If you were looking for pure entertainment, no Queen's fan would have chosen Shire to be their opponents tomorrow, if random supporter selected matches were how the fixture list was contrived. Yet, if three points were any fan of the Spiders' only concern, then the Falkirk team would probably win the vote of who should we play next. Last week's game failed to provide much excitement, albeit a 90th minute winner got the hearts racing, but East Stirling did not look the most difficult of opponents. Queen's should be well capable of winning again tomorrow- and really, they've got to. James Allan may miss the game with a knock, and Mitchell is still out. Jack is on holiday, but Gallagher, Taggart and Crozier are all available. Being without Allan would be a real blow as the winger has proved an excellent signing, especially with his dribbling skills. Chris Fisher may play wide on the left if indeed Allan cannot make it, and perhaps Taggart will partner Gemmell. Then again, Willie Martin deserves his chance ( 98th recorded saying of that ) after scoring the winner last week.
Last season's meetings saw Queen's win one and lose one at Hampden, with a similar story at Firs Park. Johnny Whelan scored a 43rd minute winner with his head the last time the sides met in the league at the National Stadium, back on 12 January. The teams' first ever league match came on 27th August 1932 at Firs Park and ended 1-1. First game at Hampden came on 7th Jan 1933 and Queen's won easily, 6-2. Queen's finished 9th out of 20 teams in the top flight that season.
12 Sep Tannadice trip in League Cup
Queen's Park will play Dundee United at Tannadice in the second round of the CIS Insurance League Cup. The tie is likely to take place on Tuesday 24th September at 7.30 pm. United last met Queen's in the Scottish Cup of 1999. Queen's managed a fine 0-0 draw in the first game at Airdrie's Excelsior Stadium, played there because of the final phase of construction at Hampden and with Lesser not being suitable for a game of that size. United won the return, but only by a single goal. Let's remind ourselves of 2 fine Queen's displays in Cowboy's first season:
02/02/99 Queen's Park 0 Dundee United 0 Att: 1,953
Queen's: Chalmers, Caven, Connaghan, Rossiter, Martin, Graham, Finlayson, Ferry ( Alexander ), Edgar, Brown ( Tyrrell ), Little, Parks.
09/02/99 Dundee United 1 ( Dodds ) Queen's Park 0 Att: 4,913
Queen's: Chalmers, Caven, Connaghan, Rossiter, Alexander, Ferguson ( Tyrrell ), Finlayson, Ferry, Edgar, Brown ( Agostini ), Parks, Little.
As can be seen from the above, only Danny Ferry and Damiano Agostini remain from that tie- and Damiano has only just come back to Hampden.
7 Sep Shire take Queen's to the wire
A 90th minute goal from Willie Martin gave Queen's a thoroughly deserved win over East Stirlingshire at Hampden. An earlier kick off meant for a mad dash getting down to the ground for the game, and a reduced attendance. And for spells of the game both sides seemed to be suffering from the lethargy that an earlier start could have induced. But Queen's created enough chances before scoring to have the game wrapped up long before the end. Although not a sparkling display, another 1-0 win can't be argued with, and another clean sheet will keep Stewart and his so-solid crew happy. Match report.
6 Sep Queen's Park v. East Stirlingshire- League Cup 1st Round
There is a rumour flying about on the eve of this cup tie that John McCormack is one of the managers St. Mirren are interested in appointing in succession to Tom Hendrie, who appears to have left Love Street, but the position surrounding Hendrie's future is still not entirely clear . As I said, just a rumour at this stage, totally unconfirmed, and let's hope it stays that way.
For the match against Shire, John Gallagher is unavailable as he is abroad because of work commitments. This leaves Queen's short at left back, so perhaps Sinclair or new signing Fallon will fill the no. 3 jersey. Craig Taggart appears unlikely to play as he has strained his thigh, and Brendan Crozier picked up a knock in the Strollers' midweek match. Whether Colin Stewart plays or not will depend on whether Kilmarnock have allowed him to. Playing tomorrow would render him cup-tied. If he doesn't play, then Stewart Thomson might get his chance after impressing for the 2nd XI against Stenhousemuir, as Tony Mitchell's thigh injury is unlikely to have totally cleared up. Willie Martin is back after missing the win over Gretna, and Gordon Lappin is fit following an ankle injury. Allan Dunning is returning to match fitness after turning out on Tuesday, while Magee and Menelaws are still out.
Tomorrow sees the 13th meeting of the Spiders and East Stirling in the Scottish League Cup. The first of these was a sectional fixture at Hampden on 25th September 1948, with Queen's winning 2-0 thanks to goals from Brown and MacAulay. The teams followed this up with a 1-1 draw at Firs Park, but unfortunately the club were unable to qualify from a group that also contained Alloa and Kilmarnock. Here are details of the games since then:
12/8/59 home 2-1
2/9/61 away 7-2 ( 4 from Peter Buchanan, 3 from G. Logan )
10/8/63 away 0-2
24/8/63 home 0-1
16/8/69 home 7-2 ( hat-tricks from Ian Whitehead and Malky Mackay )
27/8/69 away 0-2
15/8/73 home 0-1
22/8/73 away 3-1
13/8/80 home 1-0
19/8/80 away 4-0 ( hat-trick by G. McCoy )
Two legs: Queen's Park won 5-0 on agg.
A Queen's win tomorrow would mean that they would qualify for the second round of this tournament for the 8th time in the last 15 seasons.
4 Sep Strollers lose opening league game
The reserve side were beaten 1-0 by Stenhousemuir at Ochilview on Tuesday night in the Reserve League West. Robert Coulter scored the goal. Allan Dunning made his return from injury, and Steven Fallon recorded his first appearance in a black and white hooped jersey. Thanks go to qpfc.com for this information, as sadly my devotion to Queen's Park cannot stretch to attending second string matches in midweek near Falkirk. The first team of course now face two games in a row against a team based actually in that town: East Stirlingshire.