our defence. That solid backbone gave us the confidence to go forward, which we did at every opportunity. It almost paid off after 20 minutes when we won our first corner. But as players scrambled for the ball at the near post, Canning's delivery flew off a head and hit the woodwork. That was the closest either side came to a goal all afternoon, as things turned out, but it didn't make the game any less tense. We went close again on the half-hour, but a superb challenge by Mark Canning denied Weatherston after Tony Quinn had given the striker a rare sight at goal. So far, all the attention had been on the players, with referee Nicholls in the background. But just when we were hoping for a card-free afternoon, Kettlewell was harshly shown yellow for a challenge on Boyle. It was the first of six bookings, and all Gulliver will say is that he's glad his playing days are behind him. If the challenges that were penalised today merit a caution, your web correspondent would never have completed 90 minutes. Still, as you all know by now, Gulliver would never criticise an official, and this was too good a game to be ruined by outside interference. Queen's continued to press and five minutes before the break Paul Ronald found himself in a bit of space after another corner. Sadly for the Spiders' camp, his shot was charged down and we reached the interval with neither side having troubled the scorers. As if we didn't have enough to worry about on the injury front, Tony Quinn failed to trap for the second period. His place was taken by Tommy Murray, but when Tony did eventually emerge from the dressing room, he was hobbling horribly and had a strapping on his knee. Gulliver is no medic, but there's more chance of Lazarus making another comeback then TQ lining up against Albion Rovers on Tuesday. Without the enforcer in the middle of our midfield, the home side did enjoy more possession at the start of the second period, but there was little sign of the prolific threat posed by their frontmen already this season. Neither keeper was seriously stretched, but that didn't detract from the entertainment. Both sides tried to play football, and young Paul Cairney was heavily involved in everything we did. He was at the heart of a move which almost produced the breakthrough three-quarters of the way through the game. He latched onto a Bowers pass and cut the ball back invitingly. The quality of the ball meant Craig had to lunge at it, but sadly for Queen's, his interception flew inches wide of the post. Our tendency to overelaborate almost landed us in trouble on a couple of occasions, but for the most part we had remarkably few scary moments. Our old favourite John Gemmell was introduced as a late substitute, but couldn't find the dramatic touch to separate the teams. Queen's also gave young Colquhoun his first few minutes of first-team football. A 0-0 draw always sounds a bit dull, but Gulliver found a lot to admire in this one. Cairney looked the part, while Agostini and Ronald were at the heart of another shut-out. The only problem with playing Paul Ronald at the back is that we miss his presence upfield. Nobody would testify to that more than David Weatherston who had as quiet an afternoon as he has endured all season. Looking on the positive side, if Gulliver had been offered four points from Arbroath and Dumbarton before kick-off last Saturday, your hand would have been bitten off. The worry is that only Richard Sinclair will be available for selection on Tuesday from our absentees, while Rovers will be cock-a-hoop after their four-goal thrashing of Shire today. Still, that's far too far ahead to worry about just now. There are more pressing matters, such as a wee Hogmanay swallie to think about. On the whole, it's not been a bad year to follow the Hoops. Your correspondents hope 2007 is even better. There's only one way to round off this report - by wishing you all a very Happy New Year. In the words of Gulliver's favourite Ne'erday toast: "Here's tae us, whae's like us. Damn few ... and they're aw deid." Have a great time folks and we'll see you all on Tuesday at sunny Coatbridge..
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