Salute Queen's Park - Cup Bridiesmaids No More!
captain courageous
By Graeme D. Shields
August 14 2002
Tuesday, 13th August, 2002 Forfar Athletic 2 Queen's Park 2 (aet) (QP won 6-5 on penalties) (Bells Challenge Cup - Second Round)
I have never liked the Bell’s Cup or whatever it was called in the past. I have attended every game Queen’s have played in this competition and, prior to Forfar, that amounted to 15 matches with 11 of them being defeats. That’s an awful lot of pain and bad memories like our 5-0 defeats to Clydebank and Partick Thistle. After Saturday’s poor performance at Montrose I headed back to Angus with little thought of a Spider’s victory. What was to follow was an amazing game full of incident and drama that was a fine example of why Football is the number one spectator sport in the world.
The game was only 2 minutes old when we had our first piece of excitement. Queen’s conceded a free kick on the edge of the box. Sellars curled the ball round the wall but Tony Mitchell brilliantly saved his shot diving at full stretch to push it round the post. Just a minute later at the other end a Jimmy Allan corner found Steven Moffat 10 yards out and his low drive just fizzed past the post.
Forfar took the initiative and started to create numerous chances. In the 13th minute Rattray crossed from the right to find Bavidge who’s header crashed against the Queen’s crossbar. Three minutes later the same player shot just over the bar from just outside the penalty area.
John McCormack was forced into making his first substitution on 28 minutes when Paddy Gallagher could not shake off the effects of an earlier head knock. Chris Fisher replaced him.
With Fisher on Queen’s had more movement and width and came more into the game. On 31 minutes Johnny Whelan passed to John Gemmell who fired a low drive across the face of the goal. Four minutes later Whelan met a Stephen Canning cross from the right on the half volley but Brown easily saved it. With 40 minutes played Whelan tried to lob the Forfar goalie from 40 yards but his effort just went over the bar.
The first half ended with honours even and no goals. Forfar had the upper hand for the first 25 minutes but Fisher’s introduction swung things round in favour of Queen’s.
Queen’s made a change at the start of the second half with Willie Martin replacing the ineffective James Allan.
Three minutes into the second half the Spiders took the lead. A lovely cross from the left from Fisher to the back post found John Gemmell who headed it back across the goal to Stephen Moffat. The big centre half directed a perfectly placed header past Brown to put Queen’s in front. Two minutes later Gemmell almost made it 2-0 with a great strike from 22 yards that just flew past the post. Then, in 55 minutes Gemmell picked up a harsh booking for a tackle that the Forfar defender made look worse than it actually was.
In the 57th minute Forfar created their first chance for a while when a cross from the left found an unmarked Tosh who pulled out a great save from Mitchell. Bavidge following up missed the chance of the night as he blasted the rebound high and wide from 6 yards.
With 61 minutes played a Danny Ferry cross from the right found Gemmell but he headed it straight at the keeper. Three minutes later at the other end Forfar took a quick free kick that Mitchell did well to save. Forfar were taking a lot of free kicks early but this would come back to haunt them later.
Forfar equalised in the 65th minute when a cross found Martin Bavidge who headed home from 4 yards.
On 68 minutes John Gemmell lunged into a tackle on McCulloch and the referee had no option but to produce a yellow card swiftly followed by the red. I thought the tackle merited a booking but it was the very soft earlier booking that cost him dear. Then McCulloch picked up a booking in the 77th minute.
Forfar put Queen’s under a lot of pressure using their extra man to good advantage. However they failed to create that many clear cut chances. The best of them came with 10 minutes of normal time remaining when Tosh pounced on a lose ball but somehow pushed it past the post from all of 4 yards.
The last chance of the regulation 90 minutes fell to Chris Fisher on 86 minutes who hit a low drive that brought a good save from Brown.
After 90 minutes the game was level at 1-1. Forfar, using their one man advantage, had put Queen’s under a lot of pressure without really creating too many chances. The Spiders were always dangerous on the break with Fisher and Martin causing panic in the home defence every time they got the ball.
