| Queen's Park |
| East Stirlingshire |
| 3 |
| ( Graham, McAuley 2 ) |
| 0 |
| At last we can smile again. Going more than two months without a win is not a pleasant experience, but it does a mean that when a win finally comes around, it is usually celebrated with even greater gusto than normal. And even when your opposition are by far the worst team in the country it is still possible to indulge in a little overblown optimism. Well you're a day too late for that because of this report being delayed. No exaggerations - Queen's won easily, they put in a very competent performance, and even better, moved up to seventh place in the league. Not only that - this was our biggest home win over Shire ( who despite their current predicament we have a very poor home record against ) since 21 December 1996. Following on from Tuesday night's draw at Montrose there were three changes to the Queen's starting eleven, the trio of Whelan, Ferry and Agostini being restored to the side. There was a hint of experimentation about the formation; Ferry slotted into the back three in place of Sinclair, who was suspended, Canning and Clark filled the wing-back roles, Whelan and Harvey played in the centre of midfield. Up front Frankie Carroll was fielded, though he tended to drift out wide left and certainly was too much lacking in sharpness for the change to be hailed a success. But the same could not be said for the normal front pairing of Graham and McAuley - both were outstanding, combining effectively in a manner we just had not seen recently. More than anything, this was why the game was won. Queen's roared into attack from the off, and in the first minute McAuley raced onto a long Whelan thump down the left, forcing goalkeeper Connolly to advance from his line to make the block. Then Canning and Harvey interchanged well, Canning's sharp cross being knocked over by Carroll with his stretching foot. However, in the early part of the game at least, East Stirling weren't completely non-existent and did give Queen's defence a few things to think about. Kelly headed over a powerful cross from McGhee after 6 minutes. But Queen's took advantage of their confident start to set themselves on the way after 7 minutes. The goal was slightly freakish; Graham struck the ball from the left edge of the box and the ball took a deflection off a Shire defender, leaving Connolly stranded as the ball crossed the line at the far post. Hardly the most auspicious way for Ally to open his league account, but we enjoyed it as much as we would one of his 30 yard free-kicks. The visitors were still in the game at this point despite Queen's holding most of the possession; worryingly, there were still signs of nervousness in the Queen's defence. Canning and Ferry contrived to get in each other's way, allowing Kelly to break free down the right of the Queen's box before unleashing a right footed drive which narrowly cleared the post. Then a McGhee header flew just past. But Queen's attacking was invariably ominous for the brittle Shire defence, and Connolly had to look lively to save a fine Graham volley after he brought the ball down majestically at the far post. The game slid downhill for a while and the next incident of note turned out to be the second and killer goal for Queen's. At last, the ploy of finding Ally Graham and using his height and strength paid off, Graham meeting Ferry's deep free-kick strongly and finding McAuley who had time to consider his options before firing past a sluggish Connolly. While we all knew what had happened on Shire's last visit to Hampden, we could afford to relax come half-time knowing the game was effectively finished - provided Queen's didn't take complete leave of their sanity. Ure forced Scrimgour into a save 7 minutes after the break, but within a minute a third goal had been added. Graham's flick-on from Scrimgour's long clearance found McAuley charging through, and with only the goalkeeper to beat McAuley drew him to the edge of the 6-yard box before slipping the ball into the left-hand corner of the net. Had Connolly been prepared to advance from his line more speedily McAuley may have had more problems in scoring, but the suspicion is that Connolly simply couldn't be bothered - and perhaps it's no great surprise given the number of goals he lets in on a near-weekly basis. The match was now well and truly finished, and predictably the action dried up. Ross Clark had to be lifted from the field by two backroom staff when his excellent slide challenge backfired on him, seemingly twisting a knee in the process. Stuart Kettlewell came on and could have scored in 65 minutes when he sneaked a header just off target. By this Paddy Gallagher had also entered the fray, replacing Frankie Carroll, and another change was forced upon Kenny Brannigan with 13 minutes left; taking no chances, Agostini's hamstring pull led to John Thompson getting a run-out. Queen's had been totally comfortable for the last half-hour, and Ally Graham almost capped a fine personal performance in the last minute when his dipping lob from 30 yards ended up just over the crossbar. The final whistle came almost immediately to mark Queen's first home win since 16 August - whole epochs seem to pass between our wins at Hampden but enough confidence should now have been restored to make them that bit less rare in future. Queen's Park: Derek Scrimgour, Danny Ferry, Frankie Carroll ( Paddy Gallagher 62 ), Steven Canning, Damiano Agostini ( John Thompson 77 ), Steven Fallon, Ross Clark ( Stuart Kettlewell 60 ), Paul Harvey, Ally Graham, Johnny Whelan, Stephen McAuley. Substitutes not used: Derek Carcary, David Crawford. Booked: Clark. Goals: Ally Graham 7, Stephen McAuley 33, 55. East Stirlingshire: Jon Connolly, Roddy Maughan, Craig Oates, Robert Hare ( Jamie McKay 67 ), Graeme McLaren, Graham McGhee, Scott Livingstone, Sean McAuley, Derek Ure ( Gerry Boylr 67 ), Stuart Kelly, Jordan Leishman ( Stuart Irvine 46 ). Substitutes not used: Craig Reid, Chris Todd. Booked: Livingstone. Referee: Dougie McDonald. Attendance: 439. |