| Well, how about that for a finish? Just when we thought Cowden were going to last the pace, the old Hampden surge finally worked and we netted twice within the space of a few minutes to win what was an entertaining game at sunny Hampden. An early Frankie Carroll goal was cancelled out by a Reilly own goal and Cowden looked certs to hold-on after going 2-1 ahead. But David McCallum's brilliant free-kick and Carroll's cool header gave Queen's a worthy win. There was to be one change from the side that beat Stenhousemuir in the cup last week as Paul Harvey replaced Stuart Kettlewell, with Ross Clark taking the youngster's position on the right side. In glorious sunshine, and with some Cowden players wearing Queen's Park away socks (!!), the first league game of the season kicked off. Queen's looked the better team from the start but it took 5 minutes for the first real chance of the game to be created. Ally Graham's knock-down from a big clearance found David Clarke, who volleyed narrowly wide. Brannigan opted for the three-pronged attack of Graham, Carroll and Clarke, but it was Paul Harvey who came closest next. Following a clever Carroll chest, Harvey shot from 20 yards, but it didn't cause Cowdenbeath goalkeeper Andy Carlin too much bother. Still, it was a really encouraging start and a minute later Queen's opened the scoring. A superb Sean Molloy free-kick found Frankie Carroll who aimed a looping header into the top left-hand corner. The Blue Brazil, today in yellow, made a brief venture up the park 3 minutes later, but Brian Gilfillan's shot was no problem for Brian McCue in the Queen's goal. Referee William Collum, the youngest senior whistler in the game, didn't have too much to do early on, but the Cowdenbeath fans were angry at some of the soft free-kicks he was giving. As the game approached the 20 minute mark, the visitors showed some signs of coming back into the game and six minutes later, they equalised. Or, rather, Stevie Reilly did. In a moment of confusion, the Queen's captain over-ruled his goalkeeper's approach to gather a high-ball by heading it up in the air. With goalie McCue stranded, the ball spun perfectly in the direction of the goal, and after a few dozen bounces, the ball ended up in the net, just underneath the crossbar. It was an unfortunate moment for the two Queen's men as things had been going so well up until that point. Brian Gilfillan took the chance to celebrate the mistake, however, by charging up the park in celebration, with his arms in the air, as if he had scored the goal. Three minutes later, Queen's got a free-kick in a good position but the wasted set-piece was made worse by Ally Graham's reaction to an aerial challenge. Sensibly, Collum only showed an apologetic Graham a yellow card, when we all know some refs take delight in waving about the reds at the slightest chance. Disliked as he was, Gilfillan was proving dangerous in attack for Cowden and he had two shots stopped by McCue within a couple of minutes. But in the lead up to half-time, Queen's didn't look seriously troubled by his efforts. Three minutes after the restart, Ross Clark headed the ball to Frankie Carroll who could only head straight at Carlin. Not long after, however, Carroll should have hit his and Queen's's double. David Clarke played an incisive pass to the forward, but he could only shoot wide with the goal gaping. Unlucky, but we should have been 2-1 up. Cowdenbeath carved their first real chance of the half when a Calvin Shand free-kick was headed narrowly past by Gilfillan. The game was more finely balanced at this stage and either side could have scored. Ally Graham tried to for Queen's but he wasn't quick enough to react to a high-ball and a desperate Cowden defence scrambled the ball clear. A minute later, a Paul Harvey corner was well punched away by Carlin, but Molloy was on-hand 20 yards out to volley the ball just wide of the target. Molloy showed his excellent ground and aerial skills throughout and it was another fine showing from the youngster. At the hour mark Steven Reilly was booked for Queen's for a silly push on the corner of his penalty box. Cowdenbeath's Innes Ritchie experienced a similar fate moments later when he was carded for persistent fouling, with Frankie Carroll being the victim. In between those stoppages, Gilfillan screwed a shot just wide and it was the same man who put the visitors ahead on 62 minutes. After defending so well for the whole game, the Queen's defence fatally switched off and Mauchlen's long free-kick found the feet of the blonde