| GRETNA 1 QUEEN'S PARK 1 |
| If Gretna are going to be challenging for promotion this season then judging by today's performance, Queen's can't be far behind. What QP showed today was determination and resilience to overcome the cynical play of some opposition players and terrible officiating. It looked as if Queen's were buried after Martin Cameron's 83rd minute strike but Frankie Carroll levelled the game in the third minute of injury time to give the Spiders a well earned point. Manager Kenny Brannigan had to make some changes from the side that were narrowly eliminated by St. Mirren in the Challenge Cup. Steven Fallon was out and replaced by youngster Ross Conlin. Jonny Whelan returned after last week's work commitments and Queen's also fielded a trialist, midfielder Paul Harvey, who slotted in for the injured David McCallum. In glorious sunshine and all clad in orange and blue, Queen's started promisingly, forcing a corner in the opening 15 seconds. Just a minute later Paul Harvey played a cutting pass through to David Menelaws who passed to Jonny Whelan, but the Scouser couldn't keep his shot down. Last week's connection between strikers Ally Graham and Menelaws was rekindled with the pair reacting well to each other's movements in the final third of the park. Disaster nearly struck moments later, however, when Derek Scrimgour let a hopeful cross from Knox bounce straight over his head and towards the Queen's goal, but fortunately the ball was cleared. And the Spiders were clearly still shaken after that let-off as Ross Conlin played a slack pass back to Scrimgour. The goalkeeper couldn't clear the pass properly and Mike Galloway almost put Gretna ahead. Damiano Agostini was there, though, to hook the ball clear. As proven earlier with Scrimgour's misjudgement, the surface was beginning to become a bit of a problem for the players. Despite it's apparent smoothness, the balls were flying off the turf with great height and in total, approximately ten balls were lost due to them bouncing out of the ground, farcical as it sounds. After a Whelan shot which sailed past Mathieson's left hand post, the game broke down and referee Martin Sproule - in his first match - faced his first major challenge. He proved time and again throughout the afternoon that he wasn't up to the task and booked Ross Clark for dissent although even the most eagle-eyed fan would have struggled to find what exactly was wrong. New Gretna signing Gary Cohen was causing problems early on with his electric pace and good dribbling skills, but he certainly knew where and when to fall and Sproule, convinced by his exaggerated dives, booked Sinclair. Cohen was in action moments later when another Knox cross was floated into the area. He rose to head the ball, taking Scrimgour with him, and the ball sailed past. Scrimgour had been dazed by Cohen after the challenge and was soon on the deck awaiting treatment. Thankfully he continued, but with no sub goalkeeper on the bench for the second consecutive week, perhaps Queen's won't be so lucky next time. The game slowed somewhat shortly after the Scrimgour-Cohen incident and an injured Paul Harvey was replaced by Danny Ferry on 32 minutes. James Allan had been quiet - in his actions, at least - but Queen's fans knew all too well that he was a threat and his running earned him a free-kick which he aimed just past a post. Both sets of fans were becoming impatient with the erratic handling of the game by Sproule and his assistants, and a Menelaws goal was ruled out after the assistant referee raised his flag in a confusing offside incident. Menelaws couldn't have been offside as Whelan's shot was blocked by a Gretna defender before breaking free to the striker. Menelaws had an even better chance to score just before half time when he wriggled free in a packed penalty area. With goalkeeper Mathieson lost in the scramble Menelaws hammered the balls towards the goal, but his shot was somehow stopped on the line by a Gretna boot. Then, even more remarkably, Menelaws fired in an identical shot but was incredibly stopped again as Skelton used his body to block the shot before it hit the net. At half-time Steven Moffat replaced Richard Sinclair in defence and after 50 minutes Jimmy Allan was ironically cheered by Queen's fans as he was subbed for Ryan McGuffie. Gretna were still causing problem on the wings and how Martin Cameron didn't score after a low ball was played in his direction 