| Queen's Park |
| East Stirlingshire |
| 2 |
| 1 |
| (Canning, Dunn) |
| (Ure) |
| Robert Dunn finally opened his Queen's Park account with a goal that gave Queen's the 3 points they needed against a stuffy East Stirling- and our 8th win in a row, just as a bonus. Dunn connected with Paul Ronald's brave knockdown midway through the second half to slot the ball coolly home and spark of scenes of joy from a support increasingly desperate to see the former Partick Thistle man get that first goal. He was already a cult figure among the support, but last night he became a cult hero: for one game at least. Dunn wasn't the only success in the Queen's team, but this was nonetheless a markedly less fluent performance than we've seen recently. Queen's certainly missed the pace and spontaneity of the injured Weatherston and Trouten, but while Paul Ronald was never going to provide either of those attributes, he still put in a power of work and was instrumental in the game going our way. At the back, apart from 10 minutes at the start of the second half, we were commanding. Steven Canning was caught out by McKenzie for Shire's goal, and looked a little unsure when covering the left-back slot, but always attacked hard and scored a wonderful, crashing opener in the 37th minute. We looked pretty safe for a while after that, but it seemed the players felt a little too safe, and we were pretty sloppy for the equaliser 11 minutes after the restart. That was the first goal we had conceded for over 7 games though; incredible given that during not one of those games has our first-choice central defensive pairing of Reilly and Sinclair been playing. Quite simply, Damiano Agostini and David Crawford have been astonishingly great in these games. Up front, Richard Bowers was standing in for David Weatherston, and in the 17th minute his tremendous ball control seemed set to provide a goal for Queen's. However, once he had jinked into the area he seemed to stop as the keeper came out; this might have had something to do with a little clip from behind. However, referee Hardie signalled that he felt Bowers had caught his foot in the turf- either that or he was making an oblique reference to the state of the pitch by imitating the use of a garden hoe. Not that there's anything wrong with the pitch; it's Hardie there's something wrong with. Though on this occasion, he seemed to have made the right decision. Shire had the ball in the net on the half-hour mark, but it was clear to all-even the linesman- that the striker was in an offside position. Instead it was Queen's who scored first, seven minutes later. Steven Canning broke forward, spotted a big gap in the Shire defence, broke through it and sent a rising shot into the roof of the net. We've scored some fine goals in 2007, and this was another of them. A late (if outside) contender for Goal of the Season. Queen's could have settled the game before half-time. A Robert Dunn cross was missed by Nugent under serious pressure from Ronald, and Paul Paton reacted to nod the ball at goal. However, a defender was in place to boot off the line. Shortly after, Dunn was in place to meet Paton's corner but his flick lacked power. There had been very little trouble to speak of from Shire, but somehow they managed an equaliser in the 56th minute. Marc McKenzie beat Canning to the ball and sent over a cross which Derek Ure stabbed high into the net for only his second of the season- the previous one also came at Hampden. Shire were inspired by this, and McBride almost gave them the lead over a wobbly-looking Queen's, David Crawford going down to tip the ball wide. Nerves were appearing in the ranks, but they would soon be settled by, of all people, Robert Dunn- often the most nervous looking player in a Queen's shirt this season. Arriving smartly into the box, he met Paul Ronald's knockdown to dispatch the ball beyond Nugent and get Queen's back into a much-needed lead. Robert Dunn had already started to look more assured on Saturday, but he was flying now, and ten minutes after the goal he could have scored another. It was a measure of his desire and belief that he ignored substitute Frankie Carroll and broke through from the left on his own, charging gallantly to the edge of the box but not getting enough behind the shot to bother Nugent. Dunn would go off to a huge reception with two minutes remaining, his replacement being big frontman Chris Colquhoun from the under-19s. At times it looked as though we might not get there, but the achievement now stands: Queen's have won 8 league matches in a row, a club record for a single season, beating the previous record of seven wins set in 1929/30. Another remarkable achievement in a remarkable season, but the greatest prize of them all still awaits. Dumbarton's win over Arbroath last night keeps Queen's in touch with the Gayfield side, and while we do require a big collapse from Berwick for the title to head for Glasgow, there is every possibility that we will fulfil our part of the bargain and win our remaining 4 games- and how many records would that break? Queen's Park: David Crawford, Paul Paton, Steven Canning, Richard Sinclair, Damiano Agostini, Paul Ronald, Stuart Kettlewell, Paul Cairney, Robert Dunn (Chris Colquhoun 88), Richard Bowers (Frankie Carroll 66), Mark Ferry. Substitutes not used: Steven Reilly, Shaun Molloy, Mark Cairns. Goals: Canning 37, Dunn 65. East Stirlingshire: Anton Nugent, Paul McAloney, Steven Learmonth, Andrew Brand, Carl Thywissen, Craig Galloway (Joe Boyle 53), Marc McKenzie (Steven Dymock 68), Paul Stewart, Paul Tweedie, Derek Ure, Paul McBride (Paul Brownlie 78). Substitutes not used: Stephen Adam, Robert Tiropoulous. Goal: Ure 56. Referee: Colin Hardie. Attendance: 552. . |