After Tuesday superb display against Forfar in the Bell's Cup, Queen's confidence should have been high, and they suggested this straight from the start. They put a lot of pressure on the East Fife defence, with Canning forcing a save from Butter very early on, and Willie Martin, deservedly getting his chance in the starting eleven, had a shot deflected over. He then should have passed instead of shooting himself later in the half, after doing very well to get into the penalty area. From only a few yards out, his shot ended up in the side netting. Then, shortly before half-time, Steven Canning showed off his prodigious skills with a fine run before having his final effort blocked by Jim Butter.
No goals, but an encouraging first half performance from Queen's, and with former East Fife players John Gallagher and James Allan raiding down the left almost non-stop it was something of a surprise that the visitors made it to half-time without conceding a goal.
The second-half saw East Fife happy to defend, while Queen's began to look less and less like finding the net. During the second-half, Cowboy McCormack began to ring the changes. Stuart Jack, Paddy Gallagher and new signing Craig Taggart replaced Martin, John Gallagher and Canning. Given that Willie Martin was having a reasonable game, his withdrawal was a bit bewildering, and the player seemed to be unhappy at being replaced. Substitutions are not really McCormack's strong point, it seems. With no real goal threat, and Paddy Gallagher nigh invisible up front, the match dragged on in a rather boring fashion, with Allan and Moffat the only standout players. East Fife's best chance came on 62 minutes, when Gilbert struck wood following a free kick. His header came off Mitchell's right hand post. However, Queen's should have got the winner on 78 minutes. Sub Taggart played a low ball in from the right, which was returned into the box from Allan, and Steven Canning should have done better than to shoot high from just six yards out.
This was certainly a better performance than in the Montrose game, but a lack of incisive front play remains the team's chief downfall. East Fife were happy enough with a draw; they had played for it after being reduced to ten men, but Queen's must feel it was a game they should have won. Despite possessing a fairly strong squad, the club just can't find any sort of form in the league. Perhaps new signing Taggart can provide the answer to the goalscoring question. One thing is for sure: having to dictate a game is not the way Queen's prefer to play, being better as a counter-attacking side. Playing Berwick away in the Bell's Cup quarter-final on Tuesday should give the team a chance to play this way.
Queen's Park: Mitchell, Ferry, J. Gallagher ( Taggart ), Moffat, Agostini, Quinn, Martin ( Jack ), Whelan, Gemmell, Canning ( P. Gallagher ), Allan.
East Fife: Butter, Allison ( Cunningham ), Ovenstone, Farnan, Hall, Russell, Love ( Deuchar ), Mortimer, Graham, Gilbert ( McMillan ), Donaldson.
Sent-off: Farnan 18.
Attendance: 537.