| Queen's Park |
| Albion Rovers |
| 2 |
| 1 |
| (Trouten, Reilly pen) |
| (Chaplain) |
| Queen's yesterday entered the near-forgotten territory of having won their last 4 league games, thanks to a 2-1 win prised from a stiff Albion Rovers team. It was the kind of result that gets leagues won, since Queen's only played attractive football on occasion and were put under stern pressure by Rovers in the second half. Yet, in David Weatherston, Queen's have a weapon of remarkable pace and energy, and his presence alone is starting to get us the edge on many of the teams in the division. It helps that we also possess a penalty-taker of total self-confidence, and that Trouten and Ferry are now fighting just as hard as everybody else and showing plenty of skill too. These contributions are all helping to put together the winning run that Queen's fans have yearned for for so long. With no changes needed to the team that defeated Berwick, Queen's entered the match in a very solid position but their play rarely went beyond solid during the first half. Albion Rovers successfully subdued us, as they have done so often before, and it became clear that this was a game to be braved. Queen's went fairly close after 4 minutes, Paul Ronald's back-header well held by Ewings. We wouldn't hit the target again for a considerable time, and did not take grip of the game as Billy Stark would have wanted. Rovers's left winger Smith began to give Paul Paton some bother, and in the 20th minute his good work allowed Chaplain a free shot at goal from the corner of the goal-area; however, Cairns got a touch, the ball going past him but slowly enough to let Reilly clear off the line. As the half drew to a close Queen's at last managed to build up some prolonged attacks. Mark Ferry smacked a terrific right-foot shot off the bar after checking in from the left, then Kettlewell's volley was scrambled away after Ewings mishandled a corner. It had been a forgettable half, probably the worst of the season, and there were no signs that our mediocre record against Rovers was set to improve. But the Queen's players now finally seem to have realised just how good they can be; they want to go out and grab games, and 12 minutes into the second half we went a way towards doing that. David Weatherston left the Rovers defence squirming with a breathless surge down the left, and Alan Trouten was lurking to bash the ball unstoppably into the net. Unfortunately Queen's momentarily lost their bearings after this goal and allowed Rovers to fashion a response of almost indecent haste. Chaplain nodded home a cross from the left and the joy of the previous minute had been firmly rubbed out. Queen's had it all to do again, and Tony Quinn was unlucky not to score yet another goal in the 64th minute; he stole round the back to send a free-kick beyond Ewings but the linesman had raised his flag; the pictures have since showed that while Mick Dunlop had advanced into an offside position, Tony was in line and the goal should have counted. For a while after that, it looked more likely that Rovers would carry the points back to Coatbridge. Felvus was slipped through within a couple of minutes, his sliding shot being tipped wide by Cairns, and six minutes later a misjudgment by Quinn allowed Rovers to charge forward through the middle. Top scorer Chaplain fired in a shot which Cairns spilled nervously out, but the veteran regained his composure to block the rebound smartly. It would take a stroke of luck or a piece of genius to win the game now. Rovers would point to the former as the source of Queen's Park's winner, but there can be little question that it was the unfettered, exhilarating energy of David Weatherston that earned us this most valuable of victories. Forget light; Weatherston is the fastest thing in this, or any, universe, and his extraordinary burst of pace into the box with 8 minutes to go forced goalkeeper Ewings into flattening him, while the visitors's right-back Watson looked on in a daze at how quickly he had been beaten. The penalty still had to be taken, and as ever it was up to Steven Reilly to cope with the pressure. He did so with no problems at all, and Queen's were heading for a fourth home win in succession. This time, we held out professionally. These are rare times to be a Queen's Park supporter, and with this sort of run, the season holds plenty of promise that the ecstasy of the Aberdeen result could yet be equalled- maybe even surpassed. Queen's Park: Mark Cairns, Paul Paton, Mick Dunlop, Steven Reilly, Richard Sinclair, Alan Trouten (Steven Canning 81), Stuart Kettlewell, Tony Quinn (Robert Dunn 75), Paul Ronald, David Weatherston (Tommy Murray 88), Mark Ferry. Substitutes not used: Damiano Agostini, David Crawford. Booked: Paton Goals: Trouten 56, Reilly penalty 83. Albion Rovers: Jamie Ewings, Peter Watson, Kevin Nicoll, Gordon Lennon, Ciaran Donnelly, Jamie Doyle, Thomas Lennox (S. Donachy 77), Scott Chaplain, Bryan Felvus, Philip Creaney (Andy Sim 88), Brian Smith. Substitutes not used: Martin Bonnar, Gordon Moffat, Lee Thompson. Booked: Donnelly, Lennon. Goal: Chaplain 57. Referee: Steven Nicholls. Attendance: 543. |