A Solid Display As Queen's Get The Job Done
sealed victory
By The Spider
April 6 2003
Saturday, 5th April, 2003 East Stirlingshire 0 Queen's Park 2 (Bells Scottish League - Third Division)
With 'Shire not yet having won a home game all season, Queen's fans travelled through to Falkirk in good numbers eagerly anticipating a Spiders' victory. In the back of their minds however, was the thought that the home side had won twice away from home, both of those rare victories coming at Queen's expense.
In front of their lowest crowd of the season, Queen's dropped Chris Fisher from the squad to the main benefit of David Menelaws who was given a starting place, whilst Paddy Gallagher and Willie Martin dropped down to the bench to accommodate the return of Johnny Whelan and John Gemmell.
Queen's had the better of the opening exchanges and a David Menelaws low cross was just too far in front of Jonny Whelan to allow the midfielder to take advantage of the quick breakaway. Then Whelan himself thumped an inviting volley across the face of the goal, but there were no takers. John Gemmell produced the first goal attempt in the 11th minute, a cracking snap-shot from all of 35 yards which only just dipped over the crossbar as Todd made a hasty retreat back onto his line.
'Shire were making little progress as Queen's were controlling the game at this stage and their only efforts came from long range. The first was a 15th minute header from the edge of the area by Mackay which Cairns saved easily, and that was followed five minutes later by a wild attempt by McAuley which was as high as it was wide.
A minute later John Gemmell sent a header wide from a David McCallum free kick, and then the big Queen's striker was shoved in the back at the edge of the area by Allison who was deservedly shown a yellow card for his indiscretion. David McCallum stepped up to take one of his trademark precision curling left foot direct free kicks which clipped the top of the postage stamp corner on its way over with Todd nowhere near it.
McLaren too showed that he is equally adept at dead ball situations, and his 28th minute sweetly struck left foot effort required cairns to scramble over from the right hand side of his goal to palm the ball away at the base of his left post. Queen's should have taken the lead right on the half hour mark when David Menelaws neatly cut the ball back from the right straight into the path of the supporting Stuart Kettlewell who was left with only Todd to beat. However, the 'keeper spread himself well to block Kettlewell's shot with his legs, and although the ball fell for Danny Ferry, the Queen's skipper lacked the necessary composure to keep his volley down and it sailed over the unguarded net.
The visitors were not to be denied though, and with David McCallum screaming at John Gemmell to release the ball to him as he overlapped down the left touchline, instead big Gemmell did his own thing and turn to his right before floating a delightful chip to the six yard box where David Menelaws expertly guided his header beyond Todd's reach to put Queen's ahead. It was a sweet moment for the striker as this was the same ground that he first gained his scorer's reputation at, so all the more pleasing that his first League goal for Queen's should come at this venue.
'Shire's sole remaining effort of the half was a 25 yard free kick from McLaren, but this time it lacked direction and was blasted well over the bar.
Having been guilty of unsuccessfully trying to preserve leads in the past, this time Queen's did exactly the right thing at the start of the second half, and set about increasing their advantage. A deft pass from Ross Clark gave Gemmell a sight of goal, but his shot on the turn went just over the bar. Richard Sinclair then came to Queen's rescue at the other end when he headed over his own bar from close range with two opponents waiting behind him.
The match now moved into an end to end game and it was only a matter of time before one team scored. A long clearance from Damiano Agostini was expertly chested down by John Gemmell, and his first time left foot drive was saved by Todd at the second attempt. McGhee blasted over from long range before Stuart Kettlewell stupidly earned himself a yellow card for leaving his foot in at a challenge long after the ball had gone.
David McCallum was given another opportunity from a free kick in the 74th minute, and this time Todd did extremely well to claw the ball back out from underneath his bar at the postage stamp corner. Encouraged by this, 'Shire drove forward in greater numbers and came close to equalising on a couple of occasions a minute later. Firstly, Cairns had to dash to his near post to punch an inswinging corner off the line, and then both Ferry and Sinclair also had to make goal-line clearances as Queen's struggled to clear the danger. However, no sooner had they done than back came 'Shire again, and Mark Cairns had to make a low save to deny Kelly.
Ross Clarke had a great chance to seal the game in the 77th minute, but he sliced wide from a good position 15 yards out and right in front of goal. However the clinching goal wasn't long in coming and although it won't be a candidate for the forthcoming goal of the season competition, it was celebrated like one nonetheless. John Gemmell made the 80th minute opening, and although Willie Martin didn't connect properly with his low shot on the turn from 12 yards, it still just managed to evade Todd's outstretched arms as it spun from his fingertips to creep over the line to end the game as a contest.
With frustration getting the better of him, Mackay then unwisely chose to clatter into John Gemmell right on the stand side touchline. It was a 50/50 decision between a red card and a yellow one, and somewhat surprisingly given that he had allowed McCann to get away with equally dubious tackles all afternoon, referee Hardie elected to show Mackay a straight red although it was the midfielder's first bad challenge of the afternoon. However, whereas McCann is probably that little bit more sly about his misdemeanours, there is no doubting that McCann's challenge was a pretty blatant one and could have caused anyone of lighter build than Gemmell a serious injury.
Stuart Kettlewell had two late chances to extend the lead even further. The first was a low shot from a Willie Martin lay-off, the second a header, but both were saved by Todd. In between those two efforts, Damiano Agostini made a great block on a netbound shot from Boyle, as Queen's began to leave gaping holes at the back in their eagerness to increase the margin of their victory.
In the end, a comfortable enough three points for The Spiders who now face Stirling Albion at Hampden this coming Saturday still seeking to provide Kenny Brannigan with his first home win whilst in charge. Hopefully this success will provide his charges with the necessary confidence to do just that.
ENTERTAINMENT VALUE : 3/5 STAR SPIDER : Damiano Agostini (won nearly every challenge)
QUEEN’S PARK : Mark Cairns, Danny Ferry (Allan Dunning - 76), David McCallum, Richard Sinclair, Damiano Agostini, Stevie Fallon, Ross Clark, Jonny Whelan (Paddy Gallagher - 86), John Gemmell, Stuart Kettlewell, David Menelaws (Willie Martin - 74)
Subs (not used) : Tony Mitchell (GK), Jamie White
Scorer(s) : Menelaws (37 mins), Martin (80 mins)
Booked : Kettlewell (69 - late tackle)
EAST STIRLINGSHIRE : Chris Todd, Roddy Maughan (Gerry Boyle - 81), Graham McLaren, Pat Clark, Scott Allison, Kevin McCann, Jamie Mackay, Sean McAuley, Stuart Kelly, Derek Ure (Mark Campbell - 56), Graham McGhee (Jordan Leishaman - 61)
Subs (not used) : Garry Lenaghan (GK), Scott Livingstone
Scorer(s) : none
Booked : Allison (24 - shove on opponent) Sent-Off : Mackay (81 - reckless and dangerous challenge)
REFEREE : Colin Hardie ** (* = inept, ** = poor, *** = mediocre, **** = good, ***** = excellent)