forfar_queens_31_08

Forfar Athletic

( Booth, Tosh )

Queen's Park

( Carroll, Graham )

After extra time, 90 mins 1-1; Forfar Athletic won 4-3 on penalties

This season had already seen some unbelievable events, and the drama we've come to expect from all Queen's games was repeated last night at Station Park in a tremendous cup-tie. Forfar had made a strong start to the season, but such is the undeniable spirit, as well as the quality of player, in this current Queen's squad that few didn't expect Queen's to push them all the way. For Billy Stark's first game in charge, he was obliged to make a couple of changes from the XI that beat Gretna; Clark and Rushford were suspended after their red cards in the previous round, and Harvey took a knock on Saturday, so Bonnar, Kettlewell and Agostini came into the team.
      From the off it was end-to-end stuff, Mathu King of Forfar thrashing a shot wide inside the first minute. Queen's responded with a powerful Kettlewell header from McCallum's cross that went wide of the post. Worryingly though, Forfar were to take the lead after 7 minutes, and the defensive errors that have cost us a few goals so far were evident again. Steven Reilly had the chance to clear on the right, but hesitated, allowing Tosh to sneak ahead of him and drill the ball low across goal for Booth to stab it high into the roof of the net.
     Of course the way things have been going lately we could have been forgiven for celebrating an opposition goal ourselves, knowing full well we'd come back. It was to be no different this time as Queen's recovered quickly from the goal. McClune picked up a booking for handling before a volley at goal, having earlier been warned for a shove on Carroll. Another handball, this time inside his own box, by a Forfar player in the 12th minute was judged correctly by referee Freeland to have been accidental.
     Brian Blair, having his best game yet, went close after 18 minutes, and 3 minutes later the same player was involved in Queen's's equalising goal. His cross into the area was met by King, who made a hash of sending the ball back to his own keeper with a back-header. As the ball looped towards goal, Brown rose to claim it, but under pressure from Frankie Carroll, let it slip through his fingers. Frankie made sure the ball crossed the line, but as his hands had seemed to be raised towards the keeper there was a possible case for the goal being illegal. However, referee Freeland didn't think so, and Queen's were level.
     Brown again looked unsteady when fumbling a Molloy drive in the 27th minute, smothering the ball at the second attempt. Queen's found a chance on the break on the half-hour mark, Trouten stealing possession before bursting forward with only Carroll in support. Frankie took the pass, sized up a shot from the corner of the box and drove it off a defender's leg.
     Queen's had already enjoyed one slice of luck before the game had even kicked off with the absence, due to suspension, of Forfar striker Paul Shields; but the home side still had Paul Tosh, one of the best forwards outside the SPL. That he failed to score in all of normal time was astonishing, and he wouldn't come closer than in 35 minutes. He stumbled in front of goal after being found by Booth, recovered but hooked the ball inches wide.
     Alan Trouten, a thorn in the flesh of Forfar full-back Lowing, then burst into the box but lacked the striker's instinct to finish off his own run, dribbling for too long before putting the ball across the face of goal. Forfar were clearly rattled now, and Stein was booked for bringing down Carroll inside the Queen's half. But being such an excellent attacking team, they were keeping Queen's busy at their own end of the park. It was Queen's who nearly took the lead just before half-time though, Trouten smacking over a cross from the right which flew off Rattray's outstretched boot and arched towards goal, forcing Brown to claw the ball away in a fine save.
     Billy Stark could hardly have asked for any more during his 45 minutes in charge, except perhaps a little more composure in defence from Queen's. But keeping out a side that had already knocked in 5 goals twice this season was always going to be extremely difficult. This Queen's team has shown for a while now that it favours attack as the best form of defence, a departure from more cautious previous years, and they came out blazing for the restart, Graham hitting the bar with a close-range header within 3 minutes shortly after Blair had cracked a volley off Frankie Carroll's heel. Big Ally was giving the Forfar defence a torrid time, winning most of the aerial balls and setting up chances for others, while his link-up play with Carroll has become a feature of Queen's game. Carroll's remarkable grafting had led up to Graham's header, him finding Trouten sneaking round the back for a cross that came off a defender for the corner.
     Billy Stark was forced to make a change in 51 minutes when Reilly went down heavily, and Richard Sinclair was the obvious replacement. Brian Blair went close again six minutes later, shooting wide after being supplied by Kettlewell.
     It was thrilling stuff now and both teams were caught up in the game, desperate to grab a winner. A neat free-kick move from Forfar resulted in Mathu King shooting narrowly past. Queen's were hanging on grimly at times when Forfar attacked, and Tosh had the ball in the net in the 68th minute but he was adjudged to have been offside when Stein made the pass. It must have been a tight call.
     Frankie Carroll found himself running free on goal after 74 minutes with King struggling furiously to catch him, and the defender probably did enough to distract Carroll from taking the chance properly. His rising shot was parried away by Brown. Almost immediately, Forfar broke up the park and Rattray crashed in a drive from a tight angle that whistled past the post. Then Tosh fired a shot wide from a decent position on the edge of the area.
     That Queen's were still going all out for the win, despite Forfar's pressure, was underlined when Billy Stark elected to throw on another forward, Bryan Felvus, for a midfielder, Martin Bonnar. The tactic would pay off as the three-pronged attack posed yet more problems, with the addition of Felvus's dribbling from deep key.
     Forfar might again have gone in front with 9 minutes left, but somehow Molloy made a simply outstanding challenge to nick the ball off Tosh's toes as he prepared to shoot. Incredibly, Queen's broke away from the off and Blair found Trouten who bewildered the Forfar defence again before winning a corner.
     That Frankie Carroll was still standing, given the effort he'd put in, was a feat in itself, let alone that he could still come close to scoring. After picking up a long ball, he knew better than to try and run with his tiring legs, instead lobbing early and just over the bar.
      The tension was almost unbearable now as Forfar continued to look like scoring with every attack. Crawford made a bewildering save to deny Tosh yet again, but Queen's were unperturbed and charged up the park once more, Felvus threading a pass through to Blair for a good shot which slipped past. The climax of the 90 minutes arrived when Crawford again came to Queen's rescue, keeping out Maher's shot at his right hand post when a winner looked likely. Extra-time at Station Park again - perhaps the older hands were taking it better than me, but I was petrified.
      5 minutes into extra-time, Felvus burst through the middle and drove the ball wide. The pattern of play hadn't changed, though the pace had certainly decreased, but Forfar at last got the goal they would have felt had been coming for ages. 100 minutes had gone, and the goal was tinged with controversy. Forfar took a throw in on the right which the Queen's support felt should have gone the other way, the ball was shipped down the wing, and when the cross came over Tosh turned the ball home at last.
     It left us with another mountain to climb but the whole team seem to have become fully-qualified sherpas recently. Again, we came roaring back, and after Molloy had seen yellow for a rather petulant tackle from behind, Sinclair blazed a volley over the bar following a corner. A quick turnaround, and we were back for more, with Queen's now firmly on top in attacking terms. Another booking was collected when Graham was penalised for a supposed push against an opponent he'd given merry hell all evening. Not one Queen's player was even considering giving up, and we screamed for a penalty when Trouten danced into the area from the right wing and was out-muscled by a defender. It looked a good claim, but Freeland said no, and Brian Blair was booked for protesting.
     Yet again, Trouten broke free, but his dangerous cross deflected off Dave King and safely into Brown's arms. Ally Graham, still going strong though he must have been on his last legs, beat Forrest with a neat turn but couldn't keep his shot low, then found Carroll with a flick-on from McCallum's corner, only for Frankie to nod wide when he had more space than he perhaps thought.
     Still the support kept urging the team on, but our last chance seemed to have come and gone when Felvus's drive was gathered by Brown. But we attacked again, and forced one last chance with a corner on the right, Trouten playing the ball off Lowing to win it. McCallum floated over the cross, but the ball was cleared. However, it came straight back out to McCallum in space on the right, and when he sent the ball over again, Graham rose to send a header towards goal. Brown could have had it, but the ball ran away from him again and a defender could do no more than horse the ball well over his own line to make sure. The scenes that followed were unparalleled, it's hard to imagine wilder celebrations for any goal in the country this season.
    When Felvus got away down the left with time virtually up, we thought of the impossible, but it came to nothing. Queen's, on the most glorious of highs only seconds before, would now have to lift themselves for the penalty shoot-out. Even for a team as pumped-up as this one, it proved too much to ask. Stuart Kettlewell took the first kick, but, obviously fatigued, stroked the ball low and gave Brown an easy save to make. So Forfar took the lead with their first kick, and although Trouten, Blair and McCallum all coolly stuck away their efforts, Forfar's takers did exactly the same. Thus it fell to Ally Graham to keep Queen's in the competition, something he'd already done just minutes before. Clearly shattered, Ally ballooned his kick over the bar, but why did he take it with his weaker foot? Probably it was not a wise move for Ally to volunteer anyway as his condition by that stage must have counted against him. But for sheer courage he deserved all the praise in the world, as did every player in hoops. Billy Stark knows now what he has at his disposal - a passionate team, and an every bit as passionate support willing them on. If we can keep repeat this sort of stuff again, and tiredness may set in eventually, a promotion challenge has to be on the cards.

