| East Stirlingshire |
| Queen's Park |
| 2 |
| 4 |
| ( McAuley 2 ) |
| ( McCallum, Graham, Carcary, Reilly ) |
| It seems true that when you hit rock bottom, the only way is up. After collecting just one point from four games ( and conceding thirteen goals in the process ) optimism was thin on the ground amongst the Queen's Park supporters. And it wasn't just on the park where the troubles were : two of the strongest defenders in the league last season, Stephen Moffat and Steven Fallon, both left the club, plus many of the players were not seeing eye to eye with the coach. Few supporters held out much hope for the visit of Peterhead on Saturday, but after a blunt attacking display from the Blue Toon, and the presence of a certain seventeen year-old, Queen's were able to win through quite comfortably in the end with a one nil victory. Last night's rearrange game at Firs Park was next on the fixture list, and despite off-field problems, a win was expected, and was pretty much a necessity for the manager and the playing staff. They managed to do so, but only just. There was just one change to the side who beat Peterhead on Saturday, Damiano Agostini coming in for David Stewart, who picked up a knock during Saturday's game. Allan Dunning kept his place in the lineup, as did David McCallum and Ross Clark was once more in the heart of the midfield. Steven Reilly also was to keep his place in defence, after two solid displays. Unlike many visits to Shire, this game began right from the kick-off, and Shire were rewarded with a free-kick right on the edge of the box after Danny Ferry was adjudged to have brought down Sean McAuley just outside the area, much to the disgust of the travelling support. McAuley took the resulting set-piece and curled the ball round the wall and past a helpless Scrimgour into the back of the net to open the scoring. Shire's home support are rarely the loudest, but the lack of noise from this goal can be excused as many of the home support hadn't yet entered the ground, and if they were inside, were too shocked to respond. Queen's weren't behind for long however, and when David McCallum drove home his deflected shot, the cheers were almost entirely down to relief. McCallum was involved in the next opportunity to score, when he floated a cross in from the left, but Ally Graham's header looped agonizingly wide. Derek Carcary had a chance to double his goals tally for the seaon, after an Ally Graham flick-on, but Todd raced out well to deny the teenager. Shire threatened rarely in the first half, and Chris Baldwin's shot on the turn was as close as it got - bar the goal - for the home side. All credit to the side, as obviously they have realised they are incapable of defending, and may as well just try to go for goals. They weren't allowed much space to attack in the opening forty five, as Queen's kept pressing to take the lead. Derek Carcary almost did after an excellent delivery from Allan Dunning, but his header was tipped over well by the goalkeeper. Johnny Whelan came close minutes later, but his spectacular looping volley dipped just a little too late to trouble Chris Todd. Kenny Brannigan could breathe another sigh of relief after twenty nine minutes thanks to Ally Graham who was given plenty of space to head home another quality delivery by David McCallum, from close range. They kept pressing and Steven Canning found himself in a similar position to McCallum when the equaliser was scored. He couldn't keep his shot down unfortunately, as it would have been a reward for his good display against Peterhead. Just before half time, they came close again when Steven Reilly headed a corner just over the bar and the sides went in at half time with The Spiders just out in the lead at 2-1. There was just one change to the teams as they came out for the second half, Frankie Carroll replacing Ally Graham who picked up a slight injury before the break. They continued in the second half similar to the way they had played in the first half, and David McCallum came close after a promising move. Ross Clark tried an impressive volley in mid-air from twenty five yards but his effort went narrowly wide. Despite being under pressure since the opening minute, Shire kept the score down to 2-1 and went level after sixty one minutes. Sean McAuley again was the cause of the problem, he was allowed to skip past several attempts at tackles and hit a sweet shot out of the reach of Derek Scrimgour. Ugly scenes were on the cards when Shire found Derek Ure in the area, but somehow he managed to hit the side-netting with his shot. The home team were unable to keep up the pressure, and Queens regained the lead in the sixty fifth minute. Clark hit them on the break with a burst of pace from midfield, and when he left the ball for Derek Carcary, it was destined to hit the back of the net. This time the ruck that followed was of pure joy. It seems that the supporters aren't the only ones who have taken just a bit of a shine to the youngster. He was through for a second in the seventy third minute but the defence managed to catch up with him and remove the danger. His excellent display was marred slightly by a booking from referee Chris Boyle, for talking back to the official. Just the type of incident you would expect to see in computing classes up and down the country. The supposed Spiders fan had a shocking display and had they been up against better opposition, the decisions could have mattered more. They weren't up against better opposition however, they were up against East Stirlingshire, the worst outfit in the Scottish Football, and they soon had a two goal advantage. Reilly met a cross on the volley on the angle from close range and smacked it high into the net. The game was certainly a bigger challenge than we would maybe have expected but given recent displays from The Spiders, anything is possible ( 5-1 at Central Park??? ). The most important thing is that they got the win, and did so in the end, fairly easily. They also have a good chance of making it three wins on the trot with Elgin coming to Hampden. Matters off the field still have to be addressed though before we can have any real expectations for Queen's. East Stirlingshire: Chris Todd, Craig Reid, Graham McLaren, Robert Hare ( Darren Millar 52 ), Chris Newall, Graham McGhee, Scott Livingstone, Sean McAuley, Kevin Ford ( Stuart Kelly 59 ), Derek Ure, Chris Baldwin. Substitutes not used: Ross Gilpin, Dougie Polwart, Trialist. Booked: Baldwin, Newall, Millar. Goals: Sean McAuley 2, 61. Queen's Park: Derek Scrimgour, Danny Ferry, David McCallum, Allan Dunning, Damiano Agostini, Ross Clark, Steven Canning, Steven Reilly, Ally Graham ( Frankie Carroll 46 ), Jonny Whelan, Derek Carcary ( Paul Harvey 77 ). Booked: Carcary. Goals: David McCallum 5, Ally Graham 29, Derek Carcary 65, Steven Reilly 80. Referee: C. Boyle. Attendance: 235. |