( Allan, Gemmell, Quinn ) ( Millar, Jackson, Fotheringham
pen, Grant )
The early stages saw Queen's Park fighting for every ball, and the majority of the 1,214 crowd were encouraged by the start made by the home side. Steven Canning went close from a header from Taggart's corner and James Allan, whose jinking play caused Brechin real problems until he was substituted, had a shot touched round the post by Hay.
But the two best chances of the opening 25 minutes fell to both of the above again. On 22 minutes, Canning missed a sitter when he failed to make clear contact with Ferry's cross, despite being completely free inside the penalty area. Then James Allan was sent clean through by Taggart. He only had the keeper to beat, but somehow sent the ball wide of the Brechin right hand post. It was a poor miss, and it looked as if this sort of failure to take chances would prove costly. Brechin were well in the game, and Tony Mitchell made a fine save with his foot from Roddy Grant's shot within the box after he had evaded the stern attention of the Queen's defence. It was a genuinely open game, but Queen's were giving Brechin very little time on the ball, with Danny Ferry in particular doing a great job in breaking up play. And it was an example of this that saw Queen's open the scoring with a marvellous goal.
Ferry won possession in midfield, and sent Allan away. The winger, whose goal at Berwick saw Queen's through to this stage, did brilliantly to outwit the Brechin defence before coolly slipping the ball under Hay. And what a roar that greeted it from the Spiders' faithful! Suddenly, every Queen's fan was daring- just- to dream of that final.
Holding out until half-time at least was crucial, but sadly Queen's failed to do this. Brechin grabbed an equaliser on 34 minutes. From a throw-in, the ball was played to Marc Millar, who unleashed a powerful drive from near the corner of the penalty area into the corner of the net.
Half-time came with Queen's level, but had they been in front, no-one could have said they did not deserve it. They had created the better chances, but as is becoming par for the course, had not made the scoreline reflect the pattern of play.
Several minutes into the second half, John McCormack replaced the again ineffectual Taggart with Sinclair, who was asked to play more defensively down the right. James Allan had another chance after good running, but his shot hit the side netting from a tight angle.
Queen's appeared to be under no great pressure, but they managed to go behind on 64 minutes. The defence looked disorganised as Millar showed good interplay with Grant, cutting Queen's open. Jackson then had the easiest of tasks in tapping Millar's left wing cross well away from Mitchell. This was probably the key moment of the game, and it was so frustrating to again be behind in a game that you shouldn't be losing.
This was the beginning of an 11 minute spell of play that had everyone in the stadium up and down at regular intervals, as both sides began to score at will.
First, just 5 minutes after going in front, Brechin were awarded a penalty kick after Gibson was brought down by Tony Mitchell. It looked a foul, but every Queen's fan had been waiting for the linesman's flag to be raised, as Gibson looked a few yards offside. But the official saw no infringement, and Kevin Fotheringham converted the spot kick to settle the contest.
Ah, but wait, it certainly was not over yet. Queen's commendably showed great spirit to bring themselves back into the game almost immediately. Substitute Chris Fisher showed that Queen's are well endowed with left sided players, himself and Allan mainly, as he teased the defence before cutting inside. His low ball across the area was accurate and allowed Gemmell to place the ball home from a few yards out. Dream back on!
Things began to get ridiculous now, though, as again the Queen's defence failed to be decisive. A long ball downfield was not cleared, Roddy Grant found space on the edge of the box and expertly volleyed the ball low past Mitchell.
But this competition had already shown that Queen's should not be written off. Against Forfar, they had played with a man short for a long time and held out; against Berwick they had come from behind. Against Brechin, they were soon back in it. Again, the goal originated down the left. Chris Fisher's trickery and enthusiasm were giving the tired Brechin legs a lot of bother; he won a corner, which he tapped to Willie Martin. Only just on the park, he made an immediate impact by crossing for Whelan to knock on for Quinn to head home ( although in the excitement, the tannoy announcer credited Whelan with the goal ).
The remaining time saw Whelan fail to get his foot round the ball and so allow Hay to comfortably save his attempted volley, and Queen's couldn't find enough of the ball to force an equaliser, as Brechin utilised their experience to hold onto possession and gain a final place. This tie will live long in the memory, for the quality of play and for the atmosphere, not easy to create with a small crowd at Hampden, but the Queen's fans outshouted their Brechin opposite numbers throughout. An opportunity missed, but a performance that if re-created in the league, should see Queen's gain quite a few points over the next months.
Queen's Park: Mitchell, Ferry, J. Gallagher, Moffat, Agostini, Quinn, Taggart ( Sinclair ), Whelan, Gemmell, Canning ( Fisher ), Allan ( Martin ).
Goals: Allan 26, Gemmell 72, Quinn 75.
Brechin City: Hay, Miller, Black ( Jackson ), J. Smith, Cairney, Fotheringham, Skinner, Millar, Grant, Gibson, Templeman ( King ).
Goals: Millar 34, Jackson 64, Templeman 69 pen, Grant 73.
Attendance: 1,214.