| At half-time there were boos - at full-time there were just groans of acceptance. It's a sign of the times. Some fans have had enough and there's no hiding this fact. Cries of "Rubbish, Brannigan" and "Sort it out!" could be heard as the players headed into the changing rooms 3-0 down at the interval. Another goal from Stranraer in the second-half was more or less insignificant. The fact that another 45 was scarcely needed is a desperate reminder that after just a year in charge, Kenny Brannigan's time as manager is getting worse by the week. Some fans are on the verge of personally asking the man to quit and some players are mere shadows of what they were last season. Brannigan's most recent signing, David Stewart, made his debut at the back and Derek Scrimgour returned after suspension. The manager opted to leave Steven McAuley on the bench and start with a front-line of Canning, Graham and Gallagher, with Kettlewell playing in midfield. The opening 15 minutes weren't indicative of the final scoreline as Queen's made most of the headway in attack. Steven Fallon broke forward after 2 minutes and narrowly shot past with goalkeeper McCondichie looking on. Then an excellent flick-on from Graham found the eager Gallagher who shot over. Following a poor Ally Graham free-kick, Stranraer broke away in their first attack and a comedy of both attacking and defensive errors finished with a foul on Agostini. Ally Graham almost opened the scoring minutes later, but his header from a Fallon cross lacked power. Some more Queen's pressure yielded a corner and Harvey's delivery couldn't be directed towards goal by the head of debutante Stewart as he headed over. Queen's were still piling on the pressure and it seemed as though it was only a matter of time before the home team took the lead. A fine run from Gallagher was partially stopped by the Stranraer defence before the ball fell to Canning, who shot straight at McCondichie. But Stranraer, despite their slow start, were quickly warming up and Allan Jenkins found space on the left and fired a low shot which needed a superb stop by Scrimgour's left foot to knock wide. It was certainly a let-off and Collins's volleyed effort fortunately lacked power and was easily held by the Queen's 'keeper. The tide had definitely turned, though, and Stranraer were looking more dangerous in front of goal than the home side. Jenkins was again the man with a chance but he volleyed over from 20 yards. In a brief journey upfield, Ally Graham had a great chance to swing the pendulum the other way and offer Queen's the breakthrough. From five yards out, though, the veteran striker didn't apply himself enough to a gift of a ball by Harvey, which hung invitingly in mid-air before the inevitable clearance by the Stranraer defence. It would be the last chance for Queen's to score before half-time. On 26 minutes, Stranraer took a deserved lead. Kevin Finlayson's free-kick just outside the right side of the Queen's box was flapped at by Scrimgour who let the ball break to Murray Henderson, and the Stranraer defender just got enough contact on a shot to send the ball into the back of the net inside the back post. And then came the collapse. The notes for the first goal had hardly been noted when Stranraer doubled their lead. Hap-hazard defending and confident attacking don't usually mix for a defence and they didn't here. Jenkins flew forward, this time on the right, got to the bye-line and cut the ball back to the unmarked Aitken who duly lofted the ball over an exposed Scrimgour. Cue cries of "where have we seen this before?" Stranraer were cruising now, passing the ball with ease and even when giving it away getting it back almost immediately. Queen's had lost their nerve and were now paying the price. Damiano Agostini was having a rare off-day and was booked for two late challenges in succession. The half-time whistle couldn't come soon enough as Stranraer were forging ahead with too much ease. Even defender Wingate fancied his chances but he skied over. But the unflappable Jenkins didn't, just before half-time. Agostini lost the ball at the bye-line either through slipping or a possible foul and the pass from the right found Jenkins who hammered past Scrimgour. 3-0, then, and the game was now over. What Brannigan said at half-time was probably unprintable and he brought off Ally Graham and replaced him with Steven McAuley. The second-half was played at a pre-season pace, but sadly not in pre-season weather. Rain hailed down as the pitch got wetter and wetter. Stranraer didn't have much trouble keeping the ball but some Queen's players, who initially promised so much, couldn't do the basics. Rain or no rain, this was downright dire. Steven Canning nearly got us a goal but it was ironically blocked by Paddy Gallagher. It was probably goal-bound but, once again, it didn't matter. It wasn't really a surprise when Stranraer added a fourth 20 from the end. A corner from the right somehow got to the back post and Michael Moore was there to hammer the ball at goal. Scrimgour was well positioned to palm the shot out but Moore was afforded another chance by a dallying Spiders defence and he didn't miss from 6 yards. Attempts to freshen the team up were hopeless. Whelan and Moffat came on for Kettlewell and Fallon but it just didn't matter anymore. It should have been five with minutes left. Sharp was deemed onside by the stand-side assistant and he bombed down the left and crossed for substitute Cruickshank. Ferry and Scrimgour looked on in amazement as the Stranraer man, centimetres from goal, hit the ball against his own legs and the ball dribbled out. It was the only thing worth smiling about all afternoon. Referee Eddie Smith didn't hang about at the end and blew for full-time almost on the stroke of regulation time. It's almost a year now that Kenny Brannigan has had the job and barring a few great results and performances, there's not much else that'll go down in history as being memorable. The football we are playing just now is terrible, some players seem incapable of doing the basics when the scoreline is against them, and the shape and structure just go flying out the window when we go goals behind. Few players can be sure that they'll still be there come the end of the season. If there's ever to be an exodus it'll be at the end of season 2003/2004. What now remains to be seen is whether Mr Brannigan will still be there for 2004/2005. On today's performance, I think not. |
| Queen's Park: Derek Scrimgour, Danny Ferry, Damiano Agostini, Steven Fallon (Steven Moffat 69), David Stewart, Steven Reilly, Stuart Kettlewell (Jonny Whelan 69), Paul Harvey, Steven Canning, Ally Graham (Steven McAuley 45), Paddy Gallagher Subs Not Used: David McCallum, David Crawford (GK) Booked: Damiano Agostini (Persistent Fouling) Stranraer: Andrew McCondichie, Stephen Swift, Derek Wingate, Murray Henderson, Fraser Wright, Kevin Finlayson, Stephen Aitken, Allan Jenkins, Lee Collins (Chris Cruickshank 86), Michael Moore (David Turnbull 80), Lee Sharp Subs Not Used: David Graham, Tam McAllister, Kenneth Meechan (GK) Booked: Lee Collins (Foul) Goals: Murray Henderson (26), Stephen Aitken (27), Allan Jenkins (43), Michael Moore (68) Referee: Eddie Smith Attendance: 473. |
| Queen's Park |
| Stranraer |
| 0 |
| 4 |
| ( Henderson, Aitken, Jenkins, Moore ) |