5 yards from goal is a real mystery for Rowan Alexander to solve. Sub McGuffie tried his luck too, but his effort was well smothered by Derek Scrimgour. The game flared up again on the hour mark when Gary Cohen clashed with Damiano Agostini. The big defender was willing to shrug the challenge off, but Cohen thought otherwise and pushed Agostini. Agostini walked away and Cohen was rightly booked. But in another gutless act, synonymous with referees these days, Sproule booked Agostini, despite the defender being the victim of yet another piece of cynical play from Cohen. Frankie Carroll made his entry into the match and replaced Davie Menelaws, who had faded from the game. However, it was Ross Clark who had Queen's's best chance of the half to score, but he couldn't direct his shot and it flew wide. Danny Ferry then tried his luck with a nice flighted effort from 20 yards which forced Mathieson to make a awkward parry over the bar. The resulting corner found the head of towering striker Ally Graham, but Mathieson made a superb diving save by tipping the goal-bound attack out for another corner. But as was typical for most of last season Queen's conceded when they looked the most likely to score themselves. Ross Conlin made a great challenge on the edge of the Queen's box, but confusion between him and Dunning gave the pacy Cohen a free run on the left hand side of Scrimgour's goal. With the angle too tight for a shot, Cohen squared the ball to Cameron who made sure this time that he put his team in front. His earlier miss was probably an easier chance but he didn't make any mistake this time and with only 7 minutes remaining it looked as if Queen's had had their hearts broken again. Gretna slowed the pace of the game down after the goal and were happy to waste time deep in the Queen's half. Cohen should have scored with a couple of minutes left, but somehow Agostini got back and made a superb sliding challenge, making sure to knock Cohen down in the process. But with the referee looking at his watch and with his whistle firmly placed between his lips, Queen's went for one last effort. A long ball down field was frantically intercepted by both O'Neill and Holdsworth, and the two only succeeded in distracting each other as their combined efforts resulted in the ball dropping at the feet of Frankie Carroll. With literally seconds remaining Carroll burst through on goal, kept his composure, poised himself and smashed an excellent left foot shoot past Matheson. The goalkeeper got a touch but Carroll's accurate shot was enough and Queen's had received their well earned goal and, after the restart, point. Overall it was a strong performance from Queen's who had to dig deep to get their goal when all looked lost. Despite all their money, Gretna looked better than last season, but not by much. Holdsworth had a decent match, but Allan was non-existent. Despite his goal, Cameron was outnumbered by Moffat and Agostini and was largely unnoticed. In Gary Cohen they have a good prospect but he'll have to start playing with more honesty in future if he wants to get anywhere in the Scottish game. Kenny Brannigan has reason to be optimistic about the coming weeks and months. Dunning and Ferry played with well-timed aggression and Ross Conlin, despite early nerviness, came onto a good game. Steven Moffat, although maybe not back to full match fitness, played some calm football and Agostini, well, what more can you say about the man? Superb. The midfield is strong and the attack looks so too with Carroll's excellent opportunism at the death an encouraging sign. KB must use these players to steer Queen's to a higher league position than last season and maybe if I'm not getting too carried away, a possible top-half finish. But we'll talk about that in maybe a few months time. Until then this season is shaping up to be another exciting one. Will money prevail over good old fashioned playing for the game's sake? Only time will tell ... |
| Cameron |
| Carroll |
| Gretna: Mathieson, Knox, Skelton, Prokas, O' Neill, Holdsworth, Skinner ( Gordon ), Galloway, Cameron, Cohen, Allan ( McGuffie ). Subs Not Used: Irons, Robb, Wylie. Booked: Cohen, Allan, Galloway. Goal: Cameron ( 84 ) Queen's Park: Scrimgour, Dunning, Clark, Sinclair ( Moffat ), Agostini, Conlin, Reilly, Harvey ( Ferry ), Graham, Whelan, Menelaws ( Carroll ). Subs Not Used: Canning. Booked: Agostini, Clark, Whelan. Goal: Carroll ( 90 ) Attendance: 420. |