( Deuchar pen ) ( Moffat )
No changes were made by Paul Martin from the team that saw off Elgin City; however, there was a first appearance in the matchday squad for David Menelaws, injured for so long with a broken leg. Menelaws will have to wait a little longer to make his debut though.
The first half of the match was a quiet affair, with little occurring in the opening ten minutes. East Fife did manage to force three corners early on, but made no headway with anyway of these. The first shot at goal came from the boot of the ever lively Willie Martin, whose effort on the turn ended up in the arms of Jim Butter. A minute later, Martin pushed forward from midfield and shot from 20 yards, forcing Butter into an awkward save, tipping the ball wide of his right hand post.
A pass from Whelan almost sent Gemmell away on 15 minutes, but Mortimer made a fine tackle to dispossess the forward before he could shoot. Colin Stewart's first save came three minutes after, comfortably holding Mortimer's header following another East Fife corner kick. James Herkes should then have done better from the edge of the area, volleying high after a cross from the left had found him in space.
The game was being evenly contested, with neither side looking likely to make a breakthrough. The less charitable would simply say that it was dull fare. Herkes was fortunate to avoid a booking after failing to avoid making contact with Steven Moffat as the unflappable defender played a long pass downfield, and with a few minutes remaining of the half, Willie Martin latched onto a long ball from Ferry, moved into the area, but came under pressure and fell to ground.
An improvement was required from both sides in the second half if either was to claim full points from the match. John Gemmell and Willie Martin had put in a power of work up front for Queen's, as had Whelan in the middle of the park, but had received little by way of support from James Allan, who was possibly nervous at playing on his former home ground. His play was to improve greatly after the break, and especially after he was yellow carded for dissent on the hour mark. From the off, the second half looked more likely to provide excitement than the first had done. Kenny Deuchar, East Fife's chief goal threat, slid a low cross wide of the post under pressure from Agostini. A tall team, with physical players, East Fife looked a tough team to play against but lacked the skill levels expected of a team challenging for promotion.
A foul on Allan resulted in a yellow card for Russell after 49 minutes, and then Herkes tried a dipping shot which Stewart caught. Allan soon began to show himself as much more of an attacking force, encouraging the supporters with his trademark jinking runs and feints. A great run led to a cross which just evaded Gemmell's head. Prior to this, Allan had displayed real tenacity in gaining possession and feeding Danny Ferry on the left, for the skipper to cross into the area and Willie Martin to challenge the keeper for the high ball. Willie himself had a go at a dribble in the 62nd minute but his final drive flew into Butter's waiting hands.
Queen's were now definitely looking the more dangerous of the two sides, and should have opened the scoring after 68 minutes. Willie Martin was sent clean through by James Allan's pass, but could only fire straight at the advancing Butter after bringing the ball under control. Another thrilling run from Allan saw him reach the bye-line, and Martin and Whelan both came close to meeting his cross to the far post.
After 72 minutes the visitors got their reward for the continuing pressure. Earlier set-piece opportunities had been squandered, but now that Steven Moffat took responsiblity for a free-kick, he made no mistake. His low drive from the edge of the area took a slight deflection on its way past Butter and into the corner of the net. A crucial time to score, and Moffat's seventh goal of the season.
Within three minutes though, that lead had been cancelled. And the referee had a huge part to play. Agostini was involved in a tussle inside the penalty area with Deuchar as East Fife pressed, and as the striker fell back, Richmond pointed to the penalty spot. Given that Deuchar had appeared to be backing into Agostini as much as the defender had been holding him, it was a poor decision. Deuchar scored the penalty for his twelfth goal of the season.
East Fife now seized the initiative as they pressed for the winner that would enhance their promotion chances. Twice Euan Donaldson pushed forward from full back to cause problems for the defence, and on both occasions should have been stopped before he reached the area. The first time, Richard Sinclair collided with him inside the area, and picked up a knock that led to Gordon Lappin coming on for his first appearance since the 28th of September. Allan Dunning also replaced Willie Martin before the end. On the whole, despite having most of the play late on, the home team did not look like stealing a winner.
A rather disappointing outcome then, after a win had looked on the cards after Moffat's goal. The fact that the penalty awarded was a most dubious one makes the scoreline harder to accept. But Queen's, although average in the first half, certainly moved up a gear after half-time before East Fife's equaliser deflated them somewhat. The result keeps up our much improved run of form, and at the same time makes you regret that the Spiders could not score the necessary goals in the opening weeks of the season; the game today simply added to the evidence of recent weeks, that Queen's are more than capable of holding their own against the top teams in the Third Division.
East Fife: Butter, Love ( Gilbert ), Donaldson, Russell ( Lumsden ), Hall, Mortimer, Herkes, Allison, Deuchar, Farnan ( Graham ), McMillan.
Substitutes not used: Nairn, Martin.
Booked: Russell, Farnan, Donaldson, Herkes.
Goal: Deuchar penalty 75.
Queen's Park: Stewart, Sinclair ( Lappin ), Ferry, Moffat, Agostini, Fallon, Martin ( Dunning ), Whelan, Gemmell, Clark, Allan. Substitutes not used: Taggart, Menelaws, Mitchell.
Booked: Allan.
Goal: Moffat 72.
Attendance: 808.