Queen's remain seventh in the table after this, their final game of 2002. A hard-working display from the team limited East Fife to very few chances in front of goal, but on the other hand Queen's rarely came close themselves in the first half, with two Willie Martin efforts all that tested Butter. The second-half saw James Allan step up his performance after a quiet first half, and Queen's gradual assumption of command led to the game's opening goal, a low free-kick from Moffat which took a slight deflection on its way into the net. However, East Fife were soon level, Deuchar scoring from a debatably awarded penalty kick. David Menelaws was included as a substitute for the first time, but did not make the field. Richard Sinclair picked up an injury late on, the second time in the game he had taken a knock, and there is a fear he could be added to the injury list. Queen's maintained their respectable level of performance that they have built up recently, and left the supporters' hopes high that 2003 will be a good degree more successful than 2002 was.
22 Dec Queen's Park 3 Elgin City 2 - up to seventh place
A narrow win over Elgin warmed the home fans on a bitterly cold afternoon at Hampden Park, on the shortest day of the year. John Gemmell's hat-trick won the match for the Spiders, who came under some pressure late in the game as Elgin attempted to salvage a draw. The visitors had come from behind after Gemmell's early goal ( a marvellous flick from a Martin cross ), with Tully firing home after a corner, with confusion in the Queen's defence a contributory factor. Tully then gave Elgin an undeserved lead ten minutes into the second half, heading home at the near-post following another corner. Almost immediately though, Queen's were level again. Gemmell coolly slid under Pirie after Martin had sent him clear, and shortly afterwards the turnaround was complete, as the no. 9 took advantage of a defensive mix-up to walk the ball home in a very deliberate fashion. Queen's held on for the win, against an unimpressive Elgin team. In truth, this was not a home team on top form, but they tend to reserve their best for games against the top clubs, especially away from home, and have a chance to show that next week against East Fife at Bayview.
20 Dec Queen's Park v. Elgin City - good form must continue in key game
Both Tony Quinn and Steven Canning will miss tomorrow's game, as they will a good few others in the coming weeks and months, but Queen's will still be expected to dispatch Elgin back to the Highlands tomorrow with a victory. The frosty weather has eliminated three matches already from tomorrow's Third Division fixture card, with Peterhead v. East Fife possibly to follow, but there is thankfully no danger of Hampden's undersoil heating let us down tomorrow. With some other games off then, Queen's have an ideal chance to improve their league status. A win over Elgin would bring Queen's level on points with the Borough Briggs team, and actually ahead in the table on goal difference.
Tony Quinn's broken leg sustained at Cliftonhill last week will keep him out for probably the rest of the season. Steven Canning will be out for 2 or 3 months with ankle ligament damage. John Gallagher, or a fit-again Chris Fisher, will deputise for Canning, while Danny Ferry may come into the midfield to replace Tony Quinn, with Sinclair retaining his right wing-back berth. Otherwise, Ross Clark could be fielded.
Damiano Agostini and Allan Dunning are doubtful with flu, but John Gemmell is fit after sustaining a wrist injury. David Menelaws will again be in the squad, and it would be enouraging to witness his debut tomorrow. Gordon Lappin is back in contention, while U-18s player Stuart Kettlewell, who has made one start and two sub appearances for the Strollers this season, comes into the pool for the first time.
Queen's last league meeting with Elgin came on 26th October in Morayshire, and Queen's had to settle for a 2-2 draw despite enjoying the better of the game. Goals from Moffat and Whelan gave us a draw after being two goals down. On the opening day of the season, Elgin somehow came away with all 3 points despite being comprehensively outplayed. McMullan and Steele got their goals, both on their debuts. Sadly, that match set the tone for much of the season so far for Queen's Park, but there are encouraging signs that things are changing. A win or draw tomorrow would mean Queen's had lost just one of their last nine matches.
On the question of the new manager, the Evening Times this week reported that Bellshill Athletic's managerial team, Tommy Coyne and Rab McKinnon, had applied for the coaching position at Queen's Park. Apparently, the two are being considered, whether in tandem or independently of each other, for the appointment.
14 Dec Albion Rovers 0 Queen's Park 2 - league leaders humbled
In winning against Albion Rovers, Queen's Park advanced to 7th position in the Third Division table with their fourth league win of the season- half of which have come since John McCormack left. Out of Queen's last 8 games, just one has been lost. Today's win was never in serious doubt after Richard Sinclair's first goal for the Club on 45 minutes put the Spiders 2-0 in front. Rovers rarely threatened at all, and hardly looked like a team who are potential Champions. At times though, the visitors did. A shame that we let ourselves down in earlier matches through poor finishing and occasionally uncertain defending. Neither of these was a problem today.