Visits to Peterhead are always enjoyable for the fans, encompassing an entire day out for them. For the players, it's an even longer stay, with the Queen's party travelling up on the Friday evening, so as to avoid the possibility of a long journey tiring the players. Tomorrow's game sees Peterhead start very much as favourites, after a fine 4-1 win over Gretna last week. The Blue Toon lost 2 of their first 3 games, although they did comfortably defeat title favourites Morton, but more recently have improved their form, and sit 4th in the table. New signing Lamile Camara is one to look out for- he scored last Saturday, and is likely to start tomorrow. Andy Roddi, formerly of Motherwell and Aberdeen, has also proved a useful capture, scoring 3 times so far. He is joint top scorer along with the ever-dangerous veteran, Iain Stewart. Peterhead tend to play good football and will be very hard to beat.
Queen's will miss Chris Fisher, after his cartilage operation, and James Allan will again sit out. Stewart Jack returns from holiday, but is unlikely to start. Steven Canning will surely play after looking dangerous against Shire. He also has the benefit of having scored in the last two games between Queen's and Peterhead. Steven Moffat's absence will weaken the team further, as the centre-back has been very steady and cool so far. Richard Sinclair may take his place.
Tomorrow sees only the 5th meeting of the 2 teams in the league. Peterhead only entered the SFL in 2000, and the first match between the teams was on 6th October 2001, with Peterhead winning 2-1. Ross Jackson had given QP the lead in the game. After losing the next match against the northern team ( 1-0 at Hampden ) Queen's then enjoyed a superb victory on 19 January 2002, by two goals to nil. Chris Fisher secured the win with a cool finish in the 90th minute, after Peterhead had put the home defence under ferocious pressure in the second half. Queen's then put another dent in Peterhead's promotion challenge by winning 2-1 at Balmoor in March. The very first game involving the two teams took place on 17 January 1979, in a Scottish Cup second round tie up north ( the last match, I believe, that the near-legendary Keith McAllister did not attend? ). Queen's won 3-2 before a crowd of 1,000. Top scorer that season Ian Ballantyne scored twice.
17 Sep Strollers draw
The QP Strollers drew 0-0 with Hamilton Academical reserves in the RLW tonight at the Ballast Stadium, Hamilton. A John Thomson was fielded, while Allan Dunning continued the road back to match fitness. Darren Magee also appeared, as a substitute.
15 Sep Queen's Park 0 East Stirlingshire 2- bottom again
Queen's lost 2-0 to East Stirlingshire at Hampden on Saturday. A poorish crowd saw an extremely poor match, pock-marked by misplaced passes and passed-up chances by Queen's Park. Read the full match report.
Chris Fisher was spotted arriving at his seat for yesterday's match being supported by crutches, instead of his usual adoring masses (?). The young forward will now be out for several weeks, and Queen's could have done with his unpredictable running yesterday. He is to undergo a knee cartilage operation. On a brighter note, David Menelaws hopes to be back sometime in October. The forward has been out for roughly a year after suffering a broken leg, and has still to make his Queen's debut. His return to fitness is much anticipated, as Queen's are crying out for someone who can take some of the myriad of chances they are creating in most games.
More news from September 2002