Queen's have not won at home since December and will be in no mood to prolong that run for another three months; tomorrow being the last home game of the season. A win over Montrose would regain seventh place for the club, the position they've occupied for most of the second portion of the season, but will it provide sufficient motivation for a victorious performance? Kenny Brannigan intends to tinker with his line up a little, with the tireless Ross Clark and exuberant Kettlewell being rested, though Kettlewell did not play at Elgin due to suspension. In Clark's place will probably be Craig Taggart, and David McCallum returns also. With Fallon suspended, the coach may take the opportunity to blood Ross Conlin at the back. James Allan will play and I am looking forward to seeing him again, but John Gemmell could miss out on the game. Whether this has anything or not to do with his impending departure I don't know.
2 May Gemmell likely to sign for Thistle
John Gemmell has been in discussions with Partick Thistle over a move to Firhill for next season. The 18 year-old has scored 13 goals this season for Queen's and although infuriatingly inconsistent, is capable of being an imposing threat to opposition defenders. It is questionable however that a move to a Premier League club at this stage would be beneficial for his career, albeit he will be used in the Under-21s initially if signed. A move seems certain, unless there are other clubs prepared to take a chance on the big man.
Gemmell would be a loss, but the blow of this would be softened if Kenny Brannigan can persuade the likes of Moffat, Allan, Fallon, Whelan and others to remain at Hampden. If these players are lost, then you'd have to worry about our chances next season.
28 Apr Third Division player of the year is Alex Williams
The Morton striker, Young Player of the Year for the whole league last season, has scored 26 goals in Morton's promotion push and is the most talented forward in the bottom 2 divisions. James Allan had been nominated for the award but could be in line for a far more prestigious prize when the QPSA player of the season is announced on Saturday: he is probably in the running along with the likes of Fallon, Moffat and Whelan. My own choice is Steven Moffat but I would expect that the excellent Steven Fallon - his usual reliable self before being sent-off on Saturday - will win the award.
27 Apr Elgin City 0 Queen's Park 0
In playing to their "strengths" ( i.e. packing their defence ) Elgin succeeded in gaining a point from this game, but would surely have been unable to do so had Queen's shown a little more imagination in attack. Given that the visitors commandeered the comfortable majority of possession, to make so few clear scoring chances was a little disappointing. Even after being reduced to ten men, Queen's continued to press, possibly enjoying their best spell of play in those final seventeen minutes; Fallon had been dismissed for a professional foul, probably deserved though difficult to judge from my own position in the ground. The game as a whole was stultified by both teams' less than satisfactory performances, though Queen's were far less to blame for this. It remains a problem however, that we fail to kill off sides that are so obviously inferior to us, at least on those occasions when we play them. Queen's now require to beat Montrose next Saturday in their final home game to have a realistic chance of finishing in the highest possible position they can i.e. seventh: the gap between us and the Gable Endies is now two points in their favour.
22 Apr Strollers season ends in third last Brockville fixture
The Strollers went down 1-0 against Falkirk this evening in their final Reserve League West game. Rodgers scored the eventual winner for Falkirk, against a Queen's team that featured a mixture of first-teamers and younger players. The Strollers' final league record for the season is as follows:
P 15; W 4; D 2; L 9; F 18; A 19; Pts 14.
19 Apr Albion Rovers 2 Queen's Park 1 - captivating but sickening
It may not have been a quality football match, but today's game at Cliftonhill was packed with incident and flashpoints to be analysed and argued about long after the end of the 90 minutes. Both teams had men sent off for second bookings, Dick of Albion Rovers leaving the field after an hour following a penalty box dive. Rovers led 1-0 at this stage through Yardley's first-half volley, but Queen's were invigorated by the red-card, and equalised when Menelaws clipped the ball beyond Shearer after being put clean through. Despite appearing to be in the ascendancy in what was a ferociously fought second half, Queen's lost out when McLean outwitted the visiting defence before finishing superbly. Kettlewell then went after a high booted challenge, and Queen's hopes were diminished, albeit they did manage a late flurry. Rovers needed the points more today, and battled extremely hard to get them; however Queen's were let down on at least one occasion when the referee failed to award a penalty kick, as well as a couple of hairline offside calls against David Menelaws; and on the balance of play would have earned a draw. A couple of rather slack moments from an otherwise solid defence let them down, but it was a reasonable performance - not that that was ample consolation for the fans heading back to Glasgow feeling hard done by.
James Allan is among the four nominees for the SPFA Third Division Player of the Year award. Most would agree that James has not even been Queen's Park's best player this term, let alone the best in the league, but his distinctive jinking style of play and excellent skills have clearly impressed players, as well as fans, of other clubs. Certainly there are very few players at this level blessed with the pace and ball control that James possesses.
18 Apr Albion Rovers v. Queen's Park - 0-2?!
James Allan, scorer of the opening goal in Queen's Park's Scottish Cup win at Cliftonhill, is still suffering from an Achilles tendon problem and will miss the game. Steven Canning is fit once more though, and David McCallum is likely to start in left central midfield. Johnny Whelan is a new casualty: likely to be absent because of a virus, and his driving tackles and forceful midfield play are always essential, even more so in a game such as this. Even more emphasis will be placed on Ross Clark to scrap and bite if Johnny is indeed not fit enough.
Queen's have won their last two matches at Cliftonhill, and in the games at Hampden this term they have drawn 1-1 and lost 4-2. The goalscorers against Rovers for Queen's this season have been as follows:
Stewart Jack ( 1 )
Steven Moffat ( 1 )
Willie Martin ( 2 )
Richard Sinclair ( 1 )
James Allan ( 1 )
John Gemmell ( 1 )
That makes a total of seven goals scored against the Coatbridge side- more than against any other team except East Stirling ( 10 ), though given the fact we've played them 5 times already, it's hardly a surprise.