| Inverness Caledonian Thistle |
| 1 ( Ritchie ) |
| Queen's Park |
| 2 ( Reilly pen, Graham ) |
| Queen's Park - one of the best teams in Europe? Well, if you look at it in the most contrived possible way, then yes. But for now, we'll gladly take a second round place in the League Cup, and I have a sneaking suspicion that no fan of Glasgow's green team could have felt as happy after any of their Uefa Cup wins as the Queen's support did in Inverness last night. The team were simply magnificent, refusing to allow Caley any opportunity to settle into their stride. Even after going a goal down, the response was immediate. Once Ally Graham scored, the nerves were bound to be torn to shreds, and in true Queen's Park fashion we nearly missed out at the end, but despite the gut-wrenching, terrifying last few moments, the giant-killers were this time killed. That this win came on the back of two bad performances, and with a squad depleted through injury, makes it seem all the more unreal. But it happened - it was as real as Reilly's coolness, Graham's subtlety, Clark's all-round damn greatness, and the sweat running down my backside for the entire second half. Kenny Brannigan will also receive plaudits - and they are deserved. Furious after the last two games, Kenny came up with a solution to the defensive hesitancy, sticking Jonny Whelan in at the back and putting Stevie Moffat out wide on the left. It worked a treat. Kenny will now demand greater consistency from his players - we now know how well they can play, it just has to be produced more often. Travelling north out of loyalty more than out of hope, our hearts were lifted by an encouraging start from Queen's. Nothing much happened, but that in itself was positive: Caley were the ones expected to do the running, and they didn't. New signing Wilson blasted wide after 5 minutes, and Ritchie headed far off target shortly after, but apart from these half-chances Queen's coped very easily indeed. In fact Inverness would fail to raise their standards during the rest of the game. The first creativity of the game came from Queen's. Graham's head-flick sent Ferry away down the right but even though he scuffed his cross, Ross Clark was able to gather. A dip of the shoulder and he was in on goal, but he only succeeded in lofting over the bar. Woken up by this, Caley did manage a spell of pressure and McBain should have done better when in space on the edge of the box. But Queen's were clearly being stretched, and the opening goal in 27 minutes came as no surprise. Wilson's cross from the right was half-cleared by the sliding Whelan, but when the ball broke back to the former Livingston man his cross was inch-perfect for Ritchie to nod home at the far post. On Saturday we fell apart after losing the first goal, but this was a Queen's team so far removed from that disaster it was like watching another club. Perhaps the absences of Reilly and Graham had been more keenly felt than we had thought; and with Clark sharper than against Stirling, the change was palpable. It was the dynamic Ross that won a penalty two minutes after the goal, darting into the area before being downed by Mann's trailing leg. Reilly it was who stepped up, and cemented his reputation for infallibility from 12 yards by tucking into the corner. Queen's were certainly doing much better than we dared believe at the time, and while Inverness may have held more of the ball before half-time, they did precious little with it. Thus Queen's reached the sanctuary of the dressing-room unscathed and with a hunger to go one better in the second half. Hart's shot on the turn was held by Scrimgour in the 50th minute, but there was a lack of urgency from the home team, a near tangible sense of disinterest from their players. Queen's were soon to take full advantage of this complacency. 59 minutes had elapsed when Ross Clark, looking like an SPL midfielder, burst through the middle yet again before being felled 35 yards from goal. Reilly chipped the free-kick delightfully into the box, Graham peeled away from his marker, and with the Queen's fans behind the goal gaping in disbelief, hooked the ball into the corner of the net. At first I didn't react. Surely, there must have been an infringement or something? We couldn't be ahead, could we? Oh ye of little, or no, faith. Even so, I swear the players halted at first, perhaps sharing my sense of disbelief. But no, Garry Mitchell pointed to the centre circle, the team swarmed round Ally Graham, and I leapt around, falling to the floor in my confused jubilation. Queen's were ahead! There was half-an-hour to hold out. Don't get me wrong, it could have been even worse, as Caley failed to sustain a concerted assault on the Queen's goal. But going through this sort of torture makes you wonder why the hell you ever got involved with the game of football - only for the glorious, shrill blast of the final whistle to give you the most emphatic of answers. This was still to come - it seemed days away. Inverness should have scored in the 72nd minute, and I suppose, in the most perverse way, it would have put me out of my misery. But Wilson sliced his shot wide when sliding in at the far post, and we could breathe again. Cue Derek Carcary, he of the lightning pace, and when he outpaced the defence on two occasions before being foiled, it seemed his incredible speed could yet punish Caley on the counter. 10 minutes remained, though we knew there'd be a couple of minutes at least added on after Hart's injury, sustained under Sinclair's foul, held up play. Queen's were giving away too many fouls around their own area, but Inverness were short of ideas. A Thomson volley from a high pass fell wide, prior to Ross Clark's substitution by Paddy Gallagher. What would happen without Ross in extra-time, I remarked worriedly. I was resigned to what, I knew, would cause me to be physically sick. Then up flew Derek again! Faster than a heat-seeking missile, searing towards the ball, getting there ahead of Bobby Mann... Please, Derek, oh please, put it away... he held on just a fraction too long and chipped the ball over. I hung over the crush barrier, groaning like a terminally-ill patient. It was worse knowing we'd now rue defeat even more. Still Caley didn't look that threatening. But this is me being wise after the event. At the time, they could have been the Brazil '70 team, bearing down on goal from all directions, with Pele instead of Paul Ritchie in attack. Objectivity was now impossible. The notebook was tossed away - what remains now comes from memory. As if it could ever be forgotten. Two minutes of stoppage time played. Inverness won a corner, surely their last chance, as even I knew. The ball was floated in, and typically I was distracted at the crucial moment. So too was Steven Reilly, sticking out a hand so stupidly. Not that I knew why it was a penalty - nor did I care. But it was over, all over. I slumped again. Just like at Love Street, they would score, and after that only they could win. It was Mann who took it. At these moments, we recover from the initial despair to find a desperate hope that, somehow, the guy will miss and your team will be saved. Usually the despair returns very quickly. But this time - the ball came off the post and rebounded across goal. We jumped. We staggered around, we listened for the whistle. It arrived within seconds - seconds in which we had reached the two extremes of emotion. Only in football... only in games like this... only Queen's Park. Inverness Caledonian Thistle: Brown, Tokely ( Proctor ), Golabek, Mann, McCaffrey, Duncan, Wilson, Hislop ( Thomson ), Ritchie, Hart, McBain. Substitutes not used: Munro, Low, Ridgers. Goal: Ritchie 27. Queen's Park: Scrimgour, Sinclair, Ferry, Whelan, Moffat, Fallon, Clark ( Gallagher ), Reilly, Graham, Canning, McAuley ( Carcary ). Substitutes not used: Conlin, Thompson, McCue. Booked: Sinclair, Ferry. Goals: Reilly pen 29, Graham 60. Attendance: 968. |