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Queen's hold on to make their point

Peterhead 1 Queen's Park 1

Peterhead: Jarvie, Donald, MacDonald, Bishop, Davidson, Conway (David Ross), Scott Ross (Strachan), Sellars, Sharp, McAllister, Bavidge (Wyness). Subs Not Used: Jellema, Wood. Goals: Bavidge. Queen's Park: Parry, McGinn, Little, Brough, Bradley, Watt (Smith ), Anderson, McBride, Murray (Burns), Daly (Quinn), Longworth. Subs Not Used: Strain, Gallacher. Goals: Watt . Att: 478 Ref: Matt Northcroft

Some things never change when Queen's make one of their all-too frequent trips north. There are problems on the dreadful roads that pass as the main routes to the Highlands - it's windy when we get there ... and if the opposition is Peterhead, Martin Bavidge will be on the scoresheet.
All those things happened today, but at the end of the eventful afternoon, at least the Spiders returned home with a point for their efforts.
The drama began long before the scheduled kick-off with a horror car smash between Stonehaven and Aberdeen. The carnage shut the main road - delaying the team bus - and the supporters following in their wake finally got to the ground with about three minutes to spare.
The team selection that greeted them was a bold one, with a real attacking feel to the line-up. Jamie Brough returned at the heart of the defence in place of Paul Gallacher. Martin McBride and Davie Anderson got the chance to get acquainted in midfield; while Chuckie Watt got the nod on the right, with Sean Burns dropping to the bench.
It looked like a team that could score goals, but it was their defensive abilities that were called into action from the off.
Queen's kicked-off, with the wind at their backs. They immediately squandered possession and allowed McAllister to bear down on our goal. Thankfully, Parry was up for the challenge and blocked the striker's effort low to his left. There were just 11 seconds on the clock and we were thanking our lucky stars - and our 6ft4 keeper - that we were still on level terms.
Perhaps it was no surprise that the home side came out of the blocks quickest. After all, they had a new caretaker manager to try to impress - and Queen's had a brand new combination in the engine rom.
Martin McBride's return had been welcomed by the Hampden faithful, and he nearly announced it in real style with five minutes on the clock. Queen's won a foul just over 30 yards from goal and McBride let fly. His wind-assisted effort had the power of a jet-propelled missile - and almost the accuracy, but it flew just wide of Jarvie's post and hopes of the fairy-tale return had to be put on hold.
The next period of the match can best be described as scrappy. Queen's threw in a couple of semi-decent crosses, that never really looked like producing a goal. At the other end, the home strike force of McAllister and Bavidge looked likely to cause problems every time they got possession, especially with Sharp providing the ammunition.
The end-to-end nature of the contest was perfectly illustrated as the 20-minute mark came and went.
First up came the home team when a corner gave Ross and McAllister a shooting chance. Both were blocked before McAllister shot over the top.
Queen's raced up the field and Bradley's cross was headed inches wide by Watt. From the goal kick, Sharp proved sharp on the left and McGinn had to be strong and quick to keep the winger out.
At this stage there hadn't been too much sweet passing play, with both sides favouring a more direct approach. That changed - for the better - within seconds of McGinn's good work. Anderson, Longworth and McBride were all involved, and the interchange ended with Wee Davie almost scoring his first goal for the Glorious Hoops. Sadly, however, Jarvie got down swiftly to his right to keep out the midfielder's left-foot shot.
Moments later, Queen's had a shout for a penalty as the ball seemed to strike Bishop's hand. They quickly stopped claiming as the ball was fed back in and bundled over the line by Daly. The joy turned to despair within seconds as the flag went up to signal the striker was offside.
Both sides went for it as the half progressed. Bavidge had a couple of sniffs, while McAllister did his best to justify the his high-priced reputation.
Queen's, for their part, tried to play football, but never really got into a free-flowing rhythm.
Just on the half-hour , McBride tried to play in Murray, but his threatening ball was cut out by the arm of Bishop. Northcroft gave the foul, but to the surprise of many in the crowd, failed to produce a card for the home defender. The resulting free-kick came to nothing, and Peterhead promptly wenbt up the park, carved us open - and it took the combined efforts of Little and Bradley to keep us on terms with a last-ditch block.
The near thing sparked the home side's best spell of the half, and Rattray should have done better than scoop a McAllister cut-back over the top.
Right on thwe whistle, McBride's cross-cum-shot reached Murray at the far post, but Jarvie dived bravely at his feet and the danger, like the first half, came to an end.

