| Queen's Park |
| Stirling Albion |
| 1 |
| 4 |
| ( Stewart ) |
| ( O'Brien, McKinnon, McLean penalty, Lyle ) |
| The latest in an increasing line of disasters for Queen's and Kenny Brannigan, whose attempts to remould a promising side in his own vision have resulted in a warped, confidence-short team patently unsure of their exact roles and duties. Why oh why the coach has persisted with such quirks as Fallon in a wing-back position has had fans racking their brains for some weeks, but he truly saved his most outstanding contribution to those fans' uncertainty till this game. Fallon didn't even make the field this time, dropped onto the bench in favour of David McCallum, which would have been fine if Fallon had reverted to his normal sweeper's role; but he did not. Instead, Danny Ferry, who was undoubtedly Queen's best player, played there alongside David Stewart and Richard Sinclair. There was no Damiano Agostini, and the suspicion must be that he was carrying the can for the drubbing at Cowdenbeath ( where he was subbed midway through the second half ). Stewart was signed ostensibly to beef up the defence, not something that was necessarily required anyway, but it would now appear that the back-three has been restructured simply to fit him into the team, by hook or by crook. A decent player, Stewart did not deserve to have displaced Sinclair previously; and can it be pure coincidence that so many goals have been conceded since his arrival? Given the further tinkering and recent displays it was no surprise that the team looked as secure as Saddam Hussein's pension plan in the opening few minutes. Two minutes had not yet elapsed when Stirling struck first, an O'Brien free-kick from far out on the right flying in towards the near post and, deceiving Derek Scrimgour, sneaking into the net. It had to be considered a grave error on the part of the goalkeeper, and the league leaders had a lead that even this early it was hard to see them giving up. Six minutes later it seemed impossible. The second goal was an embarassment on the part of a defence who looked like they thought the game hadn't kicked off for real yet, as a corner floated in from the North Stand side caused consternation in the area. McKinnon got a slight touch, and despite the presence of Scrimgour and at least one defender, the ball slithered over the line to the disbelief of all concerned. Dreadful stuff. Queen's had little chance of a recovery but did their best to play some reasonable football, coming back at Stirling with a slick attack involving Whelan and Carcary that ended in Carroll's effort being charged down. But the holes in the defence were still huge, and Smith should have done better when with loads of room on the edge of the box he struck one of his team-mates with a volley. Carcary was sent away through the middle after 23 minutes, squeezing past a defender before firing a shot in which spun off an opposing foot. Queen's appeared to be out of the contest for the next ten minutes prior to an unexpected goal back, David Stewart's first for the club. McCallum floated over a free-kick from the right and Stewart, left unmarked by a complacent Albion defence, powered his header into the far corner. But we only believed again for about five minutes. For the umpteenth time this season, Queen's found themselves reduced to ten men, but this time it was an entirely deserved dismissal. Paul Harvey's indiscretions are not what is expected from a Queen's Park player, and while I'm not going to pour out a lecture on Corinthian ideals and so forth, it's entirely indicative of the harder, some would say nastier, edge the team has shown under Brannigan's management when compared with that of John McCormack. Under Cowboy at times we looked a team who didn't know how to tackle; Brannigan has stiffened the side up but to an alarming extent, with hard challenges and scuffles now the norm. Harvey's stupidity in striking, in the face, Stirling's Irish midfielder Andy Smith ( an admittedly odious character who wouldn't look out of place in one of his homeland's prisons ) after an off-the-ball collision is the sort of thing that will lead to us receiving a fine come the end of the season - a further embarassment if it comes in what has been a bad enough campaign. The game was effectively finished after this and Queen's faded away badly. Come the second half, Stirling were clearly keen on wiping us out completely, and an O'Brien curler with his left foot provided Scrimgour with the chance to redeem himself for his earlier hash. Sadly, just two minutes after this Stirling had a third. A debatable penalty, awarded for McCallum's supposed shirt-tug on Wilson ( whose fall was pathetically lethargic ), was tucked away by Scott McLean and another miserable afternoon was now a certainty. Kettlewell and Canning were thrown on ( despite his unacceptable performance, Kenny Brannigan refused to remove Steven Reilly who would seem to enjoy a favourable position with the manager ) but the changes were never likely to breathe new life into Queen's. Canning, in particular, had little hope given that he was asked to play up front, and Kettlewell, who should perhaps have been on from the start, could not reverse the flow of the game. Then, when Fallon replaced McCallum with 15 minutes left, it was obvious that the manager had learned nothing; as well as that he is a stubborn so-and-so. There were a number of small chances in the second half; Clark's volley was saved, a long O'Brien run was halted by Ferry's superb tackle, and with 16 minutes left McKinnon should have made it 4 when his hooked shot eked just wide of the left hand post. Queen's were not in it at all in the latter stages, and McLean also could have scored his second, his shot being bravely blocked by Scrimgour. A Lyle run, after he sliced through a dispirited defence, resulted in another near-miss with his shot being dragged narrowly past. In fact Stirling's fourth would only be delayed until the 89th minute. With the defence in total disarray, Reilly having stumbled on the edge of his own area, there was a clear path for the cross to be played in from the right where Lyle stood in isolation to hit the ball home. Even two days later the anger at another lifeless performance has not entirely dimmed, and I'd be lying if I said I expected better from the upcoming Stranraer and Peterhead games. Our last two games against that pair have seen us concede 8 goals, but if Queen's defend the way they did against Stirling they could be conceding that number against Stranraer alone next Saturday. Queen's Park: Derek Scrimgour, Danny Ferry, David Stewart, Ross Clark ( Stuart Kettlewell 66 ), Richard Sinclair, David McCallum ( Steven Fallon 76 ), Paul Harvey, Steven Reilly, Frankie Carroll ( Steven Canning 57 ), Jonny Whelan, Derek Carcary. Substitutes not used: Ally Graham, David Crawford. Booked: Carroll, Whelan. Sent-off: Harvey ( 39 - violent conduct ). Goal: David Stewart 33. Stirling Albion: Myles Hogarth, Paul Hay, Derek Anderson ( Stewart Devine 76 ), Paul Nugent, George Rowe, Andy Smith ( Gary Kelly 59 ), Dougie Wilson, Colin McKinnon, Scott McLean ( Ross Beveridge 86 ), Derek Lyle, David O'Brien. Substitutes not used: Craig Ferguson, Scott Morrison. Booked: Nugent. Goals: David O'Brien 2, Colin McKinnon 8, Scott McLean penalty 50, Derek Lyle 89. Referee: M. Tumilty. Attendance: 732. |