| Poor David Crawford. The young goalkeeper featured heavily in yesterday's match programme but it might prove to be one to burn after a nightmare five-minute spell which saw Rovers score three goals from set-pieces in similar positions. Crawford was out of position for all three of the goals, and on two occasions he badly mis-held crosses, but to purely blame the goalkeeper for yesterday's result would be beyond harsh. Too many Spiders had off days and the overall lethargy and lack of imagination shown was more than enough to give the worst Rovers team in years a quite comfortable victory. We now haven't beaten Albion Rovers at home since the 1999/2000 Championship season and this is difficult to swallow for fans who expect a bit more bite and effort in a fixture which is quite rightly regarded as a 'derby' match. Worse yet, this is now another defeat against a poorer side and our alarming lack of consistency could result in us tumbling down the league table. Despite Gavin Rushford's return from injury, Billy Stark opted to keep Andy McGinty in the first team after his strong performance last week. Indeed, the same side, who battled so well against Peterhead, was fielded for the visit of the Wee Rovers. As expected, Queen's had the majority of the possession at the start of the match but failed to worry Rovers goalkeeper Chris Fahey until the 17th minute. Bryan Felvus stroked a beautiful curling shot from just inside the box which had Fahey beaten, but the ball crashed against the bar. The rebound fell back to Felvus but the goalkeeper was on top form as he blocked the striker at his front post. The pigeons had been closer to the Queen's penalty box than Rovers in the opening 20 minutes but David Crawford was first tested a minute later as he saved with his legs from Lee Wilson. On 25 minutes, Paul Harvey had a free-kick comfortably gathered by Fahey following a foul on Frankie Carroll. Five minutes later, however, Rovers started the goal-spree which killed the match. The away side earned a free-kick on the left-side after a Shaun Molloy foul. The kick was swung in, Crawford came then changed his mind and Jim Mercer had a free-header six yards out and the ex-Spider powered an easy header home. A bad mistake from Crawford, but there was very little pressure put on Mercer, quite obviously the biggest aerial threat on the park. Less then three minutes later, Rovers were back down the same side and Queen's had to concede a corner. Cue the action replay. Jered Stirling's kick, Crawford's gaffe and a Bradford overhead kick (!!) found its way into the net from six yards out. With so many Queen's players on the line or thereabouts, surely the relatively weak effort on goal could have been stopped?? Regardless, it was 2-0, and it was time for a walk to cool off! Two minutes later, things were getting ridiculous and Molloy conceded another corner on the same side. Rovers had found a weakspot and they ruthlessly exploited it. Stirling's corner was dropped by Crawford and the un-marked Mercer was all too happy to thump the ball in from close range. 3-0 to Albion Rovers. THREE GOALS TO NOTHING. THREE GOALS IN FIVE MINUTES. You had to rub your eyes before looking at the scoreboard. It was just unbelievable. Of all the teams this had to happen against, it was hard to believe it was against 9th placed Rovers. A minute later, Clark ballooned a free-kick over the bar, but the real wasted opportunity came with two minutes of the half to go. Chris Fahey made a rare slip as he missed a high cross, Ross Clark won the ball well and with the fans all but celebrating a goal, Frankie Carroll somehow punted the ball over from point-blank range. It summed up the game so far. Billy Stark didn't make any changes at half-time and it was Rovers who had the chance to increase their lead on 50 minutes. Wilson panicked, however, when one-on-one with Crawford and screwed his shot wide. A minute later, Queen's hit the bar again but it was Fahey who saved Rovers by tipping the shot onto the woodwork. Alan Trouten laid the ball off to Paul Harvey who shot from 20 yards before being defied superbly by the Rovers 'keeper. Rovers wisely sat in for the remainder of the half and were quite happy to break the game up when they had the chance. With half an hour to go, Rovers' hard-tackling nearly cost them as Chris Silvestro went in hard on Ross Clark inside the penalty box. The only man who thought that it wasn't a penalty appeared to be referee Steven Conroy, who proved himself to be as big an idiot as all the other inadequate whistlers we've had this year by waving the game on. Paul Harvey tried an inventive free-kick from the left-side but like his shot last week, the floated effort hit the side-netting. It took 72 minutes for Billy Stark to make the first change of the match when he brought on Tony Livingston for the ineffectual Mark Ferry. Seconds later, Jim Mercer ( ever the sportsman and never one to con a referee ...) was booed off the pitch by the Queen's fans as Richardson came on in his place. Livingston proved to be lively and tried to spark the dull Queen's side into action and his one-two with Trouten finished with a good drive tipped over by Fahey. Unfortunately the game was going nowhere and both Trouten and Harvey were booked for a late tackle and dissent respectively. The first words of unrest with Billy Stark were very audible with a minute to go as he rather pointlessly brought off Shaun Molloy and threw on striker David Weatherston. This change should have been made much sooner ( perhaps at half-time ) as we were 3-0 down to an inferior team which could have panicked had we got a goal back. With no time to do anything, Weatherston did just that and the game ended with a whimper. This was an embarrassing result for Queen's and yet another one to add to this season's tally against the poorer teams in the league. What Rovers don't have in ability they make up for in cunning and they are quick to notice weakness and exploit it, something which coach Jimmy Lindsay must take credit for. They were also simply bigger and stronger than Queen's and one has to ask why Tony Quinn was playing in a meaningless ( well, certainly much less important than a derby match against Albion Rovers ) Hampden XI game when we could have done with his bite and strength in the middle of the park and also at set-pieces. Our lightweight team was blown away by the raw power of the away team and we lost because of it. Next week we play Elgin away from home and whoever could have been swayed to go, will be staying at home following yesterday's display. Past results against the northern side this season haven't given us much to feel optimistic about either as we also lost out in those games to a much more dominating and physical team despite having the superior squad on paper. Time to beef up, or lose out! |
| Queen's Park Albion Rovers |
| 0 3 |
Mercer (2), Bradford |
| Queen's Park: David Crawford, Alan Trouten, Shaun Molloy ( David Weatherston 89 ), Andy McGinty, Richard Sinclair, Paul Harvey, Bryan Felvus, Ross Clark, Danny Ferry, Frankie Carroll, Mark Ferry ( Anthony Livingston 73 ). Substitutes Not Used: Brian Blair, Gavin Rushford, Alex Cowie (GK). Booked: Harvey, Sinclair, Trouten. Albion Rovers: Chris Fahey, Scott Friel, Sean McInulty, Danny Black, Ricky Patrick, Kerr Potter, Chris Silvestro, Jered Stirling, Lee Wilson ( Mark McKenzie 85 ), John Bradford ( Wayne Gordon 64 ), Jim Mercer ( Gary Richardson 73 ). Substitutes Not Used: Garry Fleming, Mark Peat (GK). Booked: Potter, Richardson. Goals: Mercer 30, 35; Bradford 33. Referee: Steven Conroy Attendance: 497 |