| East Fife |
| Queen's Park |
| 1 |
| 0 |
| (Sinclair og) |
| The run had to end sometime, and it ended at for Queen's at Bayview, scene of defeat earlier in this campaign. For it to be such a frustrating defeat was not surprising; given the quality in this Queen's team, it was not likely we would ever be convincingly beaten by the Fifers. And that we lost by an own goal was not unusual, since it's already happened twice before this season. That's too high a total for a team looking to win the league, but of course it's only our superb recent run that took us into contention at all. Defeat here ended Queen's league hopes- despite the fact that, almost predictably, this was the day Berwick finally slipped up, only managing a goalless draw at home to Elgin. Queen's were playing the game uphill from the moment Paul Ronald was sent off with 8 minutes remaining of the first half. The incident- a raised hand after a tug on Ronald- was avoidable for a player of Ronald's experience and guile. And the goal too was the result of individual misjudgement. Richard Sinclair met a corner, with just under 20 minutes left, but only managed to loop the ball backwards and in at the right-hand post. Apart from these mishaps, Queen's actually played pretty well. Robert Dunn had probably his best game in a hooped jersey, and his volley, created after some superb link-up play with substitute Weatherston, was the closest Queen's came to getting an equaliser. Sadly though, it's an earlier miss from Dunn that will be remembered best; a swipe from 10 yards after the ball had been played in from the right. He also struck a disappointing free-kick wide from the edge of the box in the last 20 minute as Queen's pressed for a goal. However, we couldn't really sustain our attacks for long enough. Paul Cairney and Stuart Kettlewell had fine, driving games in midfield, but whether Billy Stark made the correct decision to play as many as 5 in that area, with Dunn alone up front, could be questioned. Queen's often seemed to lack men in attack, and the introduction of Carroll and Weatherston- which certainly sparked something of a revival- was perhaps timed a little too late. But of course, Billy's options had receded the moment Ronald was sent off, and a side that hadn't really attacked in numbers before that could hardly be expected to start then. We were OK- but certain mistakes let us down, something that is bound to happen after such a fine run, and when 2 of your most dangerous players, Weatherston and Trouten, were unable to start. As for East Fife, they haven't changed a bit. Their style of play remains contemptible, and one can only hope that even if Queen's fail to win the play-offs, they certainly don't either. Very hard to break down, they have little interest in using the skills of the likes of Jablonski and Blackadder; the latter of which should also have been dismissed after a spate of fouls, including an apparent elbow not long after Ronald had left the field. But then East Fife's players had their arms in the air all day,.and referee O'Reilly failed to control them. Or the game itself- his performance grew increasingly helpless as the game lurched on. The Queen's team were still clapped off the field by a support fully appreciative of the recent record-breaking run, and indeed for how they had acquitted themselves on the day. We can now focus fully on the play-offs, with the first step being to arithmetically rule out any possibility of Dumbarton overhauling us. The prospect of a do-or-die last day match on the banks of the Clyde is an exciting but nightmarish one, but it's not likely to come to that. Queen's are 15 goals better off, and can only be caught on goal difference. Yet it would be nice to settle the issue next week, and give Arbroath something to think about, ahead of a potential play-off meeting, into the bargain. East Fife: John Dodds, Paul Doyle, Kevin McBride, Craig Smart, Greig McDonald, Lloyd Young, Graham Gibson (Kevin Gordon 77), Neil Jablonski, Steven Nicholas, Craig O'Reilly (Paui Ritchie 84), Ryan Blackadder (Paul Hampshire 89). Substitutes not used: Elliott Smith, Iain Ross. Booked: Jablonski, Smart. Goal: Sinclair og 71. Queen's Park: David Crawford, Paul Paton, Steven Canning (David Weatherston 77), Richard Sinclair, Damiano Agostini, Mick Dunlop, Stuart Kettlewell, Paul Cairney, Robert Dunn, Paul Ronald, Mark Ferry (Frankie Carroll 77). Booked: Kettlewell, Cairney. Sent-off: Ronald. Referee: Stevie O'Reilly. Attendance: 669. |