| Both goalkeepers were on top form today as Queen's Park and Stenhousemuir played out a 1-1 draw at Ochilview. Goal-minders Willie McCulloch and David Crawford pulled out superb stops to keep their respective team in the game. Lee Collins netted for the Warriors just before half-time but a brilliant solo-effort from Brian Felvus was enough to give the Spiders a hard-earned point. Billy Stark was forced into making some changes to the side which performed superbly in the marathon match at Forfar in mid-week. With David McCallum unavailable, Shaun Molloy was shunted out to the left, which gave Richard Sinclair his first start of the season in the centre of defence. Gavin Rushford returned to the back line also after his Challenge Cup suspension. John Weir was given his first ever full appearance for Queen's in the middle of the park. The absence of Frankie Carroll resulted in Ross Clark playing off Ally Graham in attack. Kicking into the wind, Queen's started the better of the sides, with Ross Clark and Brian Blair trying their luck but failing to trouble the Stenhousemuir net in an tame opening 10 minutes. Stenny soon warmed to the challenge and managed to grasp that they had the advantage of playing the high-ball into the Queen's penalty box. In these conditions, hesitancy was inevitable, but Queen's just about managed to keep it together. Paul McGrillen, however, was allowed space in the box to shoot but his effort was well smothered by David Crawford. Ross Clark was once again working like a trojan in a thankless task of being played out of position once again, and after some good work, he laid the ball off to John Weir who tried to place the ball into the bottom right hand corner. Willie McCulloch was up to the task though of getting behind Weir's slightly weak shot. The wind was not making for good viewing and neither side could get the ball on the ground to play football, which resulted in some back-and-forth punting. After the half-hour mark, in a bizarre moment, as this reporter turned away briefly to check his notes, Stenny hit the bar. God knows how it happened but it was a massive relief for David Crawford as he looked on as the ball sailed clear! The home side were now beginning to turn the heat up on Queen's as they pinned the visitors back into their own third of the field. On 40 minutes, Paul McGrillen shot tamely at David Crawford. However, Alan Trouten managed to fire back, almost all on his own, in a brief-flirt upfield, as he danced past the Stenny back-line before being finally thwarted by a defensive boot as he was poised to shoot 10 yards out. Almost straight on half-time though, Stenhousemuir took the lead. Great work from Paul McGrillen teed up Lee Collins 15 yards out and he drilled his shot past David Crawford and into the bottom left-corner of the net. There might have been a slight-deflection in the attempt though, which was enough to out-think David Crawford who was down very quickly to try and stop the ball. 2 minutes after the restart, the home side should have doubled their lead. Ryan Davidson's shot was miraculously saved by David Crawford and the ball was eventually cleared. The young goalie was down instantly to divert the firm shot from the ex-Stirling Albion player. The stopper was in action again as he kept out a Lee Collins volley with brilliant agility on 55 minutes. And he saved Queen's again when John Paul McBride's 20 yard free-kick beat the Spiders wall. Such confident and borderline balletic goalkeeping is as good as Queen's fans have seen in some seasons. As Billy Stark got a brief moment to breathe after watching Stenny storm his team's goal, he made the change which changed the game considerably. He replaced John Weir with Brian Felvus, moving Ross Clark into his natural midfield position. 