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Spiders hit the road to Cup success

Huntly 0 Queen's Park 3

Huntly: Hastie, Campbell, Davidson, Gray, Adam Naismith, Vigurs, McCarthy, Reid, Somers, Kleczkowski, Fyfe. Subs Park, Booth, Chambers, Ross Naismith, Clark. Ref Andrew Dallas. Queen's Park: Parry, McGinn, Meggatt, Little, Brough, Anderson, Watt, McBride, Longworth, Daly, Burns. Subs: Gallacher, Stewart, Lachlan, Smith, Hughes.

As fixture lists go, our 2011 programme sounds more like something out of a Discover Scotland coach brochure.
In just three months, the Spiders' destinations have already included Annan, Dingwall, Elgin, Peterhead and Huntly. Stops along the way have been made at such spots as Aviemore, Grantown, Stonehaven and now Braemar (Unfortunately, HM is in Oz so there was no royal reception to mark the occasion). Throw in the extra halts en-route to these spots to pick up members of the Northern Branch of the Black and White Army and you can see why the Parks' drivers have been key members of the backroom team this season.
Despite having seen just about everything in our long and distinguished history, today was a journey into the unknown for Queen's as we faced Huntly for the first time in the William Hill-sponsored Scottish Cup.
Everybody in the camp was hoping Christie Park would not be our final excursion in the competition, but rather the first step along a road packed with excitement. That was the hope, but with the glorious exception of 2008-09 when the adventure lasted all the way until February and was only ended by a one-goal defeat from Celtic at Parkhead, the reality has been somewhat different.
In fact, in recent years, Queen's involvement in the Scottish Cup has had about as much magic as a wet weekend in Scarborough with the mother-in-law keeping you and the wife company. The romance of the cup has been in very short supply, but there have been heartbreaks aplenty - none more shattering than last year's knockback at Bo'ness.
But let's not dwell on that, and in the true spirit of the dreamer, let's look on this afternoon as the launch pad for a glorious campaign. The travelling support had certainly been in high spirits as the two buses set off at an obscenely early hour, and the dull, windy weather had done little to dampen the enthusiasm as the party finally arrived at our hosts' Highland home.
On first glance, the park looked quite long and narrow, had a bit of a slope - but was in good nick despite the water dumped on it from the heavens over the last few days. The big problem would be the wind which howled up and down the surface.
Given the testing circumstances, it was little surprise to see that Gardner Speirs brought Ricky Little straight back into the heart of the defence after last week's absence through suspension. Davie Murray's illness meant the coach could simply return Daryll Meggatt to his left-back slot and move Sean Burns - who occupied that position well last weekend against Montrose - further forward on the left side. The rest of the team who started against Montrose retained their places. Young keeper Kieran Hughes replaced Blair Lochhead as back up in the continued absence of Adam Strain, with the other subs' jerseys going to Gallacher, Stewart, Lachlan and Smith.
It was strong looking line-up, but would it get the job done at the first time of asking? Time would tell.
The first chance of the game fell to Queen's - and what a chance. The Huntly centre half and defence got in a terrible tangle, the defender headed the ball out and Chuckie latched onto it. So far so good, but with the goal gaping as the keeper struggled to regain his ground, the wee man got the shot all wrong and a great opportunity went abegging.
That set the tone for the opening forays. Three times in as many minutes Chuckie ran at his marker, but without managing to get in a telling cross. McGinn was next up, firing in a cross from the right that Burns just failed to control. It was a promising start - Queen's were well on top ... but a goal would really help to settle nerves - in the visiting support if nothing else.
As the first quarter of an hour came to an end, Queen's carved out another chance. Anderson won the ball in the midfield and set Watt away on the right. This time the cross was good - but it was headed wide by Mick Daly.
Seconds later another good ball from Chuckie was headed behind for the first corner of the game. McBride's inswinger was promising, but was cleared before Queen's could pounce.
The home side were struggling to get in a telling blow at this stage, and Parry wasn't being called into serious action.
At the other end, it was a different story and Queen's won another corner after a wicked cross from Burns eluded Daly and had to be turned behind. From the corner, Brough's header reached Longworth who turned and shot well. Sadly for the Spiders, keeper Hastie got down well to clutch the shot.
As the halfway mark in the first period came and went, it was still the visitors who were calling the shots, but the longer the game went without a goal, the more encouragement we offered our hosts.
Burns was continuing to fire in some tasty crosses, but despite the quality of the ammunition, we kept firing blanks. The corner count was rising in our favour, but the only count that mattered - the scoresheet - remained stubbornly clean.
The breakthrough nearly came after 33 minutes, and after so many quality deliveries it was a misshit cross from Burns that almost caught out keeper Hastie. The ball found the net - but sadly for Queen's - it was only the side netting.