The first chance in extra time came in the 94th minute and fell to Forfar’s Stewart who shot past the post from 20 yards after a lovely run down the right. Two minutes later it was Fisher’s turn to fire a shot just past the post from 20 yards.
In the 102nd minute John Gallagher picked up a booking after a late challenge. The referee had his cards out again 3 minutes later when Brown raced from his goal to stupidly handle the ball just outside the area. The referee had no option but to send him off – much to the annoyance of the home support (do these people not realise that this is a statutory red card).
Forfar rushed to make their substitution taking Byers off and replacing him with stand-in keeper Ferrie. Once on, the new keeper was taking his time arranging the wall to cover the free kick that was awarded to Queen’s. Stephen Moffat was obviously frustrated by the delay so he asked and received the ref’s permission to take a quick free kick. Canning removed himself from the developing Forfar wall and the big centre half struck a beautiful shot through the gap to put the Spiders ahead again. Forfar protested long and loud to Mr McGarry but he quite rightly waved them away as he had been allowing them to take quick free kicks all evening.
As soon as Forfar started the game again the referee blew for the end of the first period of extra time.
The question of whether Queen’s could hold out was settled 5 minutes into the second period of extra time and it was unfortunately no. A cross from the right by Rattray found Paul Tosh unmarked 6 yards out and he gave Mitchell no chance with his header as he levelled the game at 2-2.
A minute later Moffat almost restored Queen’s single goal advantage to claim a hat-trick but his angled drive from 15 yards just sailed over the bar.
In the 116th minute Queen’s were reduced to 9 men when John Gallagher went in late on a Forfar player. From Gallagher’s reaction you knew immediately that he felt he was in for an early bath and McGarry didn’t disappoint him as he brandished the yellow and red cards.
Two minutes later the referee made a bad mistake that saw Willie Martin pick up a ridiculous booking. Martin beautifully controlled a long clearance and turned just inside the Forfar half. He raced away from 2 defenders to the edge of the penalty box where he prodded the ball past the last defender. The last Forfar man blocked his run into the box and Willie ended up in a heap. McGarry blew for a foul and raced up the park with his book out. Incredibly it was not the Forfar defender on the receiving end but Martin, presumably (but wrongly) for a dive.
In the 119th minute McGarry had his yellow and red cards out again this time to send off Forfar’s McCulloch after a rather reckless and late challenge in the Queen’s penalty area.
That was the end of the action and now it was down to penalty kicks. Queen’s have not been very good at penalties over the years and I doubt that many Spiders’ fans rated our chance of success.
Forfar had the pleasure of taking the first kick and the outcome of this, and those that followed, are as follows:
Tosh – scored – bottom right / Whelan – scored – bottom left
Sellars – scored – centre left / Ferry – scored – top right
McCloy – scored – top left / Canning – scored – bottom right
Rattray – scored – centre/ Moffat – scored – centre right
Bavidge – scored – in off crossbar / Quinn – scored – bottom right
Williams – missed – saved by Mitchell bottom left / Martin – scored – who cares!
Scenes of great jubilation then ensued amongst the Queen’s players and supporters. A great victory, a great game and the first penalty shoot out we have won in 12 years.
Picking a star man was really difficult. There were so many candidates. Mitchell in goal pulled of another string of great saves. Moffat scored 2 goals and netted in the penalty shoot out. He was also rock solid at the back. Fisher played the way we know he can and undoubtedly turned the game for Queen’s when he came on. Martin for his unselfish running and the way he led the line when he played up front on his own – surely his time has come to get a game from the start. To me, though, the star of the night was Danny Ferry whom The Spider had correctly singled out in his preview as being "due a good game".
He had had a very poor game on Saturday and some people (me included) would not have been surprised if he had been dropped to the bench. However, he was an inspirational leader in this game and he was everywhere. Whether it was making tackles in his familiar right back role, sweeping up anything that got past Moffat and Agostini, or charging forward to lend a hand to our forwards. His penalty was so spectacular and very un-Queen’s like as he smashed it into the top right corner with nonchalant ease. Surely his finest game for Queen’s.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
VIEW FROM THE SPIDERS' ARMCHAIR
With The Spider unable to attend this game (it wouldn't have been the decent thing to leave Mrs. Spider in hospital on her own to face her first operation!), unlike the "real fans" who were able to savour every minute of this pulsating cup tie, there was an evening of sweating over a Teletext screen to be endured.
