Whelan Saves The Day
never gave up
By The Spider
October 28 2002
Saturday, 26th October, 2002 Elgin City 2 Queen's Park 2 (Bells Scottish League - Third Division)
John McCormack took an unchanged squad from the previous week's defeat at home to Montrose up to Elgin, and started with exactly the same line-up too. This meant that John McCormack persisted with his tactic of playing both Ferry and Fallon in their more defensive roles and, whilst it does mean that Queen's are no longer playing the scintillating attacking football of a few weeks ago, nor do the opposition have as many counter-attacking options either.
As a result the games are less open, with chances for both sides perhaps that little bit less clear. Queen's first half chance came in the 11th minute when Danny Ferry fed a nice ball into the area to match Tony Quinn's run, but the ball got tangled between Quinno's feet and the danger was swiftly cleared.
Given the way that Queen's luck has been going recently, it was little surprise when Elgin took the lead in the 14th minute with their very first attack. A long throw was headed out to the edge of the area where it fell nicely for Chris Love who sent a glorious volley beyond Colin Stewart into the postage stamp corner.
Things went from bad to worse ten minutes later when City got their second with their next serious attack. Colin Stewart dived full length to his right to punch away a shot from Campbell, but Craig quickly swept the ball back across the face of the Spiders' goal to the back post where Craig Tully slid in to send the ball high into the roof of the net.
Queen's needed to steady the ship and Stephen Canning passed up a glorious opportunity in the 26th minute when he turned on a loose ball in the Elgin area, but his left foot snap-shot went over the bar.
However the Spiders did pull one back just a minute later. John Gallagher sent a great ball over the defence where Steven Moffat took a great first touch to bring the ball down before slipping it deftly past Taylor and into the far corner to produce a finish that any top striker would have been proud of.
An Elgin breakaway just after the half hour mark caused chaos in the Queen's defence and after witnessing several attempts to clear, Tony Quinn came to his defenders rescue with a diving header.
Queen's nearly conceded a crucial third goal in the opening seconds of the second half when Craig was allowed to run unchallenged all the way to the edge of the six yard box where he blazed over the bar from a tight angle. An Allan Dunning headflick then put Stephen Canning clean through but his shot past Taylor was weak and the ball was cleared before Tony Quinn could follow up.
Elgin survived strong claims for a penalty from Queen's a minute later when there appeared to be handball in the City area, but referee Brown waved away the appeals. At the other end, Colin Stewart did well to tip a right foot shot from Steele over the bar after the striker had cut in from the left touchline.
The Elgin goal led a charmed life in the 59th minute when Jimmy Allan sent a cross to the far post where Tony Quinn knocked it back across the face of the goal. Allan Dunning then miskicked right in front of goal before Stephen Canning's follow up was blocked with the Elgin 'keeper totally out of position.
With twenty minutes remaining Colin Stewart punched a Teasdale shot off the line whilst, up at the other end, his Elgin counterpart got his right hand to a Whelan header from a fine Gallagher cross, but again there was no-one on hand to prod the ball into the empty net.
However, Queen's were not to be denied on this occasion and after a Ross Clarke shot was deflected over the bar for a corner, Johnny Whelan powered his free header from Allan's perfect cross beyond the exposed Taylor to give Queen's the draw for which they had fought so hard.
The only sour note was the decision by referee Tom Brown to short-change both sets of fans when he blew the final whistle a full ten seconds short of the regulation 45 minutes. The premature end to the game was all the more surprising as play had been halted for almost a minute in the 59th minute when Stephen Canning had needed treatment for an injury sustained in the Queen's attack from which Elgin had had a lucky escape.
Queen's are on their travels again next Saturday when they head south this time, with the picturesque surroundings of Gretna's Raydale Park the latest venue to be visited by their enthusiastic (and sometimes overly so!) band of supporters.
ENTERTAINMENT VALUE : 3/5 STAR SPIDER : STEVEN MOFFAT (utterly majestic)
QUEEN’S PARK : Colin Stewart, Danny Ferry, John Gallagher, Steven Moffat, Damiano Agostini, Stevie Fallon, Stephen Canning (Stuart Jack - 68), Johnny Whelan, Willie Martin (Allan Dunning - 46), Tony Quinn (Ross Clarke - 76), Jimmy Allan
Subs (not used) : Stewart Thomson (GK), Jamie White
Scorer(s) : Moffat (27 mins), Whelan (83 mins)
Booked : none
ELGIN CITY : Robert taylor, Steven MacDonald, Graeme Grant, Chris Love, David Mackay, Craig Tully, Connor Campbell, Mike Teasdale (David Hind - 55), Ryan McMullan, Kevin Steele, David Craig (Michael Sanderson - 72)
Subs (not used) : Stuart McGregor (GK), Andrew Smith, Fraser Bremner
Scorer(s) : Love (16 mins), Tully (24 mins)
Booked : none
REFEREE : Tom Brown ** (* = inept, ** = poor, *** = mediocre, **** = good, ***** = excellent)