The moment we had all been praying for finally arrived about four minutes from the break. Another run by Paul McGinn - another cross into the box. The difference this time was that it landed at the feet of Jamie Longworth and from there it found the back of the net. 1-0 Hallelujah.
It was the last action of a promising first half for the Spiders and they thoroughly deserved to go in at the interval with their noses in front.

Half-time: Huntly 0 Queen's Park 1


The big worry at the break was that Queen's would sit on their lead and allow the visitors to come back at them. They certainly didn't start off that way.

Two minutes into the second period, the duracell-powered McGinn stormed down the right, delivered another quality cross - and Sean Burns arrived to nod the ball into the back of the net. 2-0 Queen's.

Old cynics in the Hampden ranks were starting to get worried at this stage. Queen's were playing well, had established a two-goal lead ... and had the advantages of wind and slope in this second period. That's just the type of advantage we have been known to squander in the past. Surely we couldn't do it again?

The ref with possibly the most famous name in Scots officialdom - Andrew of the Dallas family - had been having a quiet afternoon, but had to produce his first card after 56 minutes when Campbell was cautioned for a foul. McBride's free-kick from about 30 yards was hit into the wall.

The home side had to try to change something and made their first switch just before the hour; replacing McCarthy with Booth. Queen's soon followed suit, bringing on Smith for Chuckie.
The second goal seemed to have taken some of the sting out of the game. Queen's were trying to maintain the ascendancy; Huntly were striving to turn things around. The result was a bit of a stalemate.
Three-quarters of the way through the tie, Huntly made another switch, replacing Gray with Chambers, but it did little to alter the pattern of the game.
Queen's almost made it three with 20 to go when McBride and Smith had efforts blocked. The ball could have gone anywhere in the goalmouth scramble thet ensued, but it fell kindly for the home side and was finally hoofed to safety.


The goal was only delayed by a few minutes, however, as Queen's took a giant stride towards Wednesday's draw. Scrappy defending allowed the ball to reach Smith. His shot was deflected - but still beat Hastie. Scrappy goal - but who cared, it was 3-0 for Queen's and there were just 11 minutes to go.






With the hard work now seemingly done, Gardner Speirs took the opportunity to give Mick Daly a wee breather, replacing him with Paul Stewart. The move also allowed Queen's to tighten things up just a tad and make sure there were no late scares.
With the final whistle looming, the coach replaced McBride with Lachlan.
The home side thought they had something to cheer right at the death as the ball was bundled past Parry and into the net. Their celebrations were immediately cut short as the flag was long since up for offside.
It had been a sore afternoon for Huntly's Hastie and it got even worse when he and Burns collided. Sean's not the biggest player in the SFL, but the home keeper came off distinctly second best and looked as if he would be lucky to last the game out.
He did, and there was little further action to report as Queen's booked their place in Wednesday's draw.
It's always dangerous to say too many good things about Queen's Park, but this was as comfortable a victory as we've enjoyed in many a moon.
Parry hardly had a save to make and we scored goals at just the right times. Not to put too fine a point on it, we were in control throughout - and even looked as if we could have stepped up a gear if it was required. Given the fact that many observers regarded this tie as a potential banana skin, that's a remarkable achievement.
Now we can look forward to the draw for the next round - but just before we get too carried away, the names of Bo'ness and Spartans will also be in the hat.
Keep the faith ... and watch out for those speed cameras coming back down that road!!

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