forward and with time and space on his side, he calmly side-footed the ball past an exposed McCue. Such a silly goal to lose and Brannigan was rightly fuming. As the travelling fans grunted along, Queen's looked somewhat dispirited. A change was needed and Brannigan brought off David Clarke for forward Tommy Sloan. A push on Ally Graham 25 yards from goal gifted Queen's a free-kick on 70 minutes. With Graham himself over the ball, it was infact Ross Clark who stepped up and thundered a drive off the bar, with Carlin beaten. Queen's now had it within their reach - they just needed a bit of luck. Goakeeper Andy Carlin infuriated the Queen's fans by wasting time and generally acting stupidly so as to while away precious moments. It was evident that the opponents were looking to hang on with little of the game remaining. Another change was made by Kenny Brannigan as he threw on Alan Trouten with Ross Clark going the other way. Queen's needed a new burst to come from somewhere, but it was the old heads who almost got an equaliser. Paul Harvey crossed to Graham, but the big man headed past. On 82 minutes, as Queen's edged further up the park, Tommy Sloan blazed a drive well over the bar, to the jeers of the visiting fans. The referee was involved again a minute later as he booked JP Kelly for a desperate obstruction on David McCallum and then did the same when QP's Brian Blair slammed the ball down in frustration after a decision went against him. The fans felt the same way, but there was still some hope deep down that we could perhaps get a point. With four minutes left, Alan Trouten was crudely challenged on the far right side and Campbell was rightly booked. With the ball in the awkward position at the edge of the box, it seemed we would see another hopeful cross. Nah. David McCallum decided to score straight from it, evading the wall, and leaving Carlin looking foolish standing rooted to his line. The reaction to this goal encouraged the Queen's players to to do what we all thought was out the question. Two minutes later, a long ball from midfield looked easy meat for Carlin but McKeown cut across his goalkeeper, heading the ball in the direction of Frankie Carroll. Could the wee man do it this time? Yes. He carefully headed the ball straight down the middle of the goal and it was now 3-2, with Cowden's minimalist tactical ideas in tatters. The scenes were, well, mental and some of the Cowden faithful had seen enough, leaving the ground early. All we needed to do now was hope that the men on the park could keep possession and they did exactly that. With Harvey showboating and Graham giving the QP fans scares by dallying over the ball, the whistle blew to end a remarkable game. We can't make too many assumptions at this stage with 35 leagues games still to play, but the fact that we are playing well at Hampden is an encouraging sign. A trip to Elgin next week will prove tougher than it was last time, as they have strengthened their team over the summer and have made a great start to their campaign by beating Stenhousemuir 2-0 away from home. We also have a little trip to our friends of Stirling in mid-week, and whilst the cups are nice, I for one, and many others, would like to see a consistent league showing this term. With players like Molloy and Rushford doing so well already, and with Reilly more involved each week and even Paul Harvey starting solidly, we have reason to hope that we can do better than last time around. There are still some things to tidy up on but the players deserve their praise for the good start they have made. Just keep it up now! |
| Queen's Park Cowdenbeath |
| 3 2 |
| (Carroll 2, McCallum) (Reilly (Own Goal), Gilfillan) |
| Queen's Park: Brian McCue, Brian Blair, David McCallum, Gavid Rushford, Steven Reilly, Sean Molloy, Ross Clark ( Alan Trouten 77 ), Paul Harvey, Ally Graham, Frankie Carroll, David Clarke ( Tommy Sloan 68 ). Substitutes not used: Stuart Kettlewell, Damiano Agostini, Steven McGovern. Booked: Graham 29, Reilly 59, Blair 84. Goals: Carroll 8, 88, McCallum 86. Cowdenbeath: Andy Carlin, Calvin Shand, Andrew Campbell, Brian Gilfillan, John McKeown, Innes Ritchie, Iain Mauchlen, Paul McHale, Craig Scott ( Liam Buchanan 52 ), David Mowat ( Ryan McCallum 73 ), John Paul Burns ( John Paul Kelly 37 ). Substitutes not used: Christopher Gray, Stephan Gollasch. Booked: Kelly 84, Campbell 86, Ritchie. Goals: Reilly 26 (own goal), Gilfillan 62. Referee: William Collum Stand Side Assistant Referee: Francis Andrews Far Side Assistant Referee: Ross Haswell Attendance: 490 |