( Yardley, McLean ) ( Menelaws )
Johnny Whelan was pronounced fit to start despite feeling a little low during the week, and David McCallum replaced Allan Dunning who dropped out of the squad altogether. Kenny Brannigan has spoken of the need for greater competition in the squad to stimulate players - it seems he is unsure that the likes of Dunning and Fisher have the right attitudes to provide it.
Having beaten Rovers twice already at this ground and come so close to winning at Hampden last time around, Queen's began confidently in their attempts to unsettle a home team for whom everything was at stake. Backed by a strong wind which cooled the strong rays of sunshine, Queen's pressed forward early on. The Rovers defence looked a little uncomfortable in dealing with this, and two corners were needlessly given away, from the second of which Menelaws stooped to head onto the roof of the net. Danny Ferry created bother with a strong run down his right wing, to which he had been restored, but after getting to the byeline his cross was too close to Shearer.
David McCallum's deadball proficiency came close to being perfectly highlighted when his free-kick on 14 minutes curled just over the crossbar. His restoration to the team was allowing Queen's a greater sense of balance, and he looked keen to get involved in the play.
After 25 minutes, the first controversial incident of a day punctuated with them arrived. Wayward midfielder Jim Dick tackled Kettlewell late, and the young midfielder reacted angrily to the foul. Such indiscretions cost both players yellow cards, but would later have more profound repercussions.
For all that they were the team further up the table and playing at home, Rovers had struggled to make any impact on the game at all so far. Tragically for Queen's though, they would open the scoring after 37 minutes on the only occasion the defence was breached during the first half. True, they had begun to command more of the play, but the goal itself was barely deserved on the balance of play. But it was a more than competent strike: Yardley evaded the attentions of Agostini before gathering on his chest and volleying the ball low into the bottom left hand corner of Cairns's net. Quite simply he had been given too much time and space in which to fashion the chance, and there was nothing Cairns could do to prevent the goal.
Queen's response was to press forward again, and after a clearance Ross Clark volleyed the ball back into the area hopefully for Menelaws to aim a header at, but the ball ran past his small frame.
Rovers were forced to make two substitutions before half-time, Diack coming on for Bradford and Paterson replacing the stricken and stretchered-off Silvestro, prompting some unkind comments about "justice being done": Silvestro's challenge having resulted in Tony Quinn's broken leg back in December.
Queen's had competed well during the first-half but needed greater firepower up front in order to force themselves onto level terms. With this in mind, super-sub Willie Martin was introduced after 12 minutes of the second for the ailing Johnny Whelan by Kenny Brannigan. Already in the second half Lumsden and Smith had tried headers at the Queen's goal and McAllister had fired a long volley wide of the post; David McCallum's effort had been blocked by Shearer a little after.
But the game exploded into life around the hour mark. First David Menelaws was flagged for offside after being put clean through around 25 yards out; the linesman was in a clear position to judge but may just have called it wrongly.
Two minutes later the incident arrived that could have swung the whole game around. Dick went down inside the penalty area after a committed challenge for the ball from Willie Martin, and the fall was patently exaggerated. It was certainly not a foul, but referee Winter went further than that and decided to book Dick for diving. Having already been shown a yellow in the first half, Dick left the field to the cheers of the visiting fans who sensed - through this and a greater desire being shown by Queen's - that an equaliser was now not far off.
It could have arrived within a minute as Queen's roared into attack; Gemmell was fed on the edge of the box but was swiftly brought down, seemingly illegally. However, the referee, perhaps reluctant to give Queen's another advantageous decision so soon, however fair it might have been, ignored the incident despite protestations.
The equaliser would not be long delayed. Kettlewell's incisive pass sent Menelaws through on goal as he ghosted past Smith and made no mistake with the finish. The Queen's fans were nothing other than jubilant with unrestrained delight, and being a man to the good and with the momentum they were carrying, a win seemed a definite possibility.
Contrary to this view though, it was Rovers who pushed forward, making light of their disadvantage and forcing two brilliant saves from Cairns in quick succession- firstly from a header at the back post, then as the area was swamped with bodies, the follow-up shot, which he somehow smothered on the line. Yardley then went close with a blistering long-range drive which Cairns tipped onto the crossbar.
If we thought we had escaped the worst of it, we were wrong. Rovers capitalised on their renewed vigour and scored the eventual winner after 68 minutes - the scorer being Charlie McLean, on the field for only a few minutes before. A long pass from Mercer looked dangerous as it found McLean roaming down the left; the defence was helpless, with the exception of Richard Sinclair who was on McLean's heels as he collected. The Rovers substitute was too quick for Sinclair though, and as he motored into the area Richard was evidently fearful of conceding a penalty kick and subsequently receiving a red card. No challenge was made, and so the onus was on Cairns to race from his line and face the striker. As McLean homed in on the near post, Cairns was there, but the striker managed to squeeze the ball past him from a tight angle and into the opposite corner of the net, to the notable joy of the home fans. It was a superb finish, but Sinclair should probably have been more instinctive in simply making the tackle, while the lack of cover did not help. Whether Kenny Brannigan blamed Richard or not I don't know, but almost immediately he brought him off with Jamie White slotting into defence.
Would the Queen's players be demoralised by this goal? They definitely couldn't fashion many further opportunities despite all their endeavours, but David Menelaws was denied the chance to grab another equaliser when he was once more penalised for offside, this time close to the halfway line and by the same, stand-side linesman. The Queen's bench made their feelings plain, and Menelaws found himself booked for dissent as tempers began to ignite. Another flashpoint could never be ruled out, and the sides were evened up with ten minutes left. Stuart Kettlewell flew in wildly with a high boot which caught Diack on the head. The referee had no alternative but to book him and therefore send him off, and so any theoretical advantage Queen's held was now cancelled out. Kettlewell, who had, even more annoyingly, enjoyed a decent performance highlighted by fine passing and his assist for the goal, must learn to curb the more aggressive side of his commendably competitive nature in order to fulfil his potential worth for Queen's.