| Brechin City |
| Queen's Park |
| 1 |
| 1 |
| (Callaghan pen) |
| (Ferry) |
| We were so close to pulling off a third cup shock in one season, but Queen's had to settle for a replay despite being in charge for most of this game at Glebe Park. Throughout, it would have been nigh impossible for a visiting alien (or Scottish football journalist) to guess correctly which was the Second Division side and which the boys from the Third, since Queen's had so much of the game. Brechin made no attempt to play football on their pitch/allotment, yet Queen's still managed to make theirs work and displayed fine passing and skilful dribbling, Trouten and Weatherston (of course) shining in this respect. Mark Ferry's goal in the 21st minute gave us a lead we held for nearly an hour, but a disputed penalty gave Brechin a draw, and they almost burgled an undeserved win when Mark Cairns dropped a cross late on. But Queen's held out, and have no reason to fear the replay. A very large support, spread across 2 buses and a few cars, had travelled north from Glasgow, and their vocal backing echoed through the chill air for the majority of the game. The team responded right away, and coaxed Brechin into making error after error in a first half they had complete control of. We first went close in the 10th minute, when Paul Ronald nipped in to head Paton's inswinging corner off the top of the bar. The tackles were committed and fierce when necessary, though Alan Trouten was over-the-top in taking a swipe at a Brechin midfielder and was rightly booked. Undeterred, Trouten was in great shape after that and constantly showed a willingness to take on opponents, something that hasn't always been the case this season. David Weatherston, of course, doesn't need any invitation to run at defenders, and he gave the right-back a stiff test in the 19th minute, sending over a high ball that was knocked away. Trouten emulated his run down the other wing a couple of minutes later, and his shot was deflected off the advertising boards. The stage was set for a Queen's goal, and one came after 21 minutes. Paton's corner was drilled sharply to the edge of the area, and Mark Ferry blasted a wonderful shot into the roof of the net. It might have come in an unexpected fashion, but it was no surprise that Queen's were in the lead, and Brechin showed no wit or cunning in their attempts to hit back for the remainder of the half. The refereeing of Mr. O'Reilly had been of little note during the first-half but in the second he proceeded to lose the place, allowing Brechin license to intimidate Queen's physically at the back and in midfield, with Weatherston and Trouten the prime targets. Paul Ronald is better equipped to fight back, but he took his share of rough stuff too, including a foul on the hour mark that the official decided was worthy of a caution. Paton took the resulting free-kick, and his superb strike fleeced Nelson's fingertips as the veteran keeper just managed to deflect it over the top. A clever piece of play- Brechin's first- from King eliminated Paton from the play, before Cairns just managed to parry the winger's shot away. Then a header in front of goal diverted a cross back across the goal area but wide. Order was soon restored following this brief Brechin fightback, and after a mesmerising Trouten run that saw him elude various defenders, another superb shot brought out another great save from Craig Nelson. The corner was scooped away, but Queen's got the ball back out to Paul Paton on the right, and his swerving cross created further problems. Reilly slid in but could only send the ball miles over. 67 minutes had gone when Paul Ronald entered the book; this seemed hardly fair given the punishment he'd taken from Ward and Walker all afternoon. Queen's still looked the likelier, and another accurate free-kick from Paton seemed set for the top corner but turned wide at the last second. Four minutes later, the game could have been ended when Trouten got free on the right, getting the break of the ball and charging away. He could have gone himself, but unselfishly squared the ball to Weatherston who, not realising that he had a little time to call upon, smacked the ball frustratingly over the crossbar. Sadly, we would pay for this miss. 5 minutes later, substitute Paddy Connolly challenged for an aerial ball in the box and went down. He may have been climbed on- from much further up the touchline it was difficult to tell- but there couldn't have been much in it. Anyway, the referee pointed to the spot, and Callaghan had no difficulty in converting the kick. Brechin had been spared. Queen's recovered, with Weatherston's low shot needing to be pushed round the post by Nelson. but essentially it was Brechin who were in command now. They surged forward repeatedly, and with only a couple of minutes to go disaster seemed to have befallen Queen's when Cairns fumbled a cross with Connolly waiting to pounce. Thankfully, the referee adjudged that Cairns had been fouled; at best, it seemed a harsh decision on Brechin. But they would have by no means deserved a winner. So the draw was tinged with disappointment, but Queen's performed extremely well for much of the game and have developed into a formidable side. The next couple of weeks, with Stenhousemuir, Brechin in the replay and East Fife on the agenda, will stretch the capacities of the squad, but since absolutely everybody seems to be at their peak right now, it has all the makings of a memorable time. Brechin City: Craig Nelson, Craig McEwan (Richard Walker 46), David White, John Ward, Scott Walker, Stuart Callaghan, Charlie King, Steven Ferguson (Kevin Byers 57), Steve Hampshire, Chris Geddes (Paddy Connolly 67), Darren Smith. Substitutes not used: Matt Flynn, John Hillcoat. Booked: Ward, Smith. Goal: Callaghan 79 penalty. Queen's Park: Mark Cairns, Paul Paton, Mick Dunlop, Steven Reilly, Richard Sinclair, Alan Trouten, Stuart Kettlewell, Tony Quinn, Paul Ronald (Richard Bowers 86), David Weatherston, Mark Ferry. Substitutes not used: Damiano Agostini, Robert Dunn, Steven Canning, David Crawford. Booked: Trouten, Ronald. Goal: Ferry 21. Referee: Stevie O'Reilly. Attendance: 515. |
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