| Ever since Queen's Park's wonderful victory against Albion Rovers at Cliftonhill, the Hampden side have yet to register another win and - worse yet - score another goal. It seems to have all gone downhill in recent weeks with the team underperforming in games against Stenhousemuir, Gretna and now Montrose. Yesterday's match summed up our recent form and there was an all-round lack of fight in the way we played against a fairly ordinary Montrose team. Billy Stark made significant changes to the team which was beaten at Raydale last Saturday, with Danny Ferry, Jonny Whelan and Tony Quinn all losing their places in favour of Shaun Molloy, Gavin Rushford and the returning Ally Graham. Queen's had the better of the very early stages and could have taken the lead on 5 minutes. A Paul Harvey free-kick found its way to Ally Graham who had his shot blocked before Ross Clark fired another effort over the bar. David Crawford was tested properly for the first time four minutes later as he blocked well with his feet from a Calum Watson drive. And less than a minute afterwards the young goalkeeper saved his sluggish defence again with another great block with his feet, this time from Craig Smart. The game then lapsed into a period of aimlessness with Martin Sproule's whistle catching the ear on more than one occasion for usually laughable misinterpretations of the rules. After this quiet spell, it was Montrose once more who could have taken the lead and David Crawford blocked again with his feet from a Watson shot before collecting the ball with his hands. On 35 minutes, Ally Graham was quick to lay off Mark Ferry but the midfielder blazed his shot far and wide of the target. Queen's were pushing their luck at the back and were lucky to survive an excellent long range effort from Smart and then a Watson shot which Crawford got fully behind. The real talking point of the first-half, however, came with just seconds remaining. Alan Trouten ran down the right-side before crossing to Ally Graham who lost his balance whilst trying to control the ball. In desperation, Montrose's Barry Donnachie flung himself at the feet of the big striker, handling the ball which had become lodged in the resulting stramash. Now, everyone in the ground saw that a penalty surely had to be given ( rarely has a handball been more blatant ) but unsure as to what to do in such a unusual (??) situation, Sproule decided to give the decision against Queen's and award a free-kick to Montrose. Such incompetency should see Martin Sproule immediately demoted. Unfortunately he wasn't the only clown to blame as his assistant on the same side failed to intervene when there couldn't have been a better positioned person in the whole of Links Park. Regardless, it was 0-0 at the interval and both teams had been lucky not to have conceded in the first period. 6 minutes after the restart Montrose scored the opener. Martin Wood expertly crafted his way past the Queen's Park defenders from the left-side before firing a low shot past a helpless David Crawford. A good finish but Queen's had made it look better than it was. As if the penalty incident wasn't extraordinary enough, Martin Sproule continued his nonsense two minutes after the Montrose goal. Mark Ferry's cross into the box was converted into a blocked shot from Frankie Carroll. Whatever infringement there was must have been fabricated by the referee as he gave Montrose a free-kick following the striker's shot. Maybe Frankie kicked the ball too hard? An incredulous Paul Harvey was then spoken to by the referee. Stuart Kettlewell was the next player to be wound up by the referee as he lost his way following a foul on a Montrose player. He entered the book for his comments. Two minutes after Gavin Rushford had conceded an indirect free-kick on the edge of his own area, he was responsible for conceding a penalty. Kerr Dodds needed no invitation to fall under a mistimed intervention by the young defender and Sproule pointed to the spot. After a smirking Dodds got to his feet, Craig Smart blasted the penalty past Crawford, who had guessed correctly to dive to his right, to make it 2-0. On 64 minutes, it just got worse for Queen's as Paul Harvey was booked by Sproule for a very soft foul. Last time I checked Harve wasn't exactly a roughneck player prone to putting the boot in so a bit of common sense wouldn't have gone amiss from Mr. Sproule?... Queen's needed a quick goal to put themselves back in the game but Ally Graham's lack of pace resulted in a couple of chances going awry. Frankie Carroll hadn't had many chances to shoot throughout the game and he came in cold on 75 minutes when he had the chance to beat Butter. The veteran goalkeeper managed to do enough to keep the miss-hit shot out, by tipping the ball just over the bar. Stuart Kettlewell had a golden chance three minutes later but it summed up his poor display on the day when he couldn't put the ball into an empty net from just outside the box with Jim Butter falling all over the place after the goalkeeper had been challenged by Carroll. With time running out Ross Clark tried to take a quick free-kick but a Montrose player - not the 10 required yards back - got in the way of Ross's pass and the Queen's midfielder understandably protested to the referee. Despite Ross having a strong case, Sproule booked him anyway for dissent, or as most people call it - 'common sense'. With 7 minutes left, Billy Stark took off Ally Graham and threw on Bryan Felvus. This change should have been made much sooner, most probably when Montrose started their changes on 70 minutes. Big Ally hadn't had the best of games and it was totally unfair of the Queen's coach to expect young Felvus to do anything with so little time left. To his credit, the young forward did get a shot on target in injury time with a 25-yard drive which Butter had to tip over the bar. The fact that this was only the second or third time the Montrose stopper had to be alert summed up the whole day. No goals in the last three games is a massive disappointment for all Queen's fans, especially with third place waiting there on a plate after recent results had gone our way. Now Montrose occupy that spot and Queen's only have themselves to blame for wasting the considerable talent which should have given them the advantage over the Links Park side. Next Tuesday will prove a massive test for Queen's as they travel to Elgin in the search for a much-needed win. More performances like yesterday, however, will only result in more misery for the Queen's supporters who deserve better. Cold steel and fight required! |
| Montrose Queen's Park |
| 2 0 |
| Wood, Smart (penalty) |
| Queen's Park: David Crawford, Alan Trouten, Shaun Molloy, Gavin Rushford, Richard Sinclair, Paul Harvey, Stuart Kettlewell, Ross Clark, Ally Graham ( Bryan Felvus 82 ), Frankie Carroll, Mark Ferry. Substitutes Not Used: Danny Ferry, Jonny Whelan, Tony Quinn, Alex Cowie (GK). Booked: Kettlewell, Harvey, Rushford, Clark Montrose: Jim Butter, Barry Donnachie, Stuart Ferguson, Elliot Smith, Neil Stephen, Stephen Fraser, Kevin Webster ( Graeme Sharp 74 ) Craig Smart, Martin Wood, Calum Watson ( Duncan McLean 70 ), Kerr Dodds. Substitutes Not Used: Darren Spink, Euan Hall, Michael Hankinson (GK). Goals: Wood 50, Smart 59 (penalty) Referee: Martin Sproule Attendance: 377 |