Scottish League Division 3
	Arbroath	1
	Tosh
	Queen's Park	2
	Weatherston, Trouten
Saturday, May 5, 2007

FOLLOWING this wonderful club is like riding a rollercoaster, walking a tightrope – and being an expectant father in the late stages of your wife’s pregnancy ... all at the same time.
You experience wonderful highs, and the darkest of lows. You never know when – or indeed if – it’s all going to come crashing down.
And, perhaps worst of all, you can do nothing but be there, utter words of encouragement - and wait to see what happens.
We had already experienced some amazing emotional swings and roundabouts during this remarkable season, and today was never going to be any different.
Reasons to be confident were easy to find before kick-off: We had the best defence in all the Scottish leagues, including the Premier Division.
We went to Arbroath with a 2-0 lead before the game even started, and the Gayfield side were without a couple of suspended regulars.
We had already won at Gayfield earlier in the season.
What was there to suggest anything could go wrong? Only this, it’s Queen’s Park we’re talking about, and in 140 incredible years, we had never done things the easy way.
The alarm bells were ringing, quite literally, before the players even set off today. A wee problem with the system meant the fire siren sounded and brought the boys in the red engines racing to Lesser Hampden.
A taste of things to come ... Gulliver hoped not.
There were two very different scenarios possible. A quick goal for Queen’s would ease the tension and let us play our football; a quick strike for the home side and the old cheeks were in for a nervous afternoon.
There were one nasty surprise from the treatment table, Tony Quinn was unfit to even take a place on the bench, but the good news was that Richard Sinclair was included in the squad.

Most in the Hoops colours expected the boss to err on the side of caution, and his starting XI contained no shocks. Paul Ronald came in for Robert Dunn, and that was the only change

The big danger was that Arbroath would fly out the traps, pile on the pressure and force a young Queen's team to buckle.

It never happened, and truth be told it never threatened. It's fair to say there were far more nerves exhibited on the terracings than on the park. We looked in control of ourselves from the start, and were soon in control of the tie.

The home side put Willie Martin on the bench and brought in Brian Scott who had terrorised us at Hampden when he came on as a sub in the first game of the season. Scott was important early on, but only for getting booked after he decked Paul Paton.

Five minutes later we carved out the first real chance when the pace of Weatherston got him clear down the right. His cross found the head of Ronald, but keeper Peat kept it out.

A goal would make life a lot easier for the Hoops, and it should have arrived after 22 minutes. Weatherston got clear again, this time down the left, and picked out Trouten. But with the goal gaping, the ball bounced up and he shinned it wide.

The fear was we might pay for that miss and our worries increased moments later when Weatherston fell over keeper Peat and clutched his wrist in agony. Gulliver had visions of an early departure for the Queen's striker, but after a few anxious moments for 10-man Queen's, the Doc nodded, Weatherston came back on ... and from then on this was our day.

Just after the half-hour we got the decisive breakthrough, and it will surprise nobody to hear Weatherston was involved.

Ferry and Ronald managed to find a gap for the striker, who took one touch before finding the corner of the net.

That was the shackles off, and Queen's went looking for the killer second. It arrived right on the interval.

Weatherston skipped clear down the left, picked out Trouten ... and this time the wee midfielder made no mistake and found the net from close range.

Two-nil on the day, four-nil on aggregate, and even Gulliver and Homer agreed we could start thinking about the play-off final.

Arbroath changed things at the break, replacing Stein and Raeside with Sellars and Reilly.

The home side needed a minor miracle, and got a glimmer of hope within the first few seconds. Agostini, a rock at the heart of our defence, was fouled by Sellars and had to leave the pitch. Sellars was booked for his part in proceedings.

Richard Sinclair came on, but before he worked up a sweat, Arbroath had scored. A sweet cross from the left was bulleted home by Tosh, and there was just a hint of anxiety in the ranks of the visiting support.

We needn't have worried; this is a Queen's Park side not quite ready to give up on the dream.

Apart from the 71st minute, when DC had to be at his best to turn away a curling shot, we were never under pressure.

True, we never looked too hot ourselves going forward, but you can't blame the players. They knew they were in the final, and they knew there were bigger challenges ahead.

There were bookings for Paton and Sinclair, as well as Tosh, there were a few half chances, but the good news is there were no more home goals ... and no more away injuries.

The boss gave Trouten a wee rest and brought on Frankie Carroll, then swapped Dunn for Weatherston.

Truth be told, everybody was probably happy to hear the final whistle. Arbroath knew they had been beaten by a better side; Queen's wanted to get off the park without any injuries or crazy reds cards.
The whistle duly arrived, and the boss could turn his thoughts to Wednesday. We'll lose home advantage because a couple of Spanish mobs are taking over Hampden for a Cup Final, but we have enjoyed one good nighht already this season at Firhill.

We have nothing to fear from East Fife, but by the same token will need to perform to earn our place in Division 2 next term.

Gulliver doesn't know about you, but I would have taken this scenario before the season started. Even without home advantage, I think we are good enough to make it.

But I suspect we might just have as sweaty moment or two before that happens. Keep the faith, the players have earned it.