| Queen's Park |
| Dumbarton |
| 2 |
| 0 |
| (Weatherston, Ferry) |
| Queen's gave as clinical and polished a performance as they have in years in seeing off Dumbarton 2-0 at Hampden, through goals struck by top scorers David Weatherston and Mark Ferry. Some of the football played by Queen's was sublime, of a standard that no other team in the division is capable of matching even at their best. What mattered most, of course, was that we scored the first goal, and it was one of such quality that the team looked inspired by it for the rest of the game. Paul Cairney, dominant in midfield, gathered the ball inside his own half and piled forward with purpose and belief. Seeing Weatherston snaking down the left, the pass at first looked overly ambitious but ended up finding its target perfectly. Davie took the ball on, swept into the box and drove the ball past Grindlay- a keeper with 12 clean sheets to his name prior to yesterday. That arrived in the 20th minute. The early exchanges had been evenly contested but Dumbarton were clearly missing Stephen Dobbie, who joined Queen of the South in January. He scored twice for them yesterday, and his old side rarely looked like scoring. There were a couple of early scares: Damiano Agostini misjudged a couple of passes from defence and Paul Paton at one point squared the ball across his own box, giving Coyne a chance that he slashed wide of the post. Yet Queen's soon took control and their confidence soared after scoring the first goal. Stuart Kettlewell was tireless alongside Paul Cairney in midfield, David Weatherston created all sorts of problems for Dumbarton's defence, and Paul Paton surged forward in the first half with astonishing assurance. We really were seriously good. One player who still received a mixed reception afterwards was Robert Dunn, who may have played well but only by the standard of his previous display at Firs Park. He looked set to score in the 57th minute, but either he completely miskicked or he was impeded from behind. Either way it didn't matter, for Mark Ferry stepped up and curled an unstoppable shot into the left hand corner of the net. It was essentially over then. Dumbarton fans had enjoyed their day out, but any remaining noise from them was borne purely out of defiance. Queen's brought on Frankie Carroll for Robert Dunn with 20 minutes to play, and Frankie looked sharp, linking up well without really looking like scoring. Not that he needed to; what matters is that he's back and has already opened his account for the season. There's no questioning how important he will be in the remaining 10 games of the season. So Queen's remain second in the league, and with 4 wins in 5 are taking full advantage of East Fife's decline and Dumbarton's inability to find the net against us. These sides still lie in wait away from home, and we've also to go to Gayfield and Shielfield before the season is out. It's a daunting schedule, but there are no midweek games getting in the way, and it's truly exciting to ponder where the next 10 games will take Queen's. The next game is at Elgin, and a busful of hardcore fans will make the trip intent on enjoying themselves but even more intent on roaring the team to victory. Queen's Park: David Crawford, Paul Paton, Mick Dunlop, Steven Canning, Damiano Agostini, Alan Trouten, Stuart Kettlewell, Paul Cairney, Robert Dunn (Frankie Carroll 70), David Weatherston, Mark Ferry. Substitutes not used: Tony Quinn, Paul Ronald, Richard Bowers, Mark Cairns. Booked: Cairney. Goals: Weatherston 20, Ferry 57. Dumbarton: Stephen Grindlay, Andy Geggan (John Paul McKeever 79), Craig Brittain, Mark Canning, David Craig, Chris Gentile, Ryan Borris, John Dillon (David McNaught 67), Tommy Coyne, David Bagan, Chris Boyle (Chris Hamilton 75). Substitutes not used: John Henry, Peter Shaw. Booked: Coyne. Referee: Alan Boyd. Attendance: 849. |