| Queen's Park |
| Aberdeen |
| 0 |
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| After extra time QUEEN'S PARK won 5-3 on penalties |
| Few would have believed that, even when approaching 140 years of existence, Queen's Park FC could still break records. The days of Queen's beating big fish like Aberdeen seemed to be long over, but they returned at Firhill on what was one of the most astonishing nights in the entire history of the club. A heroic team performance kept Aberdeen at bay for 120 minutes, and we were even capable of frightening them a few times at the other end. Then, filled to the brim with adrenaline, our 5 penalty-kick takers converted with an assurance that Aberdeen couldn't match, and Queen's were through. Everything about the night was special and strange; the unusual venue, David Crawford being dropped, the building site to our right, Queen's getting beyond two rounds of the League Cup for the first time ever, and with their 5th win in a row too. It's also notable that we won a penalty shootout without both our star penalty saver AND our top penalty scorer. Crawford usually always keeps them out, Reilly virtually never misses, and on top of that the two of them are possibly our two BEST players full stop! And they weren't playing! So if some cynic somewhere queries you about our triumph with "aye pal, but surely Aberdeen didn't have a full strength team out", let them know right away that it was Queen's who were able to field a weakened team and still win. Any manager in the country could learn from Billy Stark on the subject of how best to use your resources. So, we were without both Crawford and Reilly, with the former dropped despite saving two penalties in the last round against Hamilton. He may not look this way, but Billy Stark is a man with a will of iron, and he is quite capable of making ruthless decisions for what he sees as the general good. Giving Mark Cairns a starting place last night is the finest example of this to date, and it was the kind of unpredictable change the great bosses of the past were adept at making. Cairns was to prove a safe pair of hands all evening. Also included in the team was Robert Dunn for what was his first start since moving from Stirling Albion, and he was fielded behind Paul Ronald and David Weatherston in attack. With no Steven Reilly, it was a relief to see Richard Sinclair line up again after his suspension, and Mark Ferry returned too. The first half wouldn't bring a heap of chances, but the play was speedy and the tackles blunt yet honest. Queen's certainly matched Aberdeen for possession, and had their shots too. In the 3rd minute, Kettlewell crashed one past Soutar's right post, but it wasn't until 5 minutes before the break that we achieved an effort on target. Then, Canning's free kick 35 yards from goal arched off a defender's head and had to be tipped over by Soutar. Aberdeen struggled to make much of an impact, and found Queen's Park's defence to be a prison wall they just couldn't scale. Time and time again they would be caught out on the edge of our area by a smart challenge, and even when they weren't, their shooting was inept. In the 17th minute, Crawford volleyed a shot well over on the turn, and seven minutes later he found a little bit of space in front of the area, only to have Cairns easily save his shot. In fact Queen's's veteran keeper hardly had to shift feet all night as Aberdeen showed an unfathomable fondness for zooming shots straight at him. Before half-time, Weatherston would crash a volley over the top following a corner, and Ferry booted a shot easily wide after good approach play by Dunn. Queen's were doing a little more than just surviving, and come half-time Jimmy Calderwood's face was turned even darker than normal with anger. Aberdeen made two changes before the second half began, throwing on Stewart and Macauley. They certainly looked more urgent at the start of the half, with Stewart on the left involved quite heavily. However, they failed to test Cairns, and despite a hectic ten minutes there was little of substance happening. The tiring Paul Ronald, who had worked so hard to keep Russell Anderson occupied, was replaced by Alan Trouten after 57 minutes. Trouten dropped back, leaving Weatherston to chase up front on his own until he would also come off, in place of Bowers, with 10 minutes left. After 66 minutes Nicholson's first-time blast was handled well by Cairns, and a minute later Macauley struck low from the angle of the box, but again Aberdeen were unable to seriously trouble the Queen's keeper. Five minutes later, Nicholson's free kick to the back post was dealt with despite Anderson's best efforts to get there. Queen's broke up the park to force a corner, and as the ball dropped out