4 minutes after coming on, Stark's good tactical awareness paid off. Ally Graham, playing another superb (and entertaining!) game, flicked the ball into the path of Brian Felvus. Showing maturity and coolness which belied his young years, he sped past the Stenny defence, rounded McCulloch and from a narrow angle, perfectly clipped the ball into the net, sending the large Queen's travelling support into raptures. His second senior goal and one to remember for all who saw. The home side were feeling hot under the collar now, and left-back David McInally took the huff, much to the delight of the Queen's support. Their happiness turned to frustration as 'Mr Penalty Kick' Steven Duff decided not to show the yellow card the defender's petty actions merited! Stenny were making good use of the counter-attack, however, and when they did break up-field, they always looked threatening. Lee Collins fluffed another chance to score when he shot over from a good position. Back up the other end, Ally Graham did the same, but under more difficult circumstance. On 70 minutes, Ross Clark fired in a corner but Big Ally Graham's header didn't trouble the goalie. End to end football was now the norm, without there being too much in the way of a midfield battle, the game now resembling one at a gusty Cliftonhill! All the excitement was created in and around both penalty boxes and a good passing movement between Trouten and Graham resulted in Stuart Kettlewell shooting past. With just over 10 minutes left, Brian Blair was denied by the great reflexes of McCulloch. Brian Felvus's deflected cross was well met by the big midfielder who shot at the front post. The goal-bound ball though was palmed over by the Stenhousemuir keeper's right hand. The resulting corner found the head of Graham who headed strongly towards goal, but lanky forward Joe Savage was on the line on defensive duties to clear the ball away. Some shouts went up for a penalty as it looked as though there was a combination between Savage's hand and thigh in his clearance, but Mr Duff waved the game on. Stenny were still good on the attack though and this resulted in some anxious shouts from the Queen's fans as they now looked at the prospect of coming away with a good point. Stuart Kettlewell was booked for a foul just outside the Queen's box, but McBride's shot was once again well stopped by 'DC'. McBride again could - and probably should - have clinched the game for his team with two minutes remaining. After doing all the hard work by carefully controlling the ball in mid-air he ran out of steam a mere matter of yards out and as Crawford fell expecting a massive volley, the goalie gleefully grabbed the ball as it pathetically dribbled in his direction. Stenny thought they had a shout for a penalty for a foul on McBride, but Duff was having none of it. It threatened to boil over as several home players badgered the whistler for the next few minutes and McGrillen's name went into the ref's little black book as a result. Billy Stark obviously still fancied his chances however and he put on David Weatherston in the place of a knackered Ally Graham to try and speed up the attack. The youngster was almost through on goal with the game in injury time, but last man Keith Knox stretched the laws of the game to the outer limits as he managed to stop Weatherston from running in on McCulloch without Duff noticing. Duff by name... It was perhaps fitting that a goalkeeper got the final say in an afternoon of fine shot-stopping. Alan Trouten saw goal 25 yards out and he fancied a pop. It was firm, on target and heading for the top corner, but McCulloch sprang across to palm the ball out. Not too long after, Mr Duff blew the whistle and both teams went into the dressing rooms no doubt thanking their goalies for saving them. Overall it was a solid performance from Queen's who missed the services of Frankie Caroll and the luxury of having a more settled midfield. If Stark can get a reasonable team together for next Saturday, a win against Montrose is a definite possibility. For now though, the manager can take a great number of positives from today's game - the performance of young David Crawford being one of them. . . |
| Stenhousemuir Queen's Park |
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| Collins Felvus |
| Stenhousemuir: Willie McCulloch, Steven Fallon, David McInally, Keith Knox, Robbie Henderson, John Paul McBride, Martin Lauchlan ( Anthony Smith 74 ), Lee Collins, Joe Savage, Ryan Davidson ( Mark Gardiner 74 ), Paul McGrillen. Substitutes Not Used: Thomas Sinclair, Paul Murphy, Kevin McKeown. Booked: Collins, Henderson, McGrillen. Goal: Lee Collins 44. Queen's Park: David Crawford, Alan Trouten, Damiano Agostini, Gavin Rushford, Richard Sinclair, Shaun Molloy, John Weir ( Brian Felvus 57 ), Stuart Kettlewell, Ally Graham ( David Weatherston 89 ), Ross Clark, Brian Blair. Substitutes Not Used: Martin Bonnar, Tony Quinn, Steven McGovern. Booked: Stuart Kettlewell. Goal: Brian Felvus 61. Referee: Steven Duff Attendance: 509 |