| Arbroath |
| Queen's Park |
| 1 |
| 0 |
| (Reilly) |
| Queen's chances of the championship officially ended at a misty Gayfield, with Andy Reilly again the matchwinner for the home side. What's worse, we still haven't qualified for the play-offs, since Dumbarton recorded their 4th win in a row by beating Montrose 2-1 and could still catch us on points at least. Due to our comfortable goal difference advantage, reaching the play-offs should still be a formality, and drawing at home to Elgin next week would get the job done. What it wouldn't do is dispel the signs of sluggishness that crept in to our performance yesterday. Queen's fell behind to a goal in the middle of the first half, and never looked like equalising despite long periods of possession in the second half. Unlike last week, we couldn't blame a disadvantage in manpower, and in fact we were certainly sharper last week all round. At Arbroath, despite David Weatherston's return, there was little distinctive about Queen's play and the end result was sadly predictable, with the home side's big defenders closing us out. Arbroath pushed forward at the start and had Queen's hemmed back; and DC had to make a fine save in only the 3rd minute. However, we nearly took the lead in the 14th minute when Sinclair headed a free-kick across the face of goal and Canning couldn't quite connect at the post. Then a superb pass from Canning found Weatherston breaking away but his shot was well held. Following that, and in a good spell from Queen's, Dunn's fine cutback was lobbed over the bar by Ferry from 18 yards out. At this stage we looked OK but still Arbroath managed to open the scoring in the 27th minute. They'd had a corner cleared, but a ball over the defence found Reilly lurking and he volleyed past Crawford. He had also scored the goal that defeated Queen's in the crunch match last April. Thankfully this game was not of such critical dimensions for Queen's, given that the league had effectively already gone for us once we lost at Methil last week. It mattered more to Arbroath, and they were able to see us off with a solid defensive performance for the rest of the game. Still, they were far from impressive, and a Queen's team on true form would surely have won the match as Arbroath seemed reluctant to move forward, content to absorb our formulaic attacks. Richard Sinclair again came close six minutes after the goal, firing just over, and before half-time Peat had to claw Paton's dipping cross over the bar. Just after the break, Weatherston took Canning's pass on the bounce and blasted high, but a few minutes after that Arbroath should have taken the lead through former Spider Willie Martin. Martin looked dangerous on the day and was given too much room to roam through the Queen's defence, and when he struck Crawford could only fumble the ball out, forcing a desperate clearance. By then Richard Sinclair had gone off, giving Steven Reilly the chance to make his comeback in the centre of defence. He started where he had left off, sliding wholeheartedly into the tackle and using the ball effectively. He may have been slightly off the pace, but will have felt the full benefit of an unexpected half-hour-plus on the pitch. Queen's also brought on Frankie Carroll before the end, for Paul Cairney, and typically he was right in on the action, somehow holding off several defenders inside the box and keeping possession heroically before finding Weatherston who shot wide. It's surely time for Frankie to get a starting place, and the last 2 games should give Billy Stark the ideal chance to prepare him fully for the play-offs, where he could be so important. Before the end, Frankie was booked, for throwing the ball at an Arbroath player in a flare-up that erupted due to a late Mick Dunlop challenge near the touchline. Mick was correctly booked, but the Arbroath players completely over-reacted and one of them seemed to be involved in an altercation with Robert Dunn; in addition, Dunlop seemed to be pushed in the face. Sadly this incident wasn't eclipsed by any positive Queen's play in the closing stages; we couldn't find a way through, couldn't make the telling pass that may have allowed Weatherston to break out of the ring the Arbroath defence had him held in. So we lost, but if we were going to have a slump in form, better now than right before the play-offs or, worse, during them. We've still got 2 games to go, and 2 wins would leave us in great shape no matter who we've had to face next. We also have the chance to get Alan Trouten back and fit, and to give Frankie Carroll his first full game before the biggest games of the season. Where we'll play those games, even the home leg, isn't certain; who we'll play isn't certain; and, yes, we're not even certain yet to be playing them. But if we are there, can we win the play-offs? Yes, because no matter what, we'll be the best football team in them, and football always has a chance of winning. Arbroath: Mark Peat, Steven Rennie, Mark McCulloch, Iain Dobbins, Jamie Bishop, Nicky Smith (Kevin McMullen 20), Roddy Black, Andy Reilly (Bryan Scott 73), Alan Brazil, Willie Martin, Jay Stein. Substitutes not used: Kevin Webster, Paul Watson, Scott Morrison. Booked: Martin. Goal: Reilly 27. Queen's Park: David Crawford, Paul Paton, Mick Dunlop, Richard Sinclair (Steven Reilly 54), Damiano Agostini, Steven Canning, Stuart Kettlewell, Paul Cairney (Frankie Carroll 73), Robert Dunn, David Weatherston, Mark Ferry. Substitutes not used: Richard Bowers, David Waters, Mark Cairns. Booked: Cairney, Dunlop, Carroll. Referee: Craig Charleston. Attendance: 957. |