of the sky from the initial clearance Trouten tried a volley. There was no mistaking Aberdeen's rising determination to settle the game once and for all, and they would pummel Queen's for the final ten minutes and a few before. With 16 minutes remaining Crawford blazed the ball high from a decent position, then Anderson headed wide under the usual stern pressure from Agostini who must surely be made out of brick. He, along with Sinclair, Dunlop, Paton and whoever else was needed, would continue to frustrate Aberdeen during the torrid closing minutes, and the only further shot of note came when Nicholson blazed one into his fans behind the goal after being slipped through to the angle of the area. Still, the Dons would keep us waiting until the very end of normal time. Referee Finnie gave a soft free-kick 40 yards out after Bowers was judged to have fouled, and as the free-kick came over Dunlop went up with Anderson and received a knock on the head. Aberdeen thus gained a corner which Queen's had to defend without their inspirational left-back, but defend it they did, and Dunlop returned sporting a bandage which provided a fitting image on the night. Queen's had gone 90 minutes- if we now went on to let in 4 during extra-time, we could still hardly complain. The players, though, had no intention of letting in 4, or indeed any, goals. Richard Sinclair had to leave the field at the start of extra time, with Jonny Whelan coming on. The very idea of Jonny Whelan keeping out Aberdeen would have seemed surreal a few months, maybe weeks, ago. but he carried on the job the rest of the defence had been doing and with total conviction. Aberdeen continued to look the likelier side at first, but Queen's almost scored in the 101st minute. Richard Bowers's drive seemed golden but Soutar did brilliantly to react and claw the ball round the post. It was a shot that no Third Division keeper could have expected to save, and it was the closest either side were to come. As extra-time wore on, Queen's got into a second wind and began to sustain attacks on the Aberdeen goal. Ferry had a shot charged down after Bowers had made space on the left, and then a superb Trouten burst found him shooting at goal from a difficult angle. Soutar dived across to parry the ball out. Cairns still had to save a drive near the end as Aberdeen tried a final thrust, and a Crawford header looped wide as the Dons's hopes of avoiding an agonising finish ended. Penalty kicks would be required to separate two teams that beforehand had seemed as far apart as the sun and the moon. Queen's had the advantage of taking first, and Steven Canning converted to give us the start we needed. Darren Mackie then took for Aberdeen, and his penalty was as unconvincing as his play had been all night, soaring long over the crossbar. The cheers from just above in the Main Stand were hoarse, but deafening. Mark Ferry and Robert Dunn displayed cold steel in putting theirs away, and Aberdeen's next two takers at least gave the impression of being SPL players with their kicks. The QP support now believed, but wondered why a blue-clad figure was approaching the area prior to Queen's's next attempt. Surely Cairns hadn't confused the order? No, he was going to take a penalty. He was going to take a penalty that nearly ripped the net off the stanchion as it flashed to the other side of Soutar. All Mark had to do now was hang about and save Stevie Crawford's penalty, and Queen's would have done it. He didn't quite, but at least Crawford's goal gave Alan Trouten the chance to send Queen's through. He didn't get much weight on his kick, but he didn't need to as the ball rolled to the other side of the kneeling Soutar. The place just exploded after that, and they'll be picking up the pieces for a while to come. Queen's had turned back the clock, and not even Mick Jagger could do that with quite so much style. Queen's Park: Mark Cairns, Paul Paton, Mick Dunlop, Damiano Agostini, Richard Sinclair (Jonny Whelan 91), Steven Canning, Stuart Kettlewell, David Weatherston (Richard Bowers 80), Paul Ronald (Alan Trouten 57), Robert Dunn, Mark Ferry. Substitutes not used: Tony Quinn, David Crawford. Aberdeen: Derek Soutar, Richard Foster, Dan Smith (Chris Maguire 80), Russell Anderson, Andrew Considine, Jamie Winter (John Stewart 46), Gary Dempsey (Kyle Macauley 46), Barry Nicholson, Stevie Crawford, Darren Mackie, Chris Clark. Substitutes not used: David Donald, Jamie Langfield. Penalty shootout: Canning scored (1-0); Mackie missed (1-0); Ferry scored (2-0); Nicholson scored (2-1): Dunn scored (3-1); Stewart scored (3-2); Cairns scored (4-2); Crawford scored (4-3); Trouten scored (5-3). Referee: Stephen Finnie. Attendance: 1,588. |
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