Forfar were odds on favourites to progress to the next round so it was pleasing to note that Queen's had managed to reach the haven of half time with the tie scoreless at that point. This scribe had predicted a 3-0 defeat had Queen's gone a goal behind so when it flashed up that they had taken a quick lead in the second half (a Stephen Moffat looping header), hopes began to rise that perhaps they were in with a decent chance at Station Park, so often a graveyard of their ambitions, after all.
However, when Forfar equalised (a close range Bavidge header) and then John Gemmell was sent off five minutes later, it seemed only a matter of time before the home side would go on to grind out a victory. So all credit to Queen's for bravely hanging on to full time, but now would come a further energy-sapping thirty minutes when their depleted ranks would be even more vulnerable to the extra pair of legs.
Then, right at the end of the first period of extra time, a sensational double boost for Queen's when Forfar's goalkeeper was sent off (for handball outside the box) and Moffat restored the advantage (direct from the free kick). However, the lead was short lived and Tosh made it all square again with ten minutes remaining (another close range header). Then Queen's went down to 9 men with the dismissal of John Gallagher but parity was quickly restored in the last minute when McCulloch was also invited to take an early bath.
And so on to penalties, and whilst those present in the 382 crowd could experience the drama on a kick by kick basis, those glued to the Teletext could only sit and wait for the final result to flash up on the screen. "Queen's hardly ever win on penalties," a recovering Mrs. Spider was assured. "You never know," she replied, but having experienced countless Queen's exits from cup competitions in such circumstances over the last 25 years (only 3 wins in 8 attempts but defeats in all of the last 3 shoot outs), The Spider wasn't so confident, and no doubt neither were those 40 or so Queen's fans there to see it for themselves.
Then it flashed up - Queen's had won 6-5! After staring at the screen for a few seconds in disbelief, and having also previously seen some Teletext scores miraculously reverse themselves the following morning, there was only one thing to be done. "Yes, it's true" confirmed an obviously crestfallen office worker at Station Park
And so, Queen's find themselves (and the Third Divisions' sole representatives) in the ¼ Final of this competition for only the second time, with an away tie at Berwick their reward for doing so. This time, his fellow arachnid's health permitting, The Spider will be there to report on it for himself but, for now, you'll need to wait for................
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
ENTERTAINMENT VALUE : 5/5 STAR SPIDER : Danny Ferry (back to his inspirational best)
QUEEN’S PARK : Tony Mitchell, Danny Ferry, John Gallagher, Steven Moffat, Damiano Agostini, Tony Quinn, Paddy Gallagher (Chris Fisher - 28), Johnny Whelan, John Gemmell, Stephen Canning, Jimmy Allan (Willie Martin - 46)
Subs (not used) : Stewart Thomson (GK), Richard Sinclair, Darren Magee
Scorer(s) : Moffat (48 and 105 mins)
Penalty Scorers : Whelan, Ferry, Canning, Moffat, Quinn, Martin
Booked : Fisher (42), Gemmell (52 & 68 - then red card), Agostini (99), J. Gallagher (102 & 116 - then red card), Martin 118
FORFAR ATHLETIC : Michael Brown, Alan Rattray, Scott McCulloch, Brian McCloy, Ian Good, Kevin Byers (Neil Ferrie - 105), George Shaw (David Williams - 91), Paul Lunan (Willie Stewart - 46), Paul Tosh, Martin Bavidge, Barry Sellars
Subs (not used) : Robbie Horn, Kevin Milne
Scorer(s) : Bavidge (65 mins), Tosh (110 mins)
Penalty Scorers : Tosh, Sellars, McCloy, Rattray, Bavidge
Booked : McCulloch (77 & 119 - then red card), Shaw (86), Brown (105 - straight red card), Sellars (113)
REFEREE : Brian McGarry *** (* = inept, ** = poor, *** = mediocre, **** = good, ***** = excellent)