| Queen's Park |
| Dumbarton |
| 1 |
| 0 |
| (Canning) |
| It's been six years since Queen's last won 4 games on the trot, and in all that time there hasn't been a win that we've merited less. Famously though, it's the mark of a good team that they can win when not at their best, and Queen's were not at their best yesterday by any means. The performance wasn't too far removed from when Arbroath visited a fortnight ago, and Dumbarton for spells looked even more threatening than the Angus side had. Yet they couldn't catch Queen's out, and the introduction of Paul Ronald midway through the second half sparked life into a dry Queen's performance. He provided the presence that Richard Bowers had lacked, and set up Steven Canning for the winner. All this against his old club, whose fans barracked him from the moment he set foot on the pitch. Queen's may have succeeded with 9 men last week at Elgin, but would have to suffer again without either Sinclair or Ferry in the team. After the re-jigging of the Shire lineup in midweek, Billy Stark returned to his best possible XI under the circumstances; however, with three at the back and, sometimes, three up front, the formation was something of a novelty. With Weatherston cutting through the defence, Canning adding running to his passing in midfield, Molloy and Paton supporting, and Stuart Kettlewell and Tony Quinn holding it all down in the middle, Queen's should have been capable of far more, and more sustained, attacking than they would actually manage. A big away support ensured that the crowd was the second highest in the two divisions that the 'big boys' of the First Division are so desperate to cut adrift. If they have their way, we'll be landed with Junior fans coming to tear up the seats every other week, so on that level it's hard to blame the Dumbarton supporters for the odd moan or two. With the number of chances missed their impatience was hardly surprising. Right at the start, however, the game was fairly well-balanced. A measured lob from Stevie Canning dipped onto the roof of the Sons' net in the 12th minute, and a couple of minutes on a similar shot from Dumbarton's Borris struck our crossbar from the edge of the box. In the 20th minute, Agostini was rightly booked after flying across at Dillon and catching him, then six minutes later Kettlewell failed to connect fully with Bowers' cross from the right. In fact, during the whole of the first half you couldn't have called this game with any degree of conviction. Another good effort from Canning curled just round the post in the 33rd minute, but Dumbarton broke up the park instantly and Dobbie forced Crawford to tip his powerful header smartly over the bar. The former Hibs striker- scorer against Rangers at Hampden in a League Cup semi-final a couple of years ago- was to demonstrate for what remained of the game just why he once played at that level. Three minutes later Dobbie should undeniably have scored, but hesitated on the corner of the 6-yard area, allowing Agostini to stab clear. The teams thus went off for half-time with no goals having been scored. It wasn't unmissable entertainment- SPL 2 will never ever tolerate such a boring game taking place in its league, especially one watched by a paltry, sub-3,000 crowd- but was still compelling nevertheless. Dobbie was heavily involved from the beginning of the second half. Three minute had gone when he was, alarmingly, able to virtually walk through the centre of our defence before having his shot blocked by Crawford. Dumbarton kept pressing, and within a minute Dobbie had sent another shot looping in which meant Crawford had to scurry back and push the ball superbly over the bar. Dumbarton were starting to dominate, and a Dillon free-kick ended up on top of rather than inside the net after 56 minutes. Queen's found it hard to keep possession for the first 20 minutes after the restart, with passes frequently going astray and a lack of vigour in attack. Richard Bowers tried, but was increasingly frustrated and isolated, well-martialled by Canning and Craig in the Dumbarton defence. With Weatherston stuck on the right and Steven Canning having too much to cope with from the oppostion, this left us devoid of ideas on the park. A change was called for, and Billy Stark duly made it in the 67th minute- replacing Bowers with recent capture and former Son Paul Ronald. Calling it an inspired substitution would be over-generous -it was such an obvious change that even I had been mooting it for about 20 minutes- but it was action and action that paid off in treasure chests. As soon as Ronald trod on the grass he made a difference, controlling the ball in the air and connecting well with the midfield. Queen's began edging forward, and Canning chipped a cross wide of the post after a good passage of football. The goal, arriving in the 71st minute, was Canning's. A defender slipped, and Ronald capitalised, taking the ball down the right of the area and drilling it across low and hard for Canning to slam beyond Grindlay. Not one Queen's fan remained in their seat as the goal was acclaimed in the way you'd expect something so unexpected to be- loudly. Dumbarton were sunk, and their play thereafter was a product of panic. They couldn't come as close as earlier in the game, and Queen's counted down the minutes with relative ease. In fact, a second might have been added in stoppage time when substitute Alan Trouten intercepted a loose pass to run eagerly away, but by the time he made his pass Keenan had slipped into an offside position. The win gave Queen's their most points from the first three games, six, since we were in the Second Division. It's a highly encouraging start, and it really seems that the benefits of that trip to Germany are showing. In fact, Queen's might yet end up being Scotland's most successful team in Europe this season. And Aberdeen on Tuesday could be the next to find out that the gap between bottom and top in Scottish football is nowhere near as wide as some would love it to be. Queen's Park: David Crawford, Paul Paton, Mick Dunlop, Steven Reilly, Damiano Agostini, Shaun Molloy (Alan Trouten 81), Stuart Kettlewell, Tony Quinn, Richard Bowers (Paul Ronald 67), David Weatherston (Michael Keenan 89), Steven Canning. Substitutes not used: Jonny Whelan, Mark Cairns. Booked: Agostini, Canning. Goal: Canning 71. Dumbarton: Stephen Grindlay, Andy Geegan, Craig Brittain (Chris Boyle 84), Mark Canning, David Craig, David Bagan, Ryan Borris, Craig Winter (Chris Gentile 53), Stephen Dobbie, David McNaught, John Dillon (Jose Quitongo 75). Substitutes not used: John Paul McKeever, Peter Shaw. Referee: Alan Muir. Attendance: 884. |