| Queen's Park |
| East Fife |
| 3 |
| 0 |
| (Ronald, Weatherston 2) |
| Queen's finished a hard week by dismantling the league leaders at the National Stadium, for what was our first win since defeating Aberdeen. Few wins are as simple as this, with Queen's netting twice in quick succession in the first half and wrapping up the victory through Weatherston's second goal early after the restart. At last, the finishing was decisive, with the only misses of note coming when the game was already long over as a contest. East Fife were distant long before the end, and didn't look remotely like a team at the summit of the league- where, amazingly, they still are despite this result. Billy Stark had voiced his displeasure with his team after last week's faltering draw with Montrose, and while the display on Tuesday against Motherwell was a little better, he still felt the need to revise his line-up. He went for three in attack, with Dunn on the left and Ronald on the right flanking Weatherston. Ronald would have his best game yet, working extremely hard to cover in defence when necessary, and being in the right place to score his goal. All this in his first full 90 minutes in a hooped jersey. The inclusion of Tony Quinn in midfield, made possible by Reilly's return from injury, was crucial in toughening up that area, and Stuart Kettlewell's game had much more drive and purpose too. Steven Canning, relegated to left-back, seemed pretty comfortable in that position, and overall most of the team were closer to their best than in recent weeks. Queen's weren't outstanding in the first 20 minutes, and East Fife were in the thick of things for the only time in the game. Gordon managed to sneak a shot in past Dunlop, which Cairns gathered, shortly before Queen's took the lead with their first real surge. Kettlewell made strong progress on the left, and sent a ball over to the back post that Ronald nodded carefully into the roof of the net. One chance, one goal. Two minutes later, Queen's were two-nil up. A laughable clearing attempt by Methil goalkeeper Dodds resulted in the ball cannoning off of Weatherston's foot, and Davie merely had to edge forward and tap the ball over the line as the Fifers defence had already accepted the worst. The home support were ecstatic, and songs rained down from the stands in response to the early noise of the East Fife fans. Queen's cruised through what remained of the half, Cairns saving Jablonski's cross shot and Hampshire's volley while Dodds's coped with Ferry's rising drive. As half-time loomed, East Fife should probably have found the net on Cairns's right. but for some reason the ball was hooked up into the air at close range, and the pressure was relieved with a foul on Paton as he tried to leave the box. Nothing changed in the second-half, except the scoreline. Queen's put the result beyond doubt in the 55th minute, and it was Weatherston's pace that made the goal. Of course, he isn't always the most lethal in front of goal, but like Frankie Carroll at his peak he gets so many chances- especially when clean through on a goalkeeper- that a few are bound to be missed. Not this time, as he outstripped the defence and lashed his shot well beyond Dodds with true authority. Dunn and Dunlop both enjoyed shots on target as Queen's revelled in the luxury of this lead. Things were to get even easier, as East Fife defender Linton was dismissed in the 68th minute for a late lunge on Paton. A foul, sure, but referee Allan was a little harsh to send the player off. Good headers from the heads of Quinn and Ferry were followed by an unnecessary booking for Kettlewell, whose attempt to retrieve possession from Courts had seemed fair. We could afford to be carefree about such things though, as East Fife were clearly moping and just wanted to get the hell out of Glasgow as quickly as possible. Consequently, we were given several brilliant chances to really hammer the league leaders, but the players just weren't urgent to take them. First off, in the 77th minute Weatherston was sent away. Clearly a little weary, he approached the goal with far less enthusiasm than he'd showed when scoring earlier, and with fields of free space and endless time he could do no better than shoot straight at Dodds. Collecting the rebound, he slid in to hook the ball at goal but by now a defender had recovered to get it away. Soon after, Kettlewell squeezed his way in between a couple of defenders through the centre, and was nudged off the ball by Smart. A booking ensued. Kettlewell was taken off 6 minutes to play. Richard Bowers getting a run-out, and Alan Trouten also came on, for Robert Dunn. Dropped from the team, Trouten was given the chance to win back favour when Weatherston let him run unchallenged through the East Fife defence (that's right- we were able to delegate people to dribble at the East Fife goal, it was like training), but his final shot was frankly poor. Then, in the last minute, Ferry laid off Bowers, who tried to measure his shot into the far corner but sent it just past instead. Needless to say this was an emphatic and enjoyable win for Queen's, who had complete control from the moment Ronald's goal went in. A win was much needed to keep us within sight of the top of the league, and frankly, if that was the top team in the league we were playing, we really shouldn't have anything to fear from anyone else. The only team that scares me is Queen's. Queen's Park: Mark Cairns, Paul Paton, Mick Dunlop, Steven Reilly, Paul Ronald, Steven Canning, Stuart Kettlewell (Alan Trouten 84), Tony Quinn, Robert Dunn (Richard Bowers 84), David Weatherston, Mark Ferry. Substitutes not used: Jonny Whelan, Shaun Molloy, David Crawford. Booked: Reilly, Kettlewell. Goals: Ronald 24, Weatherston 26, 55. East Fife: John Dodds, Sam Linton, Elliott Smith, Jonathan Smart, Tom Courts, Gary Kelly (John Martin 63), Kevin Gordon, Neil Jablonski, Paul Ritchie (Craig O'Reilly 79), Paul Hampshire, Ryan Blackadder. Substitutes not used: Paul Doyle, Craig Smart, Iain Ross. Booked: Blackadder, Smart. Sent-off: Linton. Referee: Crawford Allan. Attendance: 413. |