| Queen's Park |
| 1 |
| ( Ferry ) |
| East Fife |
| 2 |
| ( Fairbairn, McDonald ) |
| A season which seemed to promise rich reward only a matter of weeks ago is now seeing Queen's slide into the pit of mediocrity which has afflicted virtually every team in the Third Division this season. Most of the club's most dedictated supporters - this writer among them - would attest to Queen's being the definite 'best of the rest' of all the clubs apart from the near invincible top two. But our form has been far too inconsistent to bear this out, with the record at Hampden particularly concerning. We've now played every team in the league at home, and won just three of those games, all in remarkable circumstances. Of the other games, two have been drawn, and so Saturday was our 4th home defeat of the season - and to a team way below us in the table. It's infuriating, because the talent in the team is obvious, but there are far too many holes at the back and other sides have cottoned on to our style and seem aware of how to blank us - pack the defence with plenty of bodies being their main weapon, certainly in East Fife's case. Yet when we vary things, as happened in the second half on Saturday when Billy Stark switched the formation to 3-5-2, with Graham off and the full backs pushed on, we give sides no end of bother, and East Fife escaped by the skin of their teeth in this game. What is needed, at least, are another striker to take the weight off Frankie Carroll and a wide player or two to free up Mark Ferry and give us greater options. As far as Saturday's line-up went, Stuart Kettlewell was pronounced fit on the morning of the match and so started in the no. 7 jersey. The only change saw an unfit Paul Harvey replaced by the hard-working Brian Blair. The visitors arrived in a particularly amateurish looking change kit which rather sums up the state of their club right now, yet they brought a large backing and this helped raised the crowd to above a hundred more than what we got for last week's Shire game. Matches against East Fife tend to be physical tussles - and certainly neither support has much time for the other - yet East Fife took gamesmanship to new levels throughout, having no qualms about rolling on the turf and going down at every opportunity in order to win fouls, and, when they got in front, waste time. If Jim Moffat believes this is the way to succeed, then the league table at present would suggest otherwise, and frankly his team's style has no place in this division or any other for that matter. Yet they won and it's a pity for football. Anyway, back to the game. Queen's had most of the early stages though both sides looked pretty cautious. Brian Blair tried a drive in the 6th minute, the first of many from him, but a defender was able to block the attempt. The first sign of nerves in the home defence was evident five minutes on when Crawford nervously fisted out a corner by Fairbairn - we do need to improve at set-pieces. Yet Queen's could have been in front in the 15th minute, some delightful interplay resulting in Graham finding Kettlewell with a lay-off, only for Stuart's shot from the corner of the area to fly off his boot and wide of Morrison's right hand post. A minute later Ferry found room on the left of the box, but he delayed his shot and any impact was diluted. Aerially, East Fife are always capable of hassling opponents and a free header inside the box in the 18th minute left Queen's unpunished for their slackness. But still Queen's were attacking more, with Blair very keen to join the attack and even keener to score his first goal for the club. He made a couple of good runs into the box, then wasted a shooting chance in 24 minutes by blazing a volley well over. So far, so average. But Queen's habit of conceding the first goal this season was not to end as East Fife took the lead after 27 minutes. From a free-kick on the edge of the D, Fairbairn bent the ball delicately round the wall and perfectly home at the right-hand post of a sluggish Crawford who took too long to get down. Another long afternoon was on the cards. Frustration briefly set in as Reilly went in late just inside his own half, collecting a booking. And for the remainder of the half Queen's struggled to find any rhythm at all, playing perhaps as badly as at any stage this season. Carroll picked up on a deflected Blair shot to poke the ball at Morrison - our first attempt on target - before Crawford just about caught a swerving Brash cross just underneath his own bar. Then a Carroll header fell just past and yet another long-ranger from Blair also narrowly escaped the goal. But for all that, it was the visitors who scored next, leaving Queen's with a very familiar mountain to climb in the second half. From Brash's corner, McDonald was unmarked and stooped to loft a header over Crawford. Helped by dreadful defending here, East Fife went in at the break, as on their last visit to Hampden in March 2003, two goals to the good. Billy Stark recognised the urgent need for change and re-jigged the side, hauling off the ineffectual Clark and Graham and putting Agostini and Felvus in their places. With three central defenders now on the park, and Molloy and Trouten asked to lungburst down the flanks as wing-backs, and the liveliness of Felvus in attack, this was a different Queen's side, though it took a while to show. In 54 minutes Molloy, revelling in being freed to attack, twisted and turned on the left, beating two men and sending over a fine cross which Felvus headed just over. Six minutes later and Queen's should have been right back in it: a long pass through found Felvus onside and though he claimed the ball, he seemed unsure what to do and obviously thought he was offside. No flag was raised though, and with the goalkeeper advancing and Kettlewell behind him also in a position to shoot, a decision was necessary. But none really came; Felvus meekly let Kettlewell take the ball from his toes, and, exposing his weakness as a finisher, roll the ball pathetically beyond the far post. If Felvus had possessed the killer instinct to go himself, undoubtedly he would have scored. Queen's were edging their way into the match and Kettlewell was desperately unlucky not to score when his volley from a tight-angle bounced agonisingly wide. Then Blair shot over once more - sadly Mr. Leggate's predictions that 'the next one would go in' for Brian never came true. At last, with 14 minutes to play Queen's scored the goal that had so obviously been on its way, Mark Ferry letting fly from just inside the box and, with the aid of a deflection, finding the back of the net. There was only one team in it now and for several minutes East Fife were on their knees. Within a minute of the goal, Trouten broke free superbly down the right, motored into the box, and sent in a tempting ball into the middle; but somehow Frankie Carroll managed to flick the ball wide instead of into the net with the Fife defence in total disarray. Three minutes later, Molloy's shot from the left spun off Renwick's foot for a corner but only just went past, and from that corner Felvus's header looked in all the way, only for Brash to head away at the back post. It was thrilling stuff but somehow Queen's just couldn't punish a tiring visiting side, now content to resort to blatant time-wasting in order to hang on, however grimly; and as Queen's ran out of ideas, the game drifted to a close. Referee Somers correctly added on at least 4 minutes of stoppage time, but we could do little with them; East Fife celebrated their escape, and we were left wondering why Queen's couldn't be bothered turning up until half-time. Queen's Park: David Crawford, Alan Trouten, Shaun Molloy, Steven Reilly, Richard Sinclair, Brian Blair, Stuart Kettlewell, Ross Clark ( Damiano Agostini 46 ), Ally Graham ( Bryan Felvus 46 ), Frankie Carroll, Mark Ferry. Substitutes not used: Rushford, Quinn, McGovern. Booked: Reilly, Trouten. Goal: Mark Ferry 76. East Fife: Scott Morrison, Michael Renwick, Kris Brash, Craig Lumsden, Kevin Bain, Gary Kelly, Sean Paliczka ( Kevin Steele 72 ), Greg McDonald, Steven Nicholas ( Stephen Tarditi 85 ), Jonathan Mitchell, Brian Fairbairn. Substitutes not used: Trialist, Paul Gaughan, Les Byle. Booked: Brash. Goals: Fairbairn 27, McDonald 44. Referee: D. Somers. Attendance: 575. |