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Four for Longworth in sixsational show

Queen's Park 6 Elgin City 0

Queen's Park - Parry, McGinn, Meggatt, Little, Brough, Anderson, Watt, McBride, Smith, Longworth, Murray. Subs - Gallacher, Burns, Daly, Ronald, Strain (GK). Elgin - Clark, Niven, McPhee, Durnan, Duff, McMullan, Gunn, Beveridge, Leslie, Nicolson, Moore. Subs - Crooks, O'Donoghue, Wilson, Innes, Calder (gk). Referee - Barry Cook.

Happy Hampden New Year from Homer and Gulliver and after the excitement of last week's Scottish Cup adventure to Motherwell it's back to the reality of SFL football for Queen's Park today.
More than 600 Queen's fans descended on Fir Park and while there was general unhappiness about the 4-0 scoreline, there was no argument about the effort and commitment of the players.
Neither that scoreline nor the BBC Scotland highlights came anywhere near to telling the whole story. Watching the telly re-run you'd never have guessed Queen's looked as good a passing team as their SPL rivals, or that we had almost as many chances to score as Well.
The difference in the teams was the finishing and in that regard Stuart McCall's entertaining team were clinical. The Queen's consensus seemed to be that if we can play so well against the third-best team in Scotland, what was there to fear in the Third Division?
If only football - and following Queen's Park - was so uncomplicated.
Today we are going for our fourth successive win in the league. Elgin are three points behind us with a game in hand so a win is vital to retain our play-off place and our momentum.
Our last meeting here with City was just back in November, when we comfortably won 3-1 in the Scottish Cup third round replay to set up last week's tie at Motherwell.
We had drawn 1-1 in the first game at Borough Briggs when we should have put the tie to bed.
In contrast to that last Hampden meeting - when gales lashed the rain right up into the press seats, soaking poor Homer and Gulliver - today was cold and still and dry, a lovely day for football.
The manager had a full squad available except for Paul Stewart, who was again missing because of work commitments.
So it was the same 16 that turned out at Fir Park.
There was also good news from our Da Vinci youth training camp in Turkey, with reports that Giuseppe Capuano could return to action well ahead of schedule after his hip surgery.
The Hampden pitch was looking immaculate - just in time for Ayr and Falkirk's League Cup semi - and we were looking for Queen's to do justice to head groundsman Stevie Bache's excellent work.
One player of interest in the Elgin defence was Mark Durnan. If Homer's memory is not playing tricks, he was making his third appearance against us here as a St Johnstone loan signing, having previously had spells at Arbroath and Stranraer
As we've come to expect from Queen's at Hampden, they were quickly into their passing game and it was obvious from the start that Elgin would be intent on getting forward, too.
There was good early sparring, but Brough was booked in seven minutes for an innocuous trip on Leslie and that would make it a long 83 minutes for the combative Queen's defender.
Longworth, who didn't look out of place at Motherwell, got in the first shot at goal for Queen's in 10 minutes, taking a McBride corner at the near post and heading just wide.
It was an entertaining game, with lots of nice football, but 20 minutes in neither keeper had been called into action.
Queen's survived a couple of corners without serious alarm and in 22 minutes they had the first real chance of the match.
Meggatt sent Murray down the left and the wee winger turned on the after-burners to get ahead of the full back to the byeline. His cross was deep, cutting out the centre of defence, and it left Chuckie Watt all on his own as he stole in from the wing, only to hit his first- time shot wide of the far post.
The action had certainly hotted up. A minute later Parry was at full stretch to turn away a Nicolson header, then Queen's broke on Anderson's clearance. Watt, who was looking lively, burst down the right and teamed up with McBride, whose attempt to play in Murray was only just cut out.
McBride tried his luck from well out and was well off and then Moore had better luck with a left-footed 25-yarder that the alert Parry did well to beat away low down.
So, a half-hour in and you had to say it was very even.
Elgin gifted Queen's their next chance with a slack throw-in straight to Smith. He got ahead of the defence and made a bee-line for the box and only a super sliding tackle by Duff stopped him getting a shot off.
Queen's fans were calling for a foul, but ref Barry Cook was having none of it.
But the official - a former Queen's keeper, no less - did award a foul in 36 minutes when Watt was downed by Durnan on the edge of the box and from it Queen's went in front.
Up stepped McBride to power a right-foot rocket over the wall and high into the net, leaving keeper Clark helpless. A splendid strike to break the deadlock.
Queen's obviously took a huge lift from that and they came close to getting a second two minutes later.
It was a nice move involving Meggatt, Murray and then Longworth, with the striker just failing agonisingly to connect properly with the final pass six yards out.
But a good, hard-working first-half for Queen's and something to build on.

Half-time: Queen's Park 1 Elgin city 0

Queen's made a change at half-time. Davie Murray failed to reappear and Sean Burns took his place.
Anderson took a sore one and needed treatment - then a minute after coming back on he raced 50 yards to block a Leslie cross at the byeline. Magic.
And Longworth almost matched it in 51 minutes, taking a Burns pass with a trademark turn and firing a right-foot shot inches wide of Clark's left-hand post.
But Longworth was to have his moment and it came in the next attack. Watt sent him clear on the right with a fine pass and the striker held off a defender, broke into the box, and fired a powerful right-foot shot past Clark and in-off the keeper's far post. Magic!
It could have been 3-0 in 56. Queen's have their corner kick routine, where they line up in a bunch on the edge of the box and McBride's kick is the cue for them to start running towards goal - and each by a different route.
This time it worked and Meggatt was clear to drive in a header that Clark blocked on the line by pure instinct before it was booted clear.
Queen's not surprisingly were in relaxed mood now and knocking the ball about with confidence. Their pressing game seemed to be wearing Elgin down and openings were becoming more frequent. They just had to take them.
Elgin sent on Crooks for Beveridge and in 63 minutes Watt was booked for a foul but Queen's were soon celebrating that third goal.
It came in 67 minutes and it was a BELTER. Watt slipped a pass to the flying McGinn and the full back's rifled cross from the byeline was bulleted into the net by the head of Longworth. Magic!.
Watt deserved a goal for his efforts and he almost got it two minutes later. He was sent clear into the box by Smith and steadied himself before trying to beat Clark with a low-placed shot, only for the big keeper to get his feet to it and clear.
If Watt couldn't break his duck there he did the next best thing - and put a first hat-trick of the season on a plate for Queen's and the clinical Longworth, setting him up with a square pass in the box that left the striker with a simple shot wide of Clark. Magic!
Not a scoreline you could have predicted in the first half but a measure of the abilities of this young Queen's team.
And it was to get even better. Burns, who delivers a wicked ball, fired one in from the left, Smith moved it on, and Longworth fired a replica of his previous goal low to Clark's right. Magic!
Who was the last Queen's player to get four? Homer's memory doesn't go back that far, but any advance on Brian McPhee, asks that old anorak Gulliver.
And it was to get even better! Young Owen Ronald, who had replaced Watt, got to the byeline on the right and somehow twisted his body to send in a delicious cross to the far post that saw Smith rise alone and head back across Clark and in at the post for No 6 . Magic!
And Gulliver reckons we're going back to the 1980s to find the last time we scored six. Any advance?
Longworth went off to a standing ovation to be replaced by Daly, who promptly had a shot blocked before McBride and young Ronald also had efforts cleared by the under-siege visitors.
It's the club's annual shindig tonight at Hampden for the QP players and coaches. It will be a MAGIC night, believe me.

Keep the faith.

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