| Montrose |
| Queen's Park |
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| Somehow Queen's failed to see of Montrose at Links Park and in that failure hinted that the remainder of the season will be fraught for all connected to the club. There was upwards of 10 good chances for Queen's in this game, one in which they pummelled an extremely poor Montrose team from start to finish, and yet not once could they get the ball past Montrose keeper Wood. Watching the game was akin to having your head struck repeatedly with a mallet, and almost as painful. The week preceding the match had been intensely busy by Queen's Park's standards, with Mick Dunlop having his red card appeal rejected and Billy Stark collecting the manager of the month award. But the biggest news circulated at the end of the week, when the story broke that loan signing Kjartan Henry Finnbogason looked likely to return to Celtic after breaking his foot in training. This hasn't been confirmed as yet by the club. But it is a sore disappointment, for he could have provided an answer to our scoring difficulties, ones that look even more pronounced after yesterday. In fact, it's believable that a fit Finnbogason could have scored a hat-trick in this game. Without Finnbogason, and also without Weatherston and Felvus due to injury, Billy Stark had little option but to field Kevin Proctor as the one out-and-out striker. Paul Harvey returned to the XI to support him from midfield, and Shaun Molloy came in for Mick Dunlop in the back four. Queen's had the better of affairs from the off and looked commanding at a sparse and dreich Links Park (there were nowhere near as many in attendance as the 434 Montrose have claimed). Alan Trouten was keen to probe down the right wing, Paul Harvey's supreme touch had been gladly restored to the middle of the park, and Kevin Proctor looked eager to receive the ball and make things. All three were involved in attacks in the first quarter of an hour, but it was Mark Ferry who missed Queen's first chance: having been laid off by Proctor, Ferry mishit the ball with the outside of his left foot from the edge of the box and the ball flew into the side of the net. Then a lovely delivery from Harvey found Proctor who shot just wide. A few minutes after, Trouten and Harvey teamed up, Harvey flighting over a delicate cross for Ferry at the back post, who could only find the side-netting once more, with a header. He should have scored. A Quinn effort was driven past in the 22nd minute, and Montrose were struggling badly to leave their half. They did manage to lump it forward in the 27th minute though, and as Middleton bore down on goal to chase the ball, Reilly slid in with an expertly-timed challenge to hook the ball clear and Queen's resumed their attacking. The 34th minute brought a magnificent chance for Queen's, but to illustrate the theme of the day, it was not taken. Alan Trouten set up Kevin Proctor with an excellent pass, and Proctor's control was superb; he deftly lifted the ball over an onrushing defender's head, and found himself six yards out with only Wood to beat. Unbelievably, his volley struck the side-netting meekly, with some fans convinced the ball had gone in. In fact, I'm still not convinced that it didn't. Another Proctor chance at the end of the half was this time saved, and when Queen's came out for the second half, it was to continue where they had left off. We were still all over Montrose, and opportunities were no less plentiful. How Mark Ferry ended the day without a goal was inexplicable, and twice during the opening twenty minutes of the half he would miss glorious chances. First he found himself in the area, free, following a ball in from the left, but he was too slow to react and the ball bounced off both of his feet into the keeper's arms. Then, from a typical Trouten corner on the right, the ball swung to the edge of the box and the waiting Ferry, but his drive flew past when getting it on target was an absolute must. Mark's scoring touch appears to have deserted him and there can no doubt that he is short of form and self-belief right now. Proctor almost scored again from a corner, but his looping header was cleared off the line by Fraser as Montrose defended stoutly. They would have few attempts at goal, with just one shot that slipped narrowly beyond Crawford's right-hand post coming to mind. Any corner-kicks or free-kicks they had were easily eaten up by Crawford and his defence, and on the whole they played as poorly as anyone Queen's have faced this season - East Stirling included. Billy Stark resisted the temptation to make any changes until the 77th minute - the team had after all been playing well. Paul Harvey made way for Ross Clark, with his legs tiring, but a contribution could perhaps have been made from Harvey in the last 13 minutes despite his age and physical condition. It had been a fine performance from the veteran, with many a neat flick and probing pass, and his range of skills had clearly prompted others -Proctor, Kettlewell, Trouten- into trying out many of his tricks themselves, mainly successfully. Queen's kept going, and Kevin Proctor seemed set to score yet again with 5 minutes remaining, but his quick close range shot was blocked after Trouten had fired across. And in the final minute, another delivery from Trouten found Quinn and Clark both challenging, and inevitably they stood on each other's toes, then watched the ball escape over the bar. That was it. Montrose have often proven an insuperable barrier to Queen's, and once more it was the case yesterday. Hardly ever can Queen's have been quite so superior and yet not found the net - it was probably our best performance yet in 2006, better than those that earned three previous victories. The issue is just how we are going to find a prolific marksman. It's certainly too early to dismiss Kevin Proctor, despite yesterday's misses, as he has the skill and presence to be a good forward for Queen's. At the moment though, it seems likely that even if Queen's do make the play-offs, we lack the firepower to emerge winners from that mini-tournament. Then again, we're not letting any in either - we might have a couple of penalty shootouts to stomach come May. Of course, we've certainly not made it there yet, but this result should not deflect us off course. Montrose: Sandy Wood, Euan Hall, Stephen Fraser, Graham Hay, Stuart Ferguson (James Russell 55), Hugh Davidson, Martyn Fotheringham (Calum Watson 83), Greig Henslee, Gary Middleton, Steve McManus (Kris Brash 46), Ian McLeod. Substitutes not used: Steve Kerrigan, Michael Hankinson. Booked: Russell. Queen's Park: David Crawford, Paul Paton, Shaun Molloy, Steven Reilly, Richard Sinclair, Alan Trouten, Stuart Kettlewell (Tommy Murray 83), Tony Quinn, Kevin Proctor, Paul Harvey (Ross Clark 77), Mark Ferry. Substitutes not used: Jonny Whelan, Andy McGinty, Mark Cairns. Referee: Steve Conroy. Attendance: 434. |