| A Frankie Carroll goal in the final seconds of injury time gave Queen's a well-earned point against second-placed Peterhead at Hampden. Only a minute earlier had Peterhead scored what looked to be the winner with a Michie goal, but QP's fighting spirit once again came back to the fore to haunt Peterhead and seriously dent their championship hopes. Much like the last time Queen's played Peterhead, this game will be remembered for its finish and not for the frankly bland 80 minutes which proceeded it. Peterhead looked unimaginative and cold whereas Queen's did their best to breakdown a solid defence, forcing the best chances of the game throughout. Injuries and suspension meant that Andy McGinty made his first-team debut in defence alongside Shaun Molloy and Richard Sinclair in the absence of Gavin Rushford, who had picked up too many yellow cards. Ally Graham once again was completely out the picture through injury and so Brian Felvus kept his place upfront next to Frankie Carroll. It look a long while for the game to fully come to life but a pattern did develop with Queen's gaining the majority of possession with Peterhead looking to bide their time and pounce with a counter-attacking move. After 7 minutes, Frankie Carroll earned a corner for Queen's and after Harvey's delivery, Sinclair hit a rasping shot towards Mathers' goal only for the goalkeeper to save well. In any event, the stand-side assistant referee had adjudged a Queen's player to be offside. 6 minutes later, Mathers had to be alert again after a Harvey corner, which was cleared by Raeside, fell to Carroll who brought out the best in Peterhead goalie. A great surging left-wing run from Alan Trouten on 17 minutes nearly yielded the opener but Ross Clark's finish went wide of the target. With their first real attack of the game, Peterhead should have taken the lead, a minute later. Sinclair made a rare slip at the back and Bavidge was quick to charge through on goal, but his shot was under-hit and David Crawford blocked with his feet. Bavidge had to be stopped again on 24 minutes and Ross Clark made a superb block tackle to prevent him from shooting. The ball, however, spun in the direction of Keith Gibson who hit wide. 33 minutes had passed and referee Willie Collum made his first faux-pas of the game, which almost cost Peterhead dearly. Danny Ferry attempted to cross the ball into the box from the left side but Jamie Buchan blocked the ball with his hand. Collum reckoned that the handball had occurred inside the box and gave a penalty but his assistant Andy Davis over-ruled his decision by correctly pointing out that Buchan was outside the box at the time. Buchan, however, was not booked for the hand-ball incident. The whistler was in action again 9 minutes later as he booked Mark Ferry for a late tackle on Michie. As half-time approached, neither team had warmed to the game, maybe not surprising as rain hailed down onto the pitch making attacking chances few and far between. It looked as though we would see a draw as the end result. Indeed, it took 10 minutes for Queen's to really raise the hopes of their fans with Alan Trouten blatantly hacked from behind by Campbell, a challenge that everyone in the stadium could see coming and was enough to stop the youngster from crossing the ball in. Campbell was booked, perhaps lucky not to see red. With the free-kick, Harvey tried to top his marvellous goal at Montrose with an great curling shot from the left-side, but the veteran midfielder saw his shot hit the side-netting with Mathers scrambling over to try and save the ball. Ross Clark then tried another blockbuster with a long-range effort, attempting to lob the ball over Mathers, but his shot was well wide of the mark. 2 minutes later, Peterhead had their best chance of the match so far. An excellent corner from the left-side was played into a packed box and goalkeeper Crawford was lost in the sea of bodies, only punching the ball out. The resulting shot was blocked by the grounded Sinclair and the follow-up effort was hit wide. After Carroll had a shot saved by Mathers, Queen's made their first change of the match on 63 minutes with Billy Stark taking off Felvus and replacing him with David Weatherston. The signals were there and the added pace indicated that the QP coach knew Peterhead were there for the taking. It was Alan Trouten, though, who created a chance 12 minutes later with an inventive curling shot which had Mathers scrambling. He nearly did the same a minute later with a similar effort, showing vision and skill well beyond his years. However, it was still 0-0 and both teams were running out of time. Ross Clark had a good low shot saved by Mathers as Queen's edged further forward and less than a minute later Trouten went for glory after skinning two Peterhead player, but the wayward finish didn't match the run. Collum showed no sense in booking youngster Weatherston for his first foul of the game and the resulting free-kick from Tully was headed wide by Raeside. With 87 on the clock though it was Queen's who should have opened the scoring. David Weatherston played a superbly weighted ball through to Frankie Carroll and after the forward rounded Mathers expertly, he hit his effort over the bar from 12 yards with the goal unguarded. And on 90 minutes it looked all over and that poor Frankie would be kicking himself all week after his miss. With Queen's pushing so far forward to try and make amends, Peterhead charged up the park and substitute Linn's cross was nailed in by Michie to apparently put a seal on the game's outcome. Billy Stark showed his frustration by kicking the grass in anger, whilst the Peterhead staff couldn't believe their luck. They had scored and kept their championship hopes alive. People began to leave Hampden after that sickener but they should have stayed on for what was an amazing finish. Queen's threw themselves forward in typically care-free fashion and man of the match Trouten earned a corner on the left. Harvey's kick was brilliant, Molloy's knockdown unreal and Carroll's finish even better. The forward literally thumped the ball in from 6 yards out and the first Mathers must have seen of it was when the ball had safely nestled into the net. Cue the usual bedlam scenes which we've gotten used to indulging in all season. A draw was probably a fair result and the game would probably have finished goal-less had Peterhead not scored right on 90 minutes. Queen's can take a lot from the game with Andy McGinty making a very good debut. Peterhead, however, have seemingly chucked it and Gretna could have the championship wrapped up a lot sooner than was predicted. As for Queen's, well, we can only hope that we can hold onto the same players which are not far away from making a very consistent unit and perhaps challenge for promotion next season. |
| Queen's Park Peterhead |
| 1 1 |
| Carroll Michie |
| Queen's Park: David Crawford, Alan Trouten, Shaun Molloy, Andy McGinty, Richard Sinclair, Paul Harvey, Brian Felvus ( David Weatherston 64 ), Ross Clark, Danny Ferry, Frankie Carroll, Mark Ferry. Substitutes Not Used: Brian Blair, Tony Quinn, Anthony Livingston, Steven McGovern (GK). Booked: Mark Ferry, Weatherston Goal: Carroll 90 (+1). Peterhead: Paul Mathers, Craig Tully, Iain Good ( Alan Youngson 35 ), Robbie Raeside, Mark Perry, Keith Gibson, Craig Campbell, Jamie Buchan, Scott Michie, Martin Bavidge ( Bobby Linn 70 ), Dougie Cameron ( Shaun McSkimming 70 ). Substitutes Not Used: David Milne, Barry Thompson. Booked: Campbell. Goal: Michie 90. Referee: William Collum Attendance: 454 |