| Berwick Rangers |
| Queen's Park |
| 1 |
| 0 |
| (Thomson) |
| Queen's suffered a real setback in their bid to make a strong early challenge for honours by going down to old foes Berwick on the day of rest. In a disappointing game, a first-half break resulted in Berwick's goal, and Queen's couldn't find a way back despite a late spell of pressure, which saw Canning hit the bar and Reilly miss when clean through. Once again, for all the attempts to play pretty, constructive football it was the more brutal home side that won the day. Still missing Richard Sinclair, Billy Stark also had to make do without Tony Quinn in midfield. So the formation was, loosely, 3-5-2, with Dunlop in the back 3 alongside Agostini and Reilly, Ferry, Canning and Kettlewell across the middle, with Paton and Trouten to their right and left, and Weatherston playing off Ronald up front. The supporters' bus had arrived early in Berwick, allowing for a morale-boosting Queen's success on the pool table over the Berwick hopeful. Sadly, this didn't translate to events on the football pitch, but most of the early play was finely balanced. After 6 minutes Greenhill's nifty turn allowed him space to shoot narrowly past Cairns's post, then the goalkeeper (keeping his place ahead of the Mad Dog) held a McCallum shot. In the 14th minute, a corner from the right found Paton waiting, and his drive was deflected beyond the goal. Another corner was taken, and this time Ferry was able to shoot powerfully, but straight at O'Connor. Three minutes later, a Canning free-kick posed similarly few problems for him. Queen's first really made use of Weatherston's pace in the 20th minute and his run almost led to a goal. He homed in on the keeper after receiving Paton's long pass, but the shot was well blocked from an angle, and Paul Ronald wasn't sharp enough to pounce on the rebound. Really, you couldn't have tossed John Coughlin's St. Mirren pay-off cheque between the teams at this stage. Yet Berwick took the lead after 39 minutes, and the goal sprung from a Queen's attack. We lost possession, and Paliczka came charging down the left, feeding Thomson on the inside who took advantage of Dunlop's upfield venture to shoot, and the ball took a slight deflection before flying past Cairns. Incidentally, Thomson was the Spartans captain last season. Bastard. Queen's could have equalised on the verge of half-time, but Ferry couldn't reach Weatherston's low cross as he slid in at the back post. Queen's were always involved, and the home team's performance was a low-key one at best, but although the toolkit was there it didn't look like the repairs would get carried out. Six minutes into the second-half, Berwick nearly sealed the game when Greenhill's drive cracked off the post from a position very like the one their goal had come from. Again, the attack had been on the break, which at least tells you that Queen's were getting up the park themselves. Two minutes after that and the equaliser nearly arrived. Ferry gathered on the left inside his own half, and played it forward to Ronald. The big man's control was good, and he flicked a pass to Canning who in turn released Weatherston. Davie was away like the train that he is, and broke into the box, but with little support on the way his shot was weak. On the hour it looked as though a Reilly slip would cost Queen's a crucial second goal, but although McCallum picked up on the long ball to face Cairns, he pumped the ball too far beyond the keeper and collapsed as he vainly attempted to keep the ball in play. Berwick really weren't that good, and we needed to test them. Paul Ronald came off for Richard Bowers in the 66th minute, having worked hard but getting increasingly off the pace. A minute later, Berwick's desperation to hold out for a win was first displayed when O'Connor picked up a booking for timewasting. Queen's started to gather momentum, and Canning came excruciatingly close to finding the net in the 76th minute when he lobbed the ball off the bar. Billy Stark realised the need to keep pushing, pulling off Damiano Agostini and putting on an attacker, Robert Dunn, in his place. Yet Dunn would make little impact and still doesn't seem that fit, while his fellow substitute Bowers was anonymous. Maybe Frankie Carroll would have sparked something if he'd been used instead- then again, Billy might not have wished to risk his fitness. Queen's managed to force a couple of corners in the final 10 minutes, but so rudimentary was the delivery that no trace of a chance was seen. Yet, in stoppage time, the fans groaned as auxiliary forward Steven Reilly missed a pretty easy chance to equalise, finding himself clean through in the box but shooting straight at O'Connor. Ultimately Queen's had paid the price for poor delivery from set-pieces and lack of support from the midfield. Weatherston did loads of running, but found bodies in the area hard to come by when crossing, while Ronald was sluggish. To be frank, we need Frankie- when he's totally ready, he'll be able to lead the line for Queen's better than anybody. Berwick Rangers: Gary O'Connor, Robbie Manson, Steven Noble, Tom Brittain, Robbie Horn, Jordan Smith, Ian Thomson, Stuart Fraser (Gary Greenhill 54), David Greenhill (Kevin Haynes 70), Ryan McCallum (Neil Campbell 82), Sean Paliczka. Substitutes not used: Scott Lucas, Chris Flockhart. Booked: O'Connor, G. Greenhill, Haynes. Goal: Thomson 39. Queen's Park: Mark Cairns, Paul Paton, Mick Dunlop, Steven Reilly, Damiano Agostini (Robert Dunn 79), Steven Canning, Stuart Kettlewell, Alan Trouten, Paul Ronald (Richard Bowers 66), David Weatherston, Mark Ferry. Substitutes not used: Jonny Whelan, Frankie Carroll, David Crawford. Booked: Trouten. Referee: Steven Nicholls. Attendance: 448. |