( Ormiston, Boyle )
John Gallagher returned to left back for this game, displacing Steven Fallon, who went to the right of the defence. Brendan Crozier played down the left, while Willie Martin partnered John Gemmell up front after scoring the winner in the previous week's cup tie against the same opposition.
Queen's had the first real chance of the game after 3 minutes. Hesitation at the back from the visitors after Gallagher's ball forward allowed Willie Martin to nip in but he sent his volley over from only a few yards. And within 2 minutes it was Shire who had opened the scoring. A free kick was partially blocked, and the ball ran through for Agostini to clear not far from his own goal line. Damiano fluffed it, and Ormiston, putting him under pressure, was rewarded with a shot which Stewart had little chance to save. Another defensive error had given the oppostion a goal start early in a game.
East Stirling could now be expected to sit on their lead, and true enough Queen's controlled most of the first half play, despite looking less than assured at the back. John Gemmell came close with a thumping drive after 12 minutes, following a beautiful piece of control; he flicked the ball over his own head before lashing the ball at goal and seeing Findlay block it for a corner. Then Willie Martin, whose attitude and work rate all game were exceptional, nearly got lucky when a clearance by Findlay came off his back and flew over the crossbar.
Danny Ferry then got free on the right hand side of the area, a position he had scored from against Gretna, but this time his narrow angle shot was stopped by the keeper and Willie Martin could do no better than blast the rebound wide. Another chance came from Gemmell, who again brought the ball down well inside the box before being forced wide of goal and having his effort deflected for a corner, before Willie Martin turned his man on the halfway line and charged away down the left a minute later. Apart from Gemmell though, no Queen's player had joined him in attack quickly enough; he was forced to turn back, before eventually laying off Whelan for a shot which was deflected into the keeper's hands.
Queen's had been creating chances, and Stewart had had all but nothing to do, but they found themselves behind. Whether the heads now dropped, I do not know, but certainly the game deteriorated into a scrappy affair, with neither side doing anything worth mentioning until near the half-time whistle. At that point, Danny Ferry found space on the right and tapped the ball across the face of goal but there were no takers, and again Queen's lack of a real hitman was exposed. It was obvious that a real confidence boost was needed at half-time; the question was whether or not John McCormack could provide it.
Two changes were made at half-time; Crozier, unable to provide the necessary width, was replaced by Canning, and Steve Moffat came off for Sinclair to take his defensive berth.
Canning was involved pretty quicky, as he tried to get on the end of Gemmell's flick-on off Colin Stewart's long free kick. However, the ball ran wide for a corner.
East Stirling's best chance arrived ten minutes into the second half. Fairbairn, their most dangerous player, was allowed to home in on goal from the half-way line and move into the penalty area. He was tackled by Agostini, but regained his balance before firing in a shot which Stewart did very well to parry. The Queen's defence had looked distinctly uncomfortable trying to cope with Fairbairn's raid.
Willie Martin was looking like a possible provider for Queen's, if anyone was going to be. He swung over a pacy cross after a great ball from Gallagher down the left-wing, but Gemmell failed to make contact as he looked to be struggling more and more. This on the hour mark, and shortly afterwards Canning showed his ability by nutmegging a defender down the left, pushing a cross into the near post, for Gemmell to knock wide under pressure. John's lack of real pace is a problem, yet his touch is marvellous at times. In this game, he failed to win the number of aerial balls that is his usual trademark. If only he was slightly quicker in his reactions on certain occasions then Queen's would achieve more.
Queen's passing gradually got worse and their powers of invention withered away to almost nothing. It was turning into a most frustrating afternoon, highlighted by the knowledge that East Stirling seemed to pose little threat and hardly looked the most formidable obstacle, and yet were coping more and more easily with Queen's attempts to attack. The introduction of Taggart for the disappointing Whelan had resulted in little improvement, and the fans sensed an away win against the run of play.
The last ten minutes saw the now customary flurry of late chances as the players sensed the game was running away from them. Willie Martin combined with Canning on the left wing, and Stevie controlled the ball before having a shot tipped wide of his left hand post by Findlay.
Canning was again involved with just 2 minutes left when he skinned his man before cutting inside, but again Gemmell couldn't reach it as the home fans groaned. And it was cries of anger and disbelief which followed, as Canning managed to break free and get a clear shot at goal; he had to score, but somehow fired over. A shocking miss.
And the inevitable happened. With the game now virtually up anyway, Shire stole a second. The ball was pumped down the middle, Boyle found oceans of space on the edge of the area, and effortlessly sidestepped the onrushing Stewart before sliding it home.
Undoubtedly, the visitors had got a real break, but Queen's only had themselves to blame. They had not played well by any means, but had still managed to create enough chances to take something. The passing had been misplaced far too often to allow for fluid play. As for Shire's goals, the second had not mattered a great deal, in truth, but the first had been avoidable. Just how crucial that opening counter in any Queen's Park match tends to be was hammered home again, and all doesn't seem to be too well down Hampden way.
Queen's Park: Stewart, Ferry, Fallon, Moffat ( Sinclair ), Agostini, Quinn, Crozier ( Canning ), Whelan ( Taggart ), Gemmell, Martin, J. Gallagher.
East Stirlingshire: Findlay, Struthers, Reid, Grant, McGhee, McKay, Leishman ( Boyle ), Sean McAuley, Fairbairn ( Ure ), Ormiston, Livingstone. Goals: Ormiston 5, Boyle 90.
Attendance: 426.
Match stats