Half-time
Peterhead 0 Queen's Park 0.

If Gulliver is honest, he has to admit that he feared the worst for the second period. Peterhead are a big powerful team, and with the elements in their favour, there was a real danger that we could be overwhelmed.
One thing was certain, if we got chances on the break, we would have to take them ... and we did just that after only five minutes. McBride whipped in a wonderful cross from the right - Chuckie Watt sneaked in on the blind side ... and headed the ball through the legs of Jarvie and into the net., 1-0 Queen's.
Sadly, that was as good as it got for the Spiders. Whether by accident or design, we found ourselves forced further and further back. Ball after ball was pinged in - and battered back out. When the defence was found failing, and that wasn't too often, they had Neil Parry to thank for keeping the home side at bay. The big keeper had a stormer, clutching crosses when they were there to be grabbed - and parrying headers wide when the occasion demanded.
With the pace of Murray and Watt at their disposal, Queen's always had a dangerous outlet. Midway through the half, Watt scampered clear on the right, but all the Spiders' forwards were sucked to the near post - and the wee man's dangerous cross eluded them all and ran to safety.
It was a real chance to put some daylight between ourselves and the Blue Toon, but it was one we couldn't take. It proved costly.
Peterhead were soon back on the offensive. It took a brave save from Parry to bring a dangerous spot of ping-pong in our box to an end. Seconds later, Ross shot wide - and then the offside flag came to Queen's rescue as McAllister scented blood.
It seemed the equaliser had to come ... it did ... with just under 20 minutes to go. Yet another Peterhead corner was turned towards the Queen's Park goal. It looked to be going in all the way, but Parry stretched his huge frame to get his fingertips to the ball. He was helpless, however, as Bavidge pounced to force home the rebound. 1-1 ... and the possibility of another heartbreaking defeat in the Highlands loomed large.
Credit to the Spiders, they regained their composure and Longworth was desperately unlucky to see a shot from distance rebound to safety off the post.
Both sides sensed the next goal would be the winner, and both made changes to try to make sure it was them who got it.
Queen's brought on Burns for the tiring Murray, before Smith replaced Watt.
The home side were still enjoiying the bulk of the possession and with 10 minutes to go, it took another stunning stop by Parry to deny McAllister.Needless to say, the keeper nearly undid all his good work by punting the clearance straight to Sellars. Thankfully, he got the break his diplay deserved as the resulting cross flew over the line to safety.
With the whistle almost on us, Daly and Donald went down after a nasty looking clash of heads. Both were soon back on their feet, but a dazed Daly was replaced by Tony Quinn for the final seconds.
Queen's had a chance to steal it right at the death as McBride gave Smith a sight at goal. A last-ditch tackle by Rattray produced a corner for the Spiders. McBride's delivery gave Brough the chance of glory, but the big man's headere sailed over the top and both sides had to settle for a point.
The draw was probably the right result, and when you consider we haven't won at Balmoor since Homer had a memory and Richard Sinclair was injury free, then it's probably a decent point.
BUT ... Gulliver can't help feeling that a Queen's team at its best could have brought all three points home. We never really clicked into top gear, and failed to fully capitalise on the blistering pace we have at our disposal.
That said, if we can play below our best and come home from Peterhead with a share of the spoils, the we can certainly take some positives out of the afternoon.
We're not out of September yet and Gulliver can predict one thing with some degree of certainty ... it's going to be another roller-coaster season for those who follow the Glorious Hoops.. Where will it end - who knows? But it's going to be fun - and often frustrating.
Keep the faith ... it's bottom off the table Shire next!!!