( McKinnon )
The line-up showed four changes from the previous week's match, with Agostini returning to the centre of defence,displacing Quinn, who took Taggart's midfield berth. Steven Fallon switched sides to accomodate John Gallagher at left-back, while Willie Martin and James Allan, thorns in the flesh of the other Albion last Saturday, started. Taggart and Lappin dropped to the bench.
The opening few minutes were quiet, but the visitors gradually began to take the game by the scruff of the neck. Tony Quinn especially looked raring to go, having been restored to his favoured midfield position. The first shot arrived from the right boot of the equally lively Ferry, firing high after coming through on his own, following Allan's switch of play to the right wing. The tricky winger's mesmerising style provided Queen's with an important outlet again in this match. He was the next to have an effort at goal, but it failed to trouble Reid. A long kickout from Stewart had been flicked on by Martin's head for Allan to pick up, and such simplicity could have paid dividends once more in the early stages as this time Ferry knocked the ball forward for Martin to chase. Willie did well to get to the byeline on the right-hand side; his cross evaded Jack, but fell kindly for James Allan just 10 yards out. With an excellent chance, Allan hit the ball towards the near post, and Reid was able to block the ball with his body and deflect it out for a corner. This represented probably Queen's best chance of the whole 90 minutes, but once more it had been passed up.
At this stage Stirling, minus Steven Nicholas, were barely in the game and Colin Stewart had been totally unoccupied. A James Allan free-kick curled just wide after 17 minutes, following a Stirling defender's cynical halting of a Stewart Jack run.
Perhaps the lack of activity had gone to Colin Stewart's head however, as he made a strange misjudgment with around 20 minutes gone that could have cost Queen's dear. Charging out of your goal when there are defenders around is a foolish thing for a keeper to do, but Stewart chose that way of fending off a Mallan raid. Any danger soon passed though, as Mallan was forced wide before Moffat cleared his cross. The big defender then showed some lovely skills inside the opposition penalty area following a corner; he managed to chest the ball down and flick it over a defender's head, before slipping as he shaped to shoot. With Queen's dominating, a goal seemed a probability, but we'd been here so many times before that no-one would have believed that. The final ball into the penalty area was not proving good enough, with a lack of height and accuracy a problem from Jack's point of view.
On 31 minutes the inspirational Ferry knocked a free kick to the back post for Moffat to nod back across goal, but Agostini, stealing in, couldn't quite make contact as Reid made the catch.
Stirling had barely done anything of note, yet were to find the lead with a goal that was somehow predictable. O'Brien made a nice one-two that cut Queen's open at the back; with the goal gaping, he slipped the ball inside from the left of the area, giving McKinnon the easiest of finishes from a few yards. All this in their first good move of the game.
As one might have suspected, the conceding of a goal saw Queen's almost visibly be sapped of confidence, and the home side could have settled matters shortly afterwards. A cross from Duncan led to Mallan's header being well parried by Stewart from a standing position, and the on-loan keeper was able to cope with a follow-up drive. Tony Quinn then made a poor header towards his own goal 25 yards out, but Cummings was crowded out before any damage could be inflicted.
James Allan's dribbling can be a joy to watch but often the winger's shooting and final passes can infuriate; he was again guilty shortly before half-time when he attempted a lob from an excruciatingly tight angle within the penalty area that had no merit as either a shot or a cross.
He still looked however, the most likely Spider to break down the home rearguard.
Having had the vast majority of the attacking, Queen's could have felt aggrieved at being behind at half-time. The second half saw little change in the pattern, except for all of the neat passing, Queen's could not create enough chances or take those that were made. Jack curved a 20 yard effort wide a minute after the resumption, before a Quinn header, set up by Danny Ferry's cross, was deflected for a corner. Tony had done well to get on the end of the ball after finding Ferry on the right originally.
The game then seemed to drift away from Queen's, as the final ball into the area proved poor or there was a lack of bodies around to trouble the home central defence. The vigour had gone out of Queen's game, and John Gemmell was thrown on for Jack in the 67th minute in an attempt to remedy that situation. Shortly beforehand, Willie Martin had turned on the edge of the area before steering the ball narrowly over.
Stirling should then have secured the points when Rowe showed a true defender's poise in front of goal by blasting over from close range; the danger had arisen from a corner that was nodded on for the big veteran with Queen's in some disarray. Gemmell then found Allan moving down the left, but his cross found no takers as Queen's looked less and less likely to equalise.
The home side, on the other hand, had begun to find space in the opposing half and after a Queen's corner had been cleared, Mallan broke away and found Dunn right in front of goal; with time to pick his spot, the forward's shot was not powerful enough to beat Stewart who did well to get his outstretched right hand to it.
James Allan then showed the type of skill that is seen too rarely at this level, jinking through the centre of the Stirling defence and carving out the space for Willie Martin to shoot; sadly, his effort was struck too rapidly and Reid was scarcely bothered. Should have done better. After another Stirling counter-attack, John Gallagher picked up a booking for blocking a cross with his hand. With time running out, Cowboy McCormack introduced Paddy Gallagher for Martin, and then Taggart for Whelan, who had contributed little in an attacking sense from the midfield.
Agostini made a great tackle on Mallan, who had been the most dangerous Stirling player. The veteran then outpaced a tiring Steven Moffat before lobbing weakly wide, having allowed Moffat to catch up with him again.
One final moment of controversy remained to anger the visiting support, as James Allan was pulled back as he made a lone run on goal. The referee seemed not to have seen the tug, and had his attention alerted by a linesman's flag. The frustration of the Queen's fans at their team's inability to score was translated into abuse of the officials, but in the heat of the moment...
In any case, the set-piece was wasted, as cutting the ball back to Ferry proved a poor option; Danny failed to get a good hit on the ball, and another three points had gone down the drain.
This game proved similar to the earlier one versus Montrose when Queen's had looked comfortable enough before conceding a goal, then had been lacking in firepower enough to get an equaliser. Click here for the conclusion of this report