| ALLEZ LES HOOPS |
| Queen's Park coach Kenny Brannigan labelled his side's performance against Albion Rovers as "diabolical" thus proving the man's inability to mince his words. Some may find the word used as a little extreme, but there can be no doubt that the result and performance was less than good. It's far from the end of the world, but if Queen's are to improve on last season's league standing they must learn to perform just as well without key players. The men absent for last Saturday's game were more than missed. Ross Clark and Damiano Agostini, arguably the two toughest players at the club, were both missing and it showed. The Rovers attack was too strong for Sinclair, Fallon and Moffat to deal with. Mark Yardley caused chaos with his presence up front and Moffat, more of a ground-based defender, had major difficulty in filling the shoes of Agostini. In midfield the play was even until Rovers went two goals up. From then on, too many players became frustrated and got involved in petty situations. Praise must be given to Albion Rovers though, hard as that is to admit. Much like East Fife last term, they seem to be banking on aerial power and it worked. Mark Yardley is an indispensable asset for Rovers. His physical power was too much to deal with on Saturday, but even with Agostini, would some of Yardley exquisite vision and touches have been prevented? Defensively Rovers aren't a classy team compared to their stylish attack. But with Ally Graham static for most of the game and Davie Menelaws lacking in support and imagination, the Rovers defence had an easy task of smothering all attempts at breaking the deadlock. The first Rovers goal could have been easily prevented had veteran McAllister been closed down instead of being seemingly ignored. Ancient or not, his cross was clever enough to puzzle the out of position Scrimgour and land itself on the head of Yardley who was in an undefendable position. The second goal couldn't have been stopped at all. Farrell's thunderous 35 yarder was actually a sight to behold, possibly one of the best goals of the season. But the sting of the game went out after this goal and Queen's seemed less motivated. In the second half, things didn't improve. Paul McManus was having a field day on the left and was well stopped on a couple of occasions by Scrimgour. In the middle of the park, communications broke down and Reilly became increasingly frustrated to the point where he received a second booking for a stupid and tired challenge. The attack became desperate too, with Menelaws squandering many a chance. In fact, Brannigan was so disgusted by one effort that sailed over the bar, he substituted the striker almost instantly and brought on McAuley in his stead. Perhaps in defence of Menelaws, Ally Graham had a poor game, and was sent off too for a stupid retaliatory elbow. All is not lost, of course, and next week, some fringe players may been given the chance to shine against Stirling Albion. One player who did impress amongst mediocrity on Saturday was Stephen Canning who came on and tried to play some football. Derek Carcary, too, is looking to be a wise inclusion. Derek Scrimgour: Made a few decent saves in the second half when it looked as if Rovers were going to romp home, but looks less than convincing with crosses. Was probably at fault for the first goal and look very exposed without the help of Agostini. 6 Alan Dunning: A fair outing, but he doesn't look to be the solution as right wing-back. Too often Rovers burst forward on the left side and also Alan simply didn't get involved enough in attacking situations, where his strengths certainly lie. Looks lost in his current role. 6 Replaced by the energetic trialist Derek Carcary 6 Danny Ferry: A good display, but once again a rushed one. He needs to slow down and think about where he is playing the ball. He is improving with his corners in McCallum's place, however. 6 Richard Sinclair: Struggled in the air with Yardley and Co. 6 Steven Moffat: It was always going to be a major task filling in for Agostini and it showed. More of a passer than a aerial player, his skills were rendered useless as Rovers tended to favour the high ball into the area. Still, in the second half, he burst forward well. 6 Steven Fallon: Like Agostini, his footballing abilities weren't really what was needed. Played some good football in the second half but by then it was all over. 6 Stuart Kettlewell: Very unfortunate to break his wrist just before the interval. 6 Replaced by Steven Canning who looked comfortable in his place and was Queen's's best player on the day. 7 Steven Reilly: Played fairly well in the first half but lost his way after Rovers doubled their lead. Stupidly dismissed as fatigue set in. Should have played much better considering last week's well-paced showing. 6 Ally Graham: Could have been the equaliser between the teams but was invisible in attack. Apart from a good free-kick in the first half he failed to chase loose balls and seemed to give up the ghost completely. His red-card may have been a mercy killing. 5 Jonny Whelan: A typical driving performance, but he cannot be expected to conjure up creative genius as it is simply not his style. 7 David Menelaws: A disappointing game for Menelaws who seemed to lack confidence in attack. Either that, or he wasn't supported well enough by Graham. Replaced by McAuley after some poor judgements in attack. 5 McAuley 6 Man of the Match: Steven Canning Match Rating: *** |