| Elgin City |
| Queen's Park |
| 1 |
| 2 |
| (Booth pen) |
| (Quinn 2) |
| The disappointment of Spartans was cast aside by Queen's as they secured a vital three points at a notorious venue. Queen's were not near to their footballing best, but showed reserves of commitment and determination so necessary against a physically demanding side such as Elgin. The hosts had won four and drawn 2 of their most recent 6 matches, making the result feel even better for the busful of Queen's Park that had travelled north; more significantly, it's a win that returns us to 4th place in the league. East Fife have suffered a torrid month, and lost again yesterday; they trail us now by two points, having played 2 games less. It may now prove that Arbroath will be the most likely threat, especially as Queen's have yet to visit Gayfield all season. Last week's defeat had convinced Billy Stark to abandon a one up-front tactic, instead opting to restore Bryan Felvus to the XI to partner David Weatherston. Paul Harvey had been declared unfit and was replaced by Paul Paton, but the surprise came from the omission of Ross Clark. Possibly our best player this season, Ross only made the bench, with his right-back position being taken by Paton, and Quinn taking a midfield berth. The Kevin Proctor fanclub took some comfort from the man's inclusion as a substitute. The first half would stay faithful to the long tradition of Elgin boredom. To break with tradition, there wasn't that much happening off the field either, though the Queen's Park support were in excellent voice. Both of Queen's best chances of the half would land at the feet of Mark Ferry, the first in the seventh minute; following a corner on the right, the ball was laid back for him to blast over from inside the box. Queen's perhaps had slightly more of the play in the first 20 minutes but it never looked like amounting to anything, and the match settled down into a closely-fought scrap. A change was forced upon Billy Stark in the 27th minute when Agostini suffered a groin strain; Shaun Molloy was brought on at left-back with Mick Dunlop filling in for Agostini in the centre. Dunlop didn't get off to the best of starts in his new position, as seven minutes later he conceded a penalty. Having said that, the offence was highly dubious, a supposed tug of the shirt of Elgin's top scorer Martin Johnston, Both players had been warned just prior to this about their jostling, and as a free-kick close to the left edge of the box was floated over, Mr. Brown blew his whistle. The Queen's players immediately descended on Brown to protest, and Dunlop's anguish could only have multiplied at the booking he received for his troubles. Booth took the kick, and tucked the ball away without fuss. Queen's now faced an-all-too familiar task; to come back from a goal down at Borough Briggs. We had certainly not played as badly as in the season previous game at Elgin and hardly deserved to be behind, but the players showed little immediate signs of a recovery. The great fear was that the harsh refereeing decision would demoralise the players, but the character so lacking in evidence against Spartans last Saturday was thankfully present here. In the 39th minute Weatherston whacked the ball far over after breaking away down the left, but 3 minutes later Mark Ferry came close to nabbing an equaliser for Queen's. Weatherston's persistence and pace enabled him to beat the Elgin left-back Dempsie, and he managed to force the ball into the middle for Ferry. Positioned perfectly, Ferry's shot was amply struck but crashed off the legs of Elgin keeper Renton. Queen's continued to compete well during the second half but an urgency had entered our play, and Elgin soon found themselves on the backfoot. First off though, Mick Dunlop was possibly fortunate to remain on the park after bringing down a quick-moving Elgin player as he ventured towards our area; but had the referee seen sense and not awarded Elgin their earlier penalty, it wouldn't have been an issue. For all that our play was more focused, no genuine opportunities were created until the equalising goal arrived in the 63rd minute. Unusually for Queen's, a corner-kick was the source: Trouten's low ball came to Ferry, whose effort was blocked by the Elgin keeper. For once, Queen's responded quickest to a loose ball inside a packed area, and Tony Quinn poked the ball underneath the falling keeper to bring Queen's level. This coaxed Elgin out of their shells and we entered the most exciting period of the game. David Crawford had not yet been greatly tested but Queen's lovable goalkeeper would save his team in the 71st minute, brilliantly tipping a strong header wide of his left hand post as the Queen's defence again looked uncertain when dealing with a corner. The downside was that another had been conceded, but Crawford made sure that the danger was averted again, flying out to parry the ball away under considerable pressure. With 14 minutes left, Booth's shot from 25 yards cracked off the crossbar as Crawford scurried to his line, and three minutes later Queen's struck the wood themselves. Following another corner from the right, the ball fell for Weatherston close to the keeper's near post, but his slightly mishit shot bounced off the inside of the far post and away from the approaching Felvus. That had been extremely close, but within two minutes Weatherston missed a fine chance again when, after Paton had sent him clear, he fired his drive well over the bar. There was little time to dwell on the repercussions of these misses; Queen's kept driving forward, and the reward came a minute later. Once more, a Trouten corner was at the root of it, the winger receiving the ball back from his own short corner before sending over a fine cross that Quinn powered towards goal. The goalkeeper let the ball slant past him and drop just over the line, though a defender was on hand to hammer clear. However, the assistant referee in front of the Queen's Park support was sharp enough to call it a goal, and the referee raced back to the centre circle with his forefinger extended to the unconfined joy of those fans. In the aftermath of the goal, Ross Clark was thrown on for Kettlewell, and a few minutes later Tommy Murray replaced Felvus. Queen's still had some defending to do as Elgin battled back; there were no clearcut chances but the utmost concentration was required to see off the determined home side. In truth, the players were utterly loath to toss it away now, and the most nerve-rattling element of the time that remained was the sheer amount of it, as referee Brown saw fit to add on an inordinate number of extra minutes. That we saw it out may well be highly significant; the tightness of the victory gives it a special quality, for Queen's are more used to comfortable wins when they are victorious. There will not be enough of those to win a play-off place though, and wins like Saturday's will be essential in the next few months. This game showed that we have the will to get them. Elgin City: Keiron Renton, Paul Kaczan (Fraser Bremner 87), Allan Dempsie, Stewart Easton, Hugh Dickson, Mark Booth, Stuart Cumming, David Hind, Martin Johnston (Stuart Gardiner 65), Jamie McKenzie (Martin Jack 79), Adam Nelson. Substitute not used: Allan Muir. Booked: Nelson. Goal: Booth penalty 34. Queen's Park: David Crawford, Paul Paton, Mick Dunlop, Steven Reilly, Damiano Agostini (Shaun Molloy 27), Alan Trouten, Stuart Kettlewell (Ross Clark 80), Tony Quinn, David Weatherston, Bryan Felvus (Tommy Murray 85), Mark Ferry. Substitutes not used: Kevin Proctor, Alexander Cowie. Booked: Dunlop, Reilly, Weatherston. Goals: Quinn 63, 79. Referee: Colin Brown Attendance: 442. |