| Queen's Park |
| Berwick Rangers |
| 0 |
| 1 |
| (McGroarty) |
| After their destruction at Cowdenbeath's hands, Queen's were not expected to have much joy against Berwick and so it proved. The visitors have declined rapidly from the team that took Queen's apart back in August at Hampden, and were far cagier this time around. They could afford to be, given that they were in the lead from the 7th minute on, and for all of Queen's Park possession during the second half, there was absolutely no sharpness to the attacks. In fact we looked about as inept in and around the box as any team around. We failed to deliver the ball into the area, rendering Kevin Proctor as good as useless for the whole 90 minutes. And when Shaun Molloy did get a chance he sclaffed it with embarassing cluelessness. David Weatherston was in good form on his return and chased everything with his extremely quick doggedness, but few other players had even acceptable days. Jonny Whelan was one exception, and he did a good job of marshalling a defence that could quite well have crumbled as it did last week; his very inclusion tells you how short we were at the back, with Dunlop and Reilly suspended and Sinclair a late call-off. We have now reached a very worrying stage where a goal scored would be a major event in itself and the players could soon become resigned to defeat if steps aren't taken soon. If the last couple of wretched games turns into a run, our play-off hopes will disappear and the future of both the manager and a number of players will be called into question. As touched on already, Billy Stark had no options at all in defence and was forced to bring back Jonny Whelan for only his second start of the season. He lined up alongside Molloy and Agostini in a back three, with a midfield trio of Kettlewell, Quinn and Harvey in front of them. Trouten and Paton filled the wing positions and Weatherston was back to partner Kevin Proctor in attack - a welcome move. Yet it was not one that would make any great impact on the game, especially the opening stages of it. Queen's were simply dreadful for the first 20 minutes or so and when Berwick took the lead it was possible to see them getting an avalanche of goal. The strike brought back vivid memories of last week's blunders at Cowdenbeath. Following a throw-in on the North Stand side for Berwick (Crawford had impulsively smacked the ball out of play following a throw-in of ours), the ball was squared across the penalty area, where McGroarty appeared in front of a vacant defence to slip the ball past Crawford from a distance better described in inches than yards. It looked as if the hastily flung-together defence was going to face severe problems grouping together in the face of Berwick's nippy front players. Fortunately though that never really materialised, with Berwick lacking ambition all game. A labouring team for some weeks, even months, now, they rarely looked likely to add to this lead. Queen's did finally gain a hold on some of the possession around the half-hour mark, and from then on would 'enjoy' the majority of the ball. But they were completely toothless. A superb run from Weatherston in the 35th minute, outpacing the right-back before slipping the ball across from the left of the area, was not capitalised on, and within a minute Berwick should have put the game beyond Queen's. Paliczka charged through the middle, willing a nervous defence to tackle him, but none came. Instead, Paliczka advanced on the box before rolling his shot meekly past Crawford's left hand post. It should have been 2-0. As half-time approached, Queen's at last fashioned a half-decent corner kick, with Weatherston heading on Harvey's float to the near post, but no-one was prepared to attack the ball. Queen's had improved during the half, but a goal looked years away. Play opened out a little during the second half but the quality of play remained disappointing. Billy Stark introduced Mark Ferry, dropped after poor displays, and Bryan Felvus for Proctor and Kettlewell, but neither made much impression and merely demonstrated why it was they hadn't been selected in the first place. However, Ferry did have one shot of note, cracking the ball off a defender's hand inside the box, with Weatherston not able to make much of the loose ball. The rest of the half was forgettable bar two astonishing moments around the 75 minute mark. Both were astounding misses, one after the other. First, Crawford completely missed a corner, and with the goal gaping Hutchison headed on to the roof of the net. Then, up the other end, Molloy picked up a slack pass and slipped the ball through to Weatherston pushing his way towards the box. He could have shot, though the angle was tight, but instead cutely fed it back to Molloy, who did his best clown impression and sliced the ball miserably past. He has never scored for Queen's; he never will, probably. Stark then chose to replace Weatherston with Murray, a shame given that Weatherston was the only potential provider (though not scorer- there were none of those) on the park for Queen's. Probably he was tired out after a recent injury, and with a game coming up on Tuesday any extra rest would be welcome. Without him the game drifted away, with no sign of the fabled 'Hampden Surge' - Queen's best moments, such as they were, had come and gone. The sequence of games now coming up will be gruelling, with Arbroath, Albion Rovers and Berwick all to be faced on the road within a week, the first and last coming on midweek evenings. Thankfully Reilly and Dunlop will be back for all of those, and quite possibly Sinclair. They will stiffen up the defence, but goodness knows where the spark will appear from at the other end of the park. Queen's Park: David Crawford, Paul Paton, Shaun Molloy, Jonny Whelan, Damiano Agostini, Alan Trouten, Stuart Kettlewell (Bryan Felvus 61), Tony Quinn, Kevin Proctor (Mark Ferry 61), Paul Harvey, David Weatherston (Tommy Murray 77). Substitutes not used: John Weir, Mark Cairns. Booked: Quinn. Berwick Rangers: Gary O'Connor, David Murie, Chris McGroarty, Robbie Horn, Mark Cowan, Gareth Hutchison, Kevin McLeish (Mark Ramsay 84), Gordon Connelly, Sean Paliczka (Steve Manson 82), Gavin Swanson, Ian Little. Substitutes not used: Mark McGarty, Boyle, Craig Coyle. Booked: Horn, Cowan. Referee: Alan Muir. Attendance: 537. |