| Queen's Park |
| Arbroath |
| 2 |
| 2 |
| ( Proctor, Trouten pen ) |
| ( Cook, Dobbins ) |
| Queen's may not have performed well against a labouring Arbroath side but could still quite easily have won the game. Yet while we exhibit such hesitancy and poor communication inside our own penalty area, goals such as Ross Clark's own one last week and Arbroath's gifted equaliser on Saturday will continue to be given away. In attack though we were reasonable, and much of this is down to the introduction of Kevin Proctor for his debut. Certain sources had suggested that Proctor looked anything but impressive on his recent Strollers run-outs, yet against Arbroath he never shirked an aerial challenge and used the ball quickly and sharply. His goal might not have been difficult but it was scored with a calmness quite noticeable in someone who'd never played at this level before. As so often, Queen's only shone in short bursts, and their failure to take a real hold of the game can be attributed to the continued absence of Paul Harvey; we simply have no-one else of his like. Proctor was given his chance in the team because of Jonny Whelan's absence, family commitments keeping him away. In truth, a change was urgently needed anyway. Billy Stark also wisely chose to swap Stuart Kettlewell and Alan Trouten over, allowing Alan to play in his prime position of right-wing. Still missing due to injury was not only Paul Harvey, but Steven Reilly too; it's fair to say we would miss them both. The pulses were racing as soon as play kicked-off but this was solely due to the appointment of Mr. S. Finnie as the referee for this game. He's rarely looked like one in the past, but he had a surprisingly quiet afternoon. The same could be said of the first-half, except that the lack of action was no great surprise. Arbroath have fallen long short of the standards expected of any relegated club, and their travails are best illustrated by the fact that just 10 fans made the journey to Berwick recently. There were more at Hampden, but not many more. Queen's fans, for their part, would have accepted little other than victory after last week's blunders at East Fife. Their side enjoyed much of the early possession, and after 9 minutes David Weatherston flashed a low drive narrowly past the left-hand post of Peat after Kettlewell had capitalised on some shaky play at the back by Arbroath. Kettlewell himself would have a similar effort deflected wide from a similar position after half-an-hour. Queen's failed to claim the initiative in the opening third of the game and Arbroath soon settled in, with neither side probing with much invention. However, Arbroath would soon have two golden chances to score, the product more of sloppy defence than anything else. First Brazil picked up a loose ball on the half-way line, and with the central defenders of Queen's pushed up, had the entire half to run into. Clark and McGinty gave chase, and eventually put Brazil off enough that Crawford was able to tip his rising shot over the bar. Then Brazil again found space, well within the box this time, but he hesitated too much, having to cut the ball back and wasting the opportunity. Queen's at least ended the half with a good move. Some slick building from the back resulted in Ferry following up with a drive from the 18-yard line that spun off a defender and bounced away from the onrushing Trouten for a corner-kick. From that, the ball broke to Andy McGinty, hardly the ideal person to gather a loose ball in attack, and his instinctive attempt went past. Then Clark, coming back strongly from last week's error, measured a shot past the left-hand post. This close of the first half hinted at better things to come for Queen's upon the resumption but it was in fact Arbroath who took the lead in the 50th minute. Yet again, Brazil was not closed down properly, and from the edge of the box he laid the ball off to Cook who took a good touch and blasted it beyond Crawford's outstretched right palm. Queen's recovered pretty quickly from this, with Ferry launching himself at Clark's powerful cross from the right, but only able to push the ball wide. Again involved, a low drive from Clark was held by Peat shortly after. Five minutes on, and an excellent curling shot from Mark Ferry twisted past the far post from the left of the field. Queen's were gathering momentum, and would equalise in the 62nd minute. On the break, Proctor was sent clean through on goal by a precise pass from Alan Trouten, lobbed over the heads of the defenders. Proctor had timed his run well and as Peat came out, the new striker coolly slotted the ball between him and the near post. A finish of quality. Queen's are apt to rely on short blasts of confidence and verve to fuel their attacks, and roared forward again in the wake of the equaliser. Alan Trouten mesmerised the Arbroath defence with nimble footwork after receiving Weatherston's pass, and Black was forced to bring him to the ground. A penalty was correctly given, and the recipient Trouten took it himself, dispatching the ball to Peat's right as the goalkeeper went left. At least on this occasion, Steven Reilly's absence was not noticed. For the third time in recent weeks, Queen's had turned a match around completely in the space of 5 minutes. Clearly frustrated, Arbroath's McMullen would then pick up a booking after an altercation with Proctor. Arbroath were well out of their stride now, and it was Queen's who had further efforts at goal. In the 71st minute Weatherston tried to walk the ball in at the near post from the left, being tackled in the end, and four minutes on Ferry lashed a shot way over the top. Queen's looked in control and needed concentration and some sure heads to make the game secure. Sadly, neither was in abundance and Arbroath snatched an equaliser. A hopeful ball into the area from the right didn't look too testing but Crawford completely misjudged his catch, allowing Dobbins to deflect the ball home and Arbroath to celebrate with stunned glee. David Crawford was magnificent last week but there remains a light-headedness to his game and it cost Queen's the equaliser. Knowing Queen's had to go for it, Billy Stark threw on Bryan Felvus for a tiring Proctor as the pitch opened up further. John Weir then came on for Mark Ferry in the 84th minute, and within a minute Felvus had a wonderful chance to win the game for Queen's. David Weatherston's battling put the Arbroath defence under pressure, and the ball broke fortuitously for Felvus with only the keeper to beat. As Peat rushed out, Felvus lifted the ball over him but the ball landed agonisingly wide of the left-hand post. The best chance had gone but both teams still pushed for a winner. Queen's wasted a free-kick when Quinn thrashed well wide from Clark's lay-off, and then a free-kick into the box found McGinty again roaming forward, but he couldn't gain proper control of the ball. Then it was Arbroath's turn. A threaded pass almost found Cook but Crawford went down expertly to save. Then another blunder almost allowed Arbroath to snatch a surreal winner; Sinclair's attempted clearance came flying back off an Arbroath attacker, and with Crawford scrambling the ball escaped the goal only by a few inches. Comedy seems to be Queen's one strength right now. The result leaves Queen's four points adrift of the play-off berths, a disappointing situation given the debatable quality of most ot the teams in the Third Division this season. We must start grabbing hold of games right from the start in future, and not just rely on opposition goals or Billy Stark's half-time promptings to bring us to life. Yet when Paul Harvey plays we are so obviously a better team, and the forthcoming two week break should allow him (and Reilly) to return from their injuries. Queen's Park: David Crawford, Ross Clark, Mick Dunlop, Richard Sinclair, Andy McGinty, Alan Trouten, Stuart Kettlewell, Tony Quinn, Kevin Proctor (Bryan Felvus 79), David Weatherston, Mark Ferry (John Weir 84). Substitutes not used: Damiano Agostini, Richard Bowers, Alexander Cowie. Goals: Proctor 62, Trouten penalty 65. Arbroath: Mark Peat, Kevin McMullen, Paul Watson, Roddy Black, Iain Dobbins, Mark McCulloch, Stephen Cook, Chris Jackson, Alan Brazil, Pat Clark (Nicky Smith 70), Jay Stein. Substitutes not used: Jamie Bishop, Hugh Davidson, Garry Warren, Neil Inglis. Booked: McMullen. Goals: Cook 50, Dobbins 78. Referee: Stephen Finnie. Attendance: 446. |