Scottish League Division 3
	Queen's Park	1
	Ferry
	Montrose	1
	Rodger
Saturday, September 16, 2006

HOMER isn't a great one for horoscopes. Truth be told, yours truly finds his web colleague Gulliver's fascination with omens a bit of a laugh.
But the way the vertically-challenged one's day began, it's safe to say that the signs weren't good.
Gulliver left home at some ungodly hour this morning - Homer rises in the pm of a Saturday - and as he stepped out the door, there was a black cat in his path.
Good luck? Not a bit of it. The blind idiot didn't see the creature until it was too late and in his efforts to avoid standing on said moggie he landed face down in his front lawn.
My dottery colleague's misfortune did bring a smile to my face as I returned to the keyboard today after a prolonged absence.
Homer hasn't seen Queen's win this season; no Hamilton, no Elgin, no Aberdeen. Rioja is not an adequate substitute, believe me.
However, the game against Stenhousemuir last week showed nothing had changed. Queen's still have the ability to play pretty football, dominate the opposition for most of the game ... and come away with nothing. The exquisite agony of it.
Even the goals had a ring of Deja Vu all over again (think about it) as we conceded late, and even gifted them the winner with a freakish own goal.
So, what would Billy Stark do today to reverse the recent rotten run of results, and start us climbing the league table?
Well, the coach had to cope with a mini central defensive crisis. No Steve Reilly, no Richard Sinclair, no Jonny Whelan. In the event, there were a few changes from the side which looked so good at Stenny last week. Crawford replaced the unavailable Cairns in goal and Frankie Carroll was on from the start in place of Dunn. Shaun Molloy came in for the injured Reilly and lined up at left back, Mick Dunlop taking one pace to his right to stand alongside Big D in the middle. Apart from that, it was at you were.
Homer's been told Queen's are playing some lovely football - and being praised by other teams in the league - but fact is only Elgin are below us in the Third Division. True, a couple of wins and we would quickly find ourselves at the opposite end of the table - and even a win today could see us leapfrog today's opponents, four placed Montrose.
It was a low-key start, in keeping with a low key pitch. I know Homer has been away for a while, but last time I saw the Hampden pitch - on the first day of the season against Arbroath - it was a picture. Today, those ageing artists The Rolling Stones and one Robbie Williams have left it looking distinctly threadbare.
Homer shouldn't complain. An uneventful start may be just what he needed after his extended break, but he would happily have risked writer's cramp - or is is RSI on the keyboard? - to record a glut of QP goals.
But, no. Even my tame anorak Gulliver struggled to find anything worth entry in his notebook. A good run and cross by Weatherston in three minutes, which the striker overhit, and it was 20-odd minutes before we recorded a move involving Trouten, Weatherston, and Paton which ended with the right back's cross being headed clear by Adam as Trouten continued his run into the box and looked certain to get his head to the ball.
Queen's were dominating possession - just as they did at Stenny last week - but the end product was in short supply.
Montrose were forced into an early substitution when Kerrigan replaced Michie in 31 minutes, the Montrose top scorer seeming to nurse his right hamstring.
Queen's best chance came in 31 minutes. A good move through the middle and Canning's neat through ball put Trouten into the box, but Adam slid in to clear on the penalty spot as Trouten prepared to pull the trigger.
Higgins was booked for a foul on Carroll in 34 minutes as Queen's continued to dominate. Montrose, perhaps ominously, given the recent QP form, had shown absolutely nothing. They were happy to sit in, inviting Queen's on, and Crawford was in danger of being distracted by the conversation of the ballboys.
Paton made good ground down the right and, as his low cross came into the box, Weatherston only half connected with his swinging right boot and the ball went harmlessly wide. A chance.
A minute later, 37, Ferry had a shot charged down after connecting with a pass from Carroll.
Right on half time, we thought we had athe breakthrough. Weatherston's pace took him clear into the box on the left but, after sidestepping the keeper, his touch took him too wide for a shot at the empty net and his subsequent cross was easily cleared by the retreating Montrose defence.
Come half-time, Queen's were well ahead on points, but we needed a knock-out blow.
Half-time: QP 0, Montrose 0

Nothing had changed after the break as Queen's got back in control from the start, but again without any great conviction.
Montrose had their first shot in 54 minutes, from Napier, but Crawford saved comfortably low down.
But Homer did say that Montrose's lack of ambition was ominous, did he not? And in 56 minutes the not so unthinkable happened when the visitors scored.
It came from the penalty spot, the offence a tame tackle by Agostini on Henslee as Montrose finally discovered the route into the Queen'sPark area. The tackle brought a yellow card but little protest from the Queen's defender. Rodgers scored from the spot. You couldn't make it up.
McLeod was booked in 58 minutes for blocking Weatherston's run as Montrose retreated back into their shell. Molloy did excellent work to get into tyhne box dowsn thbe byline, but his cross was bootred clear.
The Hoops' final delivery definitely left a lot to be desired, but you couldn't say that about Ferry's cross from the left a minute later. It was right on the money, but Frankie Carroll didn''t even connect with what was a free header.
Paton was booked for a foul, and Billy Stark had seen enough. He made a triple change - sending on Quinn, Dunn and Ronald to replace Molloy, Canning and Carroll.
Kettlewell lost possession deep in the Montrose half and the visitors broke down the right through Rodgers. Certainly, Crawford thought there was little danger as the No 9 swept the ball across. The Queen's keeper failed to react and the ball smacked off the crossbar and came back into play.
Quinn headed tamely into the arms of Reid from a corner, but Queen's had become bogged down. They didnt look as if they had the know-how to
unlock the Montrose defence.
The visitors brought on Fraser for Davidson in 72 minutes. Around 78-81, Paton had five successive passes all of which went to the opposition. It summed up how much our game had degenerated.
Dry your eyes, Homer. Here comes the cavalry in the shape of Mark Ferry, with a magnificent low strike from fully 30 yards to put Queen's level. It came completely out of the blue, a nothing move in the middle of the park, four minutes from time, but what a glorious strike it was, low to Reid's right hand.
Better late than never, but it needed Crawford to save with his feet from Rodgers two minutes later to keep the scores level.
Amazing how a goal can lift a game, even Montrose gave themselves a shake. Had they played like this in the previous 85 minutes, perhaps the fans would have had value for money. Still, I don''t suppose the handful of Montrose fans were unhappy with their point; and they'll be used to such fare.
Kettlewell was booked late on.