| Queen's Park |
| Ayr United |
| 4 |
| 3 |
| (Weatherston, Ferry 2, Bowers) |
| (Caddis pen, Vareille 2) |
| Queen's appear to be in prime condition with the season a week away, following a 4-3 win over Second Division Ayr United. Few pre-season games are as entertaining as this; games with 6 goals in the first=half at Hampden are even fewer. Queen's played a more pleasing game than their opponents and some of the football performed during the first half was joyous, with the players taking full advantage of the more relaxed atmosphere of a friendly. And although Ayr recovered from 4-1 down to make it a contest, Queen's saw the game out pretty safely. Billy Stark sent out a close-to-full strength team, with Steven Reilly (on the bench) and Frankie Carroll (unavailable) the only major absentees. Clearly, the week in Germany has done the side a world of good and they sprang from their traps to open the scoring in only 3 minutes. It was a sublime goal too; Weatherston taking on a perfect through pass before calmly lofting the ball over Johnson's head. Just like the last time Queen's faced a Second Division team at Hampden, Davie had scored a brilliant goal right away. Queen's were in control and their passing was slick but Ayr undeservedly equalised on the ten minute mark. Caddis struck the ball of Sinclair's hand inside the penalty area and referee O'Reilly gave a penalty. Caddis took it himself to even the game. Barely had Ayr regrouped before Queen's were back in the lead. Goalkeeper Johnson, playing instead of the unwell Ayr first-choice McGeown, passed a clearance slackly out towards Mark Ferry who sized up his shot and curled the ball delightfully into the top corner. In the 15th minute Caddis got in behind Dunlop but Crawford had raced out to make the block. Then Dunlop, playing against his old team, powered a header at goal from Trouten's free kick that fell just wide. Ayr were patently missing their first-choice keeper and his young understudy made another hash to gift Queen's a third goal. In the 30th minute the goalkeeper woefully miscontrolled a passback, allowing Bowers to sidestep him and score easily. Queen's play was now flowing like Niagara and Bowers forced Johnson into a good block eight minutes later, having outpaced the Ayr left-back. From the corner though, Kettlewell received the ball 15 yards out and shot at goal; the ball was blocked at Johnson's right-hand post, but Mark Ferry was there to squeeze the ball home despite the attentions of desperate defending. Queen's were threatening to embarass their supposedly superior opponents. A neat move by Ayr allowed Jerome Vareille to reduce the deficit two minutes before the break, sidefooting home at the far post. Tony Quinn in particular looked absolutely furious at this lapse in Queen's concentration, but the players could be satisfied with their goal-packed first half. More shakiness from Queen's at corner-kicks allowed Ayr to pull closer three minutes after the break, Vareille eventually poking home after heroics from Crawford had kept out an Ayr substitute. The rest of the second half has already faded from memory, but my notes tell me that not much happened except for a slew of substitutions. Queen's had already brought on Reilly for the booked Sinclair after the break, as well as new boy Michael Keenan for Paul Paton. It seems that Keenan has signed, and he would have a robust if hardly pacy second half. Also introduced were a trialist, Paul Ronald (formerly of Dumbarton, Berwick, Stranraer and Shire), in attack, and Canning and Molloy. Last but also least, there was fans' favourite Jonny Whelan, who I understand also recently scooped the Billy Stark's Favourite Player award. His warm-up may have consisted merely of a race round the track with Alan Rhodes (which I think he won) but he was nonetheless able to make a flying headed clearance at a dangerous Ayr corner late on. There's (a drop of) life in the old rascal yet. The second half had rarely approached the same levels of excitement with both teams settling down to a practise match. Which is what it should have been in the first place, I suppose, but this Queen's team is just too enthusiastic not to go out at full pelt. Such na�vet� leads to flaws in our game, but on the other hand it makes Queen's a match for any team in the Scottish League when it comes to passing the ball. So a very successful day, and one could only have wished that this was the real kick-off. With Ayr wearing a very Arbroath-like maroon kit, it seemed some of the players had convinced themselves that it was; they certainly played as if the game mattered. A repeat scoreline next week would probably do irreparable damage to the Hampden scoreboard but it would make for a hell of a good start to the season. Queen's Park: David Crawford, Alan Trouten, Mick Dunlop, Damiano Agostini, Richard Sinclair (Steven Reilly 46), Paul Paton (Michael Keenan 46), Stuart Kettlewell, Tony Quinn (Jonny Whelan 82), Richard Bowers (Paul Ronald 65), David Weatherston (Steven Canning 74), Mark Ferry (Shaun Molloy 74). Booked: Sinclair, Keenan, Quinn. Goals: Weatherston 3, Ferry 12, 40, Bowers 30. Ayr United: Darren Johnson, James McKinstrey, David Lowing, Eddie Forrest, Chris Robertson, Mark Casey (Craig Pettigrew 78), Ryan Caddis (Gareth Wardlaw 58), Paul Weaver (James Creaney 65), Jerome Vareille (Gavin Friels 50), David Dunn, Andy Reid. Goals: Caddis penalty 10, Vareille 43, 48. Referee: Stevie O'Reilly. Attendance: 429. |