| Dumbarton |
| Queen's Park |
| 1 |
| 2 |
| (Coyne) |
| (Dunn, Weatherston) |
| Queen's confirmed their readiness for the play-offs with a commanding 2-1 victory here, achieved with an understrength side. David Weatherston and Mark Ferry were rested from the lineup, and Richard Sinclair seems to be injured; while Steven Reilly and Frankie Carroll were also missing from the side that beat Elgin. To top things off, Damiano Agostini sustained an injury in the warm-up and had to be replaced by young Andrew Boslem, who'd been listed as a substitute. Yet Boslem gave a flawless performance, reminiscent of D's recent form, and showed that there's yet more young talent ready to break through at Hampden. He was one star; the others were David Crawford, who once more made an astonishing penalty save to keep Dumbarton out, David Weatherston for his coolly-taken clincher 10 minutes from time, and (dare I say it) Robert Dunn's arse. Queen's first goal came when Steven Canning's drive took a big deflection off said body part, and sent Queen's on their way to their 21st league win of the season. For all that Queen's would go on to take full control of the game, Dumbarton were probably the better team at the start. After 6 minutes, McQuilken knocked a volley over the top following neat play by Borris on the right; he should have done better. Queen's first attempt came some 12 minutes later, Dunn zipping a shot past the right-hand post. Dumbarton again should have scored in the 24th minute, but Tiernan completely misjudged a header 8 yards out even though he was completely free. Still the Sons kept attacking, and were soon awarded penalty when the dangerous Borris was brought down from behind by Canning as he encroached on goal. That the referee was in two minds about his decision was illustrated by his refusal to send Canning off for what would have to be a professional foul if it was a foul at all. He gave the penalty anyway, but all is never lost when David Crawford is in goal, and DC surpassed himself yet again, pawing Dillon's rising kick on to the roof of the net. It's no exaggeration to say that Queen's were sparked into life by this brilliance, and 6 minutes later we opened the scoring. There was more than a little luck about the goal, as Robert Dunn diverted Steven Canning's shot beyond a helpless Grindlay. It's a sign that Robert's fortunes are changing, as he still looked a little sluggish during most of the game- though his link-up play was decent in the second half. He'll certainly be in strong contention for a starting place in the play-off matches. Queen's held their lead pretty comfortably till the break, and almost scored in the 52nd minute following something of a scramble. Paul Ronald managed to put the ball into the area, while on his knees, with his knees, Dunn's shot was blocked by Grindlay, the ball broke to Trouten, and Dunn again couldn't complete the move. Then a McQuilken header was well held by Crawford. In the 59th minute Trouten set up Dunn again, but his curling shot lacked power. By this point David Weatherston was on, and he came close very quickly, picking up Cairney's delivery after a superb run by Paul, but driving his shot well over the top. David Crawford had to make his second difficult save of the match 23 minutes into the half, tipping a looped Boyle shot straight up into the air before hurrying backwards to push the ball over from just underneath the bar. Queen's then introduced Mark Ferry for Alan Trouten, who had given an impressive performance on his return. A Weatherston shot almost slipped into the net through Grindlay's fingers in the 72nd minute, but 6 minutes later more confusion in the Dumbarton did allow the Queen's top scorer to secure victory for the Hoops. A weak back-header put Grindlay under severe pressure, and Davie was able to nip and slip the ball into the net. He almost scored again a few minutes later, but, under strong pressure to his left, the shot rolled safely into Grindlay's arms. Queen's were earning multiple cheers from the large travelling support because of their mature performance, but we didn't manage to keep a clean sheet, as Dumbarton finally scored their only goal against us this season in stoppage time. Substitute Coyne turned and volley a superb drive into the bottom right-hand corner of the goal, giving Crawford no chance. That was slightly disappointing but in no way spoiled a very enjoyable day for Queen's, one where we confirmed our superority over Dumbarton by extending our lead over them to a final 9 points. We also secured third place, and so will face Arbroath in the play-offs on Tuesday evening. Much has been said about the timing and venue of this match, but the upshot is that we will be playing at Hampden, just as we wanted, and, obviously, rightly so. We'll meet a team who beat us recently but have since lost their last 2 matches, finishing the regular season on a low note with a 3-1 home defeat at the hands of fellow play-off contenders East Fife. On the evidence of yesterday, Queen's will enter the tie in better shape, and with players set to return to the XI. Obviously Weatherston and Ferry will start, but Agostini should reportedly be OK and will play if he is. The scene is set for our biggest game in six years- and I think we're ready to do the business. Dumbarton: Stephen Grindlay, Andy Geggan, John Dillon, Mark Canning, David Craig, David Bagan (Jason McLaughlin 54), Ryan Borris (John Paul McKeever 75), Fergus Tiernan, Paul McQuilken, David McNaught (Tommy Coyne 69), Chris Boyle. Substitutes not used: Craig Brittain, Peter Shaw. Goal: Coyne 90. Queen's Park: David Crawford, Paul Paton, Mick Dunlop, Tony Quinn, Andrew Boslem, Steven Canning, Stuart Kettlewell, Paul Cairney, Robert Dunn (Richard Bowers 75), Paul Ronald (David Weatherston 59), Alan Trouten (Mark Ferry 69). Substitutes not used: Damiano Agostini, Mark Cairns. Goals: Dunn 33, Weatherston 78. Referee: Colin Brown. Attendance: 928. |