Forfar Athletic: Michael Brown, Alan Rattray, David Lowing, Eddie Forrest, David King, David McClune, Mark Booth, Paul Lunan, Paul Tosh, Mathu King ( Neil Clark 74 ), Jay Stein
( Martin Maher 84 ). Substitutes not used: David Dunn, Dougie Cameron, Neil Ferrie.
Booked: McClune, Stein.

Goals: Mark Booth 7, Paul Tosh 100.

Queen's Park: David Crawford, Alan Trouten, David McCallum, Damiano Agostini, Steven Reilly ( Richard Sinclair 51 ), Shaun Molloy, Martin Bonnar ( Bryan Felvus 78 ), Stuart Kettlewell, Ally Graham, Frankie Carroll, Brian Blair. Substitutes not used: David Weatherston, Tony Quinn, Steven McGovern.
Booked: Molloy, Graham, Blair.

Goals: Frankie Carroll 21, Ally Graham 119.

Penalty shootout: Kettlewell missed; Tosh scored ( 0-1 ); Trouten scored ( 1-1 ); Booth scored ( 1-2 ); Blair scored ( 2-2 ); McClune scored ( 2-3 ); McCallum scored ( 3-3 ); Forrest scored ( 3-4 ); Graham missed ( 3-4 ).

Referee: Alan Freeland.
Attendance: 421.

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