| St. Johnstone |
| Queen's Park |
| 3 |
| 0 |
| (Scotland 2, MacDonald) |
| This game proved a step too far for Queen's as an excellent St. Johnstone team comfortably eliminated us from the Challenge Cup. First of all, I don't think there's any need for me to give a full account of the match. OK, I can't be bothered to, but the fact that it was so one-sided (unlike 99% of the games we play) makes detailing every move a bore and an irrelevance. Worse still, having criticised the team for their display at Cliftonhill, I don't want to run the risk of doing so again; it really wouldn't be fair. Time caught up with the Queen's team last night, with the strain of playing so many games in the first month of the season proving too much. Combine with this the fact that St. Johnstone, full of imaginative running and crisp shooting, were highly impressive, and it was never likely to be a close contest. The hosts, playing Queen's at McDiarmid Park for the first time, were too inventive in attack for a Queen's team featuring Steven Reilly thrown in on his recovery from injury. Jason Scotland was a permanent problem, and with Queen's strangely reluctant to stick close to him, his diagonal runs and lethal finishing - his two goals were brilliantly taken- basically settled the game. St. Johnstone's crossing and set-pieces were also light years ahead of anything Queen's seem capable of, with Sheerin precise in his delivery throughout. Queen's started encouragingly, with plenty of possession, but even so an early error allowed Scotland to intercept and shoot wide. St. Johnstone dominated thereafter, with Stanic giving Paton hell, and they took the lead in the 18th minute when Scotland ghosted in between Agostini and Paton to peel away and coolly lob Cairns from just inside the box. The second arrived after 37 minutes, MacDonald volleying into the far corner despite the presence of several defenders inside the box. Queen's did improve briefly at the end of the half, and Weatherston should have scored after being put clean through by Dunn's flick, but he took a touch too many and hit the side netting. The revival continued into the second half; Weatherston was sorely unlucky not to win a foul when clipped behind while on great run through the middle, but then Reilly sliced the ball just over his own bar. Queen's were also a little fortunate when Canning cleared a header off the line and the ball landed straight onto Cairns's palms. Just prior to the third Saints goal on the hour, Queen's put together a decent move, with Weatherston's cross met by Canning whose shot was deflected over. That third goal was perhaps a little against the run of play, but clinical for all that. After Sheerin's free-kick from deep had been headed out by Reilly, the former Aberdeen (saying that name sure cheers you up) player picked up the clearance to reverse a pass to Scotland, and the Trinidadian smashed the ball powerfully into the far corner. How Aberdeen could have done with a player like him. Did you know Alex Ferguson used to be manager of Aberdeen? And Billy Stark once played for... Aberdeen? Oh Aberdeen, Aberdeen, cannae kick a jelly bean... In closing, St. Johnstone on this evidence looked capable of challenging for the First Division title, though they have some catching up to on Gretna already. Queen's still have bigger fish to fry in the shape of Motherwell, but thankfully there are still 3 weeks to prepare for that game. Before then we've got Berwick on Sunday. Tonight was disappointing, but it's probably true to say that it's the Albion Rovers performance, rather than this one,that we must improve on for the next league game. St. Johnstone: Kevin Cuthbert, Andy Lawrie, William Dyer, Simon Mensing, Steven Anderson, Kevin James, Ryan Stevenson, Paul Sheerin, Peter MacDonald (O'Donnell 82), Jason Scotland (Andy Jackson 72), Goran Stanic (Kevin Moon 79). Substitutes not used: Owen Coyle, Bryn Halliwell. Goals: Scotland 18, 60, MacDonald 37. Queen's Park: Mark Cairns, Paul Paton, Mick Dunlop, Damiano Agostini, Steven Reilly, Steven Canning, Stuart Kettlewell (Tony Quinn 82), David Weatherston, Paul Ronald (Alan Trouten 63), Robert Dunn (Richard Bowers 52), Mark Ferry. Substitutes not used: Jonny Whelan, David Crawford. Booked: Reilly. Referee: Eddie Smith. Attendance: 1,351. |