| Three Gretna goals in a first-half burst was enough to deflate an eager Queen's Park side, which was overwhelmed by the force and talent of their opponents. The home team proved too strong for a young Queen's Park team which sorely missed the services of Damiano Agostini and David McCallum. Stuart Kettlewell was also sidelined for this one through suspension, with Brian Blair, Shaun Molloy and Richard Sinclair returning to the fold in the starting eleven. Ross Clark led out Queen's for what was to be a disheartening first-half. As had been expected, Gretna dominated from the off and a block from Sinclair nearly looped under David Crawford's crossbar. Fortunately, the youngster was well awake to catch the awkward ball. QP's first chance came after 5 minutes, when Frankie Carroll passed to Brian Blair who had his deflected shot easily saved by Mathieson. As a good number of Queen's fans had known prior to kick-off, the referee for this game was Jamie Downie, hardly a fan-favourite amongst the Spiders support and he did little to endear himself to the away crowd by giving a deliberate handball decision against Brian Blair as the midfielder merely tried to control the ball on his thigh with there being no ball-to-hand movement when his hand brushed against it. Worse was to come as he inexplicably gave a corner to Gretna when no contact had been made by a Queen's player. Brian Gilfillan, already a goalscorer against Queen's this season, for Cowdenbeath, had his 25 yard shot fly well over the bar, with Gretna trying to get an early lead. But it wasn't going to be all easy for the home side as Queen's had a little pressure in Gretna's third of the pitch, resulting in Mark Ferry firstly having his shot blocked, then his second effort comfortably gathered by Mathieson. It was getting physical, in the middle of the park especially, and David Bingham went in late on Paul Harvey but saw no card. On 14 minutes, Gretna had their first true effort of the game. Kenny Deuchar latched on a long ball which caught the Queen's defence up the park, but the ex-East Fife forward could only lash the ball against the side-netting, with some Gretna fans thinking the ball had gone inside Crawford's left-hand post. A minute later, Deuchar was lucky not to be booked for a two-footed tackle on Shaun Molloy which incurred the wrath of the Queen's travelling support. He was involved again shortly after as he quite blatantly held back Richard Sinclair as a high ball was played into the Queen's penalty box. Unsurprisingly, Downie missed it. Deuchar was given an inch by the referee and he took a mile, helping Gretna take the lead on 22 minutes. The lanky forward appeared to shove Sinclair as he knocked the ball down to Ryan McGuffie and before Rushford could get there, McGuffie fired past Crawford from close-range. McGuffie could have been on the score-sheet again, but he failed to hit the target following another Deuchar set-up. Mark Ferry then hit another shot over the bar from long-range as Queen's tried to grab an equaliser. But on 27 minutes, Gretna were two goals up. Another long-ball over the top deceived Richard Sinclair and that man Deuchar again nipped ahead of the out-rushing Crawford to round the goalie and shoot into an empty net from 12 yards. A brilliant finish, but a sickener for the away side. On the half-hour mark hot-head Gilfillan went in late on Frankie Carroll but only received a verbal warning from Downie. Queen's had a great chance to get one back on 32 minutes as Shaun Molloy hoisted a great cross in from the left. Richard Sinclair headed the ball down at the back post but no Queen's player could connect soon enough and Mathieson dived to collect. Another Gretna attack later and the home side scored their third goal in 10 minutes. A quick throw-in caught Queen's sleeping, McQuilken crossed in and Gavin Skelton showed great composure by driving a low shot past Crawford. No further proof was needed to show that Gretna were veritable experts in front of goal. Queen's had done little wrong to be three goals down already, although Gretna did deserve to be ahead. Referee Downie was set to receive another volley of abuse from the Queen's fans as he failed to book Birch for a late tackle on Ferry. And he enraged the QP fans further by giving Queen's a corner as Molloy was brought down in the box by Ryan Baldacchino. The Gretna player made no contact with the ball but Downie still saw fit to give a corner, when a goal-kick would surely have been the right call if he thought no penalty was to be awarded. As the half drew to a close, Mark Birch and Gavin Skelton both had shots saved by Crawford. Kenny Deuchar, covered in mud already, was down lolling about on the grass again following a foul from