elgin_queens_10_09

Elgin City

Queen's Park

( Johnston, Booth )

( Weatherston, Reilly pen )

Another remarkable epic at Elgin found Queen's giving a wildly uneven performance but when all was said and done, they had managed to gain a draw from a match that had seemed well beyond them. Dominant in possession terms during the second half, Queen's experienced most of the same problems which plagued them in losing to Elgin back in March: no cutting edge and a lack of robustness against Elgin's grimly functional style of play. But one of the established characteristics of this Queen's team is also a refusal to concede defeat, and two goals in the last ten minutes sealed what was a thoroughly deserved draw.
    There were a couple of interesting selections by Billy Stark to ponder before kick-off; Alan Trouten was back in the team, replacing an unfit Paul Harvey, and Jonny Whelan returned to the XI to partner Richard Bowers in attack. At least the manager had recognised the need to give Bowers some support up-front, but previously Whelan had not exactly shone in a more advanced position than he is used to. There was another change, Richard Sinclair failing a fitness test and so allowing Andy McGinty back into the team.
    The first-half would prove difficult to stomach for the 55 or so Queen's fans that had risen early to make the long journey. Queen's were unable to keep possession for any more than a couple of passes or so for the whole half; any semblances of an attack were easily gobbled up by Elgin's simplistic defenders, and the home team were always the more purposeful. After 5 minutes Johnston managed to flick the ball over Molloy's head but lost control as he moved into the area. It was from the midfield that Elgin were deriving their authority, with Queen's clearly missing Paul Harvey's ability to calm things down and take charge.
    Ross Clark managed to steal forward and send a rising shot wide in the 22nd minute, but this was a mere blip and Elgin took the lead a minute later. A hoisted cross from the right by Cumming caused uncertainty in the centre of the defence, and Martin Johnston picked up, turned and blasted a shot well beyond Crawford for a fine strike.
    We had no time to recover from the loss of that goal before Elgin notched a second. Predictably, it was a goal tinged with controversy. There was a suspicion of a push on Ross Clark by Booth as the Elgin attacker moved through the middle, but as play continued Booth homed in on goal, challenged with Crawford for the ball by sliding in, gathered the rebound and rolled it into the unguarded goal. It was dubious, however, that Booth had not fouled Crawford in the process, and the goal was the signal for an explosion of fury from the visiting fans, much of it directed at the nearby linesman who had been in a good position yet had seen nothing amiss.
    Although playing abysmally Queen's didn't deserve to be trailing by two goals, and Jonny Whelan almost reduced the deficit on 33 minutes; chesting a high ball down wonderfully, he fired a powerful volley straight at Renton. A great save, but Whelan undid his excellent control by misdirecting the shot.
    In fact Whelan was putting in a useful shift up front, and found Trouten shortly after for a shot that went wide of the left hand post. A Kettlewell header from Trouten's cross at least found the target before half-time, but it had been an insipid first-half from Queen's Park and a lot more focus was needed in order to avoid a disastrous result.
    Billy Stark made a tactical switch for the second-half, swapping Ferry and Trouten around; it had been a surprise to see Trouten return in an unfamiliar central position and he had been anonymous in the first half. As expected, Elgin were quite happy to sit back and Queen's found the initiative passed to them, as it had to. 9 minutes in, and Richard Bowers should have scored his first goal of the season, instead blazing a shot over at the back post from Clark's free kick. Again Clark was involved in the next minute; a standout performer at right back, he drove forward, finding Ferry whose fierce shot was blocked.
    On the hour mark Stark threw on Weatherston for Bowers, who had struggled again, and the change made a definite difference as Weatherston's harrying, probing style proved more of a problem for Elgin's defence. It had already been made obvious that Queen's pretty play was not going to be enough, and again they were guilty of trying to score the perfect goal, Molloy pausing in the box to wait for Ferry's run when a shot seemed to be on for himself. Ferry gathered only to curl the ball past. A double booking for Queen's players came five minutes later, Quinn being cautioned after one foul too many and Reilly also having his name taken after throwing the ball angrily to the ground. Then the referee failed to spot what appeared an obvious impeding of Jonny Whelan inside the Elgin area, Kaczan jumping on top of Jonny as a high ball came in.
     It was very hard to imagine a Queen's recovery with 10 minutes remaining, past heroics notwithstanding. Queen's were in command though, and increasingly desperate. At last a goal came with 9 minutes to go, and not surprisingly Ross Clark was heavily involved. His throw-in from the right wing was flicked on by Jonny Whelan, and Weatherston pounced to flick the ball underneath Renton at his near post.
    Without doubt Queen's now had a genuine chance, and they continued to thrust forward. When the equaliser came, all the glory for earning it went to that man Clark, whose superb burst into the area from the right flank had Elgin gaping, before Hugh Dickson put an end to the run with a poor tackle. Steven Reilly has yet to miss a penalty kick for Queen's during normal play, and he didn't disappoint, comfortably sending Renton the wrong way to the unconfined joy of the Queen's fans.
    Roared on by a near-hoarse support, you might have expected Queen's to push strongly for the winner now but in fact Elgin regrouped, suddenly realising that their perennial negative tactics weren't going to pay off. A low shot from McKenzie was held low down by Crawford, and the midfielder should really have done more with a decent amount of room at his disposal. Then Elgin's fresh substitute, Gary Melrose, twice broke into the area but like McKenzie before him snapped at his shots and caused little concern to the goalkeeper. The match ended with David Weatherston glad to lob a shot over the bar from the wide area, so relieved was he and us all to take anything from the game.
    There is no doubt that Elgin are not a good team and once again Queen's played easily the more attractive and positive football against them, even if only for half of the game. Where our problems lie are in a tendency to start games extremely slowly, and in a lack of physical presence and decisiveness. What saved us was our diehard mentality that means we never lose hope, and it earned a point that could well be valuable in what will probably turn out to be a breathlessly tight play-off race.

Elgin City: Kieran Renton, Stuart Cumming, Allan Demspie, Paul Kaczan, Hugh Dickson, Jamie McKenzie, Chris Gardiner (Gary Melrose 83), Pat Scullion (Fraser Bremner 60), Martin Johnston, Mark Booth, Alan Muir (Garry Wood 70). Substitutes not used: Stewart Easton, Stuart McKenzie.
Booked: Booth, Dickson, Gardiner.
Goals: Johnston 23, Booth 25.

Queen's Park: David Crawford, Ross Clark, Shaun Molloy (John Weir 86), Steven Reilly, Andy McGinty, Alan Trouten, Stuart Kettlewell, Tony Quinn, Richard Bowers (David Weatherston 60), Jonny Whelan, Mark Ferry. Substitutes not used: Michael Dunlop, Bryan Felvus, Alexander Cowie.
Booked: Quinn, Reilly.
Goals: Weatherston 81, Reilly penalty 85.

Referee: Steven Duff.
Attendance: 371.

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