( Allan, Clark )
An illness for Allan Dunning meant that Brendan Crozier took his place on the right side of a three-pronged attack, as the caretakers elected wisely to stick with the shape and composition of the side favoured by the previous incumbent of the managerial chair. The tannoy-announcer chose to interchange the numbers of Moffat and Agostini, but the defensive duo took the field wearing their usual numbers 4 and 5 respectively.
Befitting their superior league position, it was Peterhead who had command of the game in the early stages, and came close to scoring after 5 minutes when a long ball through the middle caught Queen's central defenders napping, but Danny Ferry was his ever-reliable self in removing the ball from the toes of Tindal as he shaped to shoot. The same player fired well over shortly afterwards.
In a welcome reversal of the usual scenario, Queen's opened the scoring a minute later despite having had no notable pressure to speak of so far. And what a goal it was. James Allan has impressed many this season with his close-control, but he surpassed himself when after gathering the ball midway in the opposing half, he mazily made his way forward, and unleashed a curler from the edge of the area that totally caught out Mathers in the Peterhead goal.
Allan's confidence is clearly soaring at present, and after a break forward by Gemmell, he received the big striker's square pass before trying his luck from 25 yards. Mathers had little trouble in dealing with his low shot. In 12 minutes, it was Allan again as he moved into the area from the left hand side in acres of space, teased a seemingly spellbound defence, and then smacked his shot off the inside of the near post for it to rebound for a goal kick and safety. Despite missing this chance, Allan is probably the most potent weapon in Queen's attacking armour just now and this is borne out by him scoring 3 goals in the last 2 games.
The visitors' now began to take control of the game again, though their searches for an equaliser would prove increasingly mundane over the next 20 minutes or so. Indeed they failed to force Stewart into a stop or give the defensive trio any serious bother at all. Queen's were however being forced to rely on the occasional counter attack, led by Gemmell and Crozier, who appeared lively down the right wing though without the incisiveness of Dunning.
For all the visitors' possession it was Queen's who registered the next shot at goal, albeit one that fell way short of the target from James Allan. Peterhead managed a free-kick that was taken by Roddie and comfortably caught by Stewart, but that was a scurvy return given some quality passing from the visitors. In spite of the presence of such noted goal predators as Iain Stewart and Martin Johnston, they were looking lightweight up front. As far as Paul Martin's task went, it was a case of attempting to get his side to push further forward from the back and win the ball more in the middle of the park in the second half.
Ross Clark replaced Brendan Crozier at half-time, and that change was soon to reap rich dividends for the management team. Peterhead had a penalty claim a minute after the restart, when the ball appeared to strike a Queen's player's hand following a corner kick, but the referee correctly paid due course to the accidental nature of the handling.
Two minutes later Damiano Agostini surged forward from the back, fed James Allan to his left, and the winger's cross seemed sure to be cut out by a Blue Toon defender; however, it was miscontrolled and John Gemmell had an excellent chance to extend Queen's lead. Sadly, big John's lack of awareness and deadliness in front goal were demonstrated as he blasted high over the bar.
Within two minutes however, that miss was rendered irrelevant as Ross Clark opened his goals account for Queen's Park only minutes after coming on to the park. Gemmell showed his aerial prowess by flicking on Moffat's delivery for Clark to turn and volley the ball home off the crossbar from around 12 yards out. Paul Martin had good reason to permit himself a grin at his best managerial decision to date and as a consequence of it, a surely unassailable lead for the Spiders.
Peterhead were still keen to take something from the game though, and Colin Stewart was forced into his first real save very shortly afterwards, tipping a missile of a shot from Kevin Tindal over the bar. Peterhead's frustrations then spilled over into discipline as Mark Simpson was yellow carded after a late tackle from behind on Gemmell close to the visitors' goal line. A speculative cross from McSkimming was clawed from underneath his crossbar by Stewart with no opposing forward in close attendance, before Allan - undoubtedly the most dangerous player on the pitch throughout - got on the end of a through ball, only for Mathers to hare out of his goal and block the effort. Roddie then came close to reducing the deficit, but his snapshot was deflected with the home defence looking rather uncertain as to how to deal with Peterhead at this stage.
In the event, it was of little matter anyway, as despite throwing on Cooper, Bisset anc Camara in an attempt to change the course of the game, the effort backfired as Queen's began to assume a greater amount of territory and use it to prevent any chance of a comeback. Willie Martin came on for John Gemmell, and nearly capitalised on some deathwish defending from Peterhead with 13 minutes left on the clock. He gained the ball from a wayward pass 20 yards out, and with the keeper out of position, moved in on goal; however, the save was made. In the space of a minute, Raeside earned himself a booking for a trip on Whelan as Peterhead's shape started to unravel.
The magnificent Allan was given the opportunity for a rousing reception when being replaced by Paddy Gallagher with 10 minutes left; he had very much earned it. Peterhead's last chance to pull one back ended in a wonderful tackle from Steven Moffat only a few yards from his own goal, depriving Iain Stewart of the chance to add another goal to his fine career tally.
Much like last week, Queen's certainly did not shine in this match, yet won with a fair amount of conviction. This was no mean feat after the difficulties of losing a manager either. With a trip to Morton to meet up with that lost manager looming, the importance of maintaining the recent good form in next week's match against Stirling Albion cannot be overstated. If Paul Martin isn't still in charge for that game, then he can rest in the satisfaction that his tenure as Queen's Park head coach was a totally successful one.
Match information