Richard Sinclair. It certainly doesn't take much to knock this giant off his feet. The game was stopped again as goal-scorer McGuffie took out Mark Ferry but incredibly Downie didn't take any action. To their credit, Queen's started the second-half well with Brian Blair forcing a save from Mathieson after a good cross. The resulting corner from Paul Harvey, though, was poor and failed to trouble the Gretna defence. On 56 minutes, Skelton's hand came into contact with the ball whilst inside the penalty box but nothing was given by Downie who had obviously forgotten penalising Brian Blair for a similar incident early in the first half. Two minutes later, Downie found his little black book. Harshly, it was Molloy who went into it for a tackle on, of all people, McGuffie, who had been very lucky not to be booked in the first-half. After an hour, Martin Bonnar made his return to the first team, replacing Brian Blair in midfield and three minutes later, Queen's got a penalty. Frankie Carroll fell as the ball rolled out of play and Downie gave the decision much to the amazement of the Gretna fans and players. From where the Queen's fans were standing it was difficult to catch the incident, but it appeared Carroll had been needlessly nudged by Mark Aitken. Ross Clark stepped up and took the penalty excellently, shooting low into the right corner of the goal with Mathieson going the other way. Gretna were still in control, but they had become sloppy, happy to hammer the ball forward when under a little pressure and found it difficult to string passes together. Queen's had grown in confidence since the goal and were playing with a little more drive. The refereering performance became almost intolerable for Queen's fans on 68 minutes as Martin Bonnar was cynically brought down by Jamie McQuilken who then kicked the ball away in a huff after the decision went against him. Having booked Molloy for less, Downie did nothing. He finally booked a Gretna player, cautioning Gilfillan for a foul on Clark, after 70 minutes. As the temperature rose, he booked Mark Ferry for a late tackle on Ryan McGuffie, a player who had infuriated the Queen's players for somehow avoiding a booking himself. Ally Graham missed a great chance to make it 3-2 on 74 minutes, the big man shooting over after bringing the ball down well 12 yards out. Gavin Rushford was then booked after a foul on lightweight Ryan Baldacchino. Queen's needed a goal with the clock running down to try and panic the far from cool Gretna team but Ally Graham couldn't direct his header on target. David Bingham was then jeered off by Queen's fans after a classic money-for-nothing performance and was replaced by Brian Wake on 80 minutes. Gretna made it four with a minute left. Substitute Derek Townsley played a ball through to an offside (?) Brian Wake and the striker thumped the ball past the exposed Crawford from 12 yards. The final whistle blew after 15 seconds of stoppage time and the Queen's fans applauded their young team off the pitch after a brave performance against a Gretna team bristling with experience and strength. As committed as this showing was, Queen's are now 7th in the table after four straight defeats. To everyone else it must look like Queen's are back to last season's standard but nothing could be further from the truth. We are playing good, consistent football at the moment and have been unlucky in the past month to take nothing from games we should have perhaps won. If we can convert the chances in front of goal and stay firm at the back, there isn't a team outside Gretna and Peterhead we can't beat. Next week won't be easy with Stenhousemuir coming to Hampden, a team who showed good skill the last time the teams played, but the capable Queen's players shouldn't have anything to fear and are well within their strengths to get the Spiders back on the road and up there fighting for 3rd spot. |
| Gretna 4 Queen's Park 1 |
| McGuffie, Deuchar, Skelton, Wake Clark (Penalty) |
| Man of the Match: Shaun Molloy Gretna: David Mathieson, Mark Birch, Jamie McQuilken, Bryan Gilfillan, Andy Aitken, David Irons, Ryan Baldacchino ( Derek Townsley 85 ), Ryan McGuffie, Kenneth Deuchar, David Bingham ( Brian Wake 80 ), Gavin Skelton. Subs Not Used: Stephen Cosgrove, David Holdsworth, Alan Main (GK). Booked: Gilfillan, Birch. Goals: McGuffie 22, Deuchar 27, Skelton 32, Wake 89. Queen's Park: David Crawford, Alan Trouten, Shaun Molloy, Gavin Rushford, Richard Sinclair, Paul Harvey, Brian Blair ( Martin Bonnar 58 ), Ross Clark, Ally Graham, Frankie Carroll, Mark Ferry. Subs Not Used: Steven Reilly, Brian Felvus, Tony Quinn, Steven McGovern (GK). Booked: Ferry, Molloy, Rushford. Goal: Clark (penalty) 62. Referee: Jamie Downie Attendance: 706 |