Not Sorry To See Them Go

a sad end
By The Spider
June 24 2003

Saturday, 10th May, 2003 East Fife 1 Queen's Park 0 (Bells Scottish League - Third Division)

To the disappointment of the neutrals who hoped that skill would prevail, East Fife managed to scrape their way into the Second Division with a typical performance which must have bored the pants off the 1,000 or so of their fans for whom this would have been their first (and perhaps last ?) visit to New Bayview.

The Queen's line-up showed one enforced change from the side that started against Montrose the previous Saturday with Ross Clark coming back in for the suspended Jonny Whelan, whilst Allan Dunning, Paddy Gallagher, Jamie White, Stevie Fallon, Willie Martin and David Menelaws took the places of David McCallum, Richard Sinclair, Ross Conlin, Craig Taggart, Stephen Canning and David Menelaws.

Urged on by their largest home crowd of the season, the home side should have taken the lead in the 5th minute, but somehow Deuchar was unable to knee the ball over the line after a right wing cross had been flicked over Mark Cairns to him. Three minutes later and Queen's nearly scored a freak goal when a powerful header from Ross Clark from 30 yards out nearly bounced over the outstretched arms of Butter. Allan Dunning then sliced a shot wide from similar distance.

Top scorer Deuchar had another chance in the 16th minute but pulled his right foot shot wide of the far post. Gilbert then sent in a looping header but Cairns saved easily before John Gemmell tested Butter at the other end with a glancing header from a Danny Ferry cross.

Miller tried his luck in the 26th minute with a direct free kick which Cairns held comfortably, and then two minutes later Damiano Agostini got just underneath a Danny Ferry corner and headed harmlessly over from a good position. Centre half Hall then pushed up to try to help his forwards and forced cairns into a good save from his close range header before the same player miscued with his head when right in front of goal.

Just before half time Willie Martin turned quickly in front of goal but screwed his left shoot shot wide of the target.

Both sides remained unchanged upon the resumption but it was Queen's who now rose to the occasion and who began to apply considerable pressure in a good fifteen minute spell. Fallon was first to set an example when he accepted a quick throw in and turned infield before firing in a superb left foot shot from long range which Butter pushed over his own crossbar.

Then Ross Clark played a superb crossfield pass out to Allan Dunning who saw his own shot deflected into the path of John Gemmell who also saw his shot defected, this time for a corner. Right on the hour mark, Willie Martin fired in a spectacular volley which Butter was relieved to see come straight at him otherwise the bulky 'keeper would never have got anywhere near it such was the power of the striker's well-timed effort.

Graham then looped a header onto the bar before the first of two critical moments for Queen's. Firstly, in the 62nd minute, John Gemmell was shown a straight red card by Dougie McDonald following a straightforward aerial challenge with Hall who came off worst in the clash between the pair. At worst, it was an accidental knocking of Gemmell's arm onto Hall's head, and yet the referee chose to interpret it as something more severe as he clearly revelled in taking the opportunity to put himself into the headlines of a newsworthy match.

Down to 10 men, the Queen's defence and midfield were holding firm until the second critical event in the 79th minute when Damiano Agostini had to hobble off injured. With a distinct lack of height on the bench, Kenny Brannigan brought on David Menelaws and wisely chose to put Willie Martin at centre half in the hope that his side could hang on for the remaining 10 minutes or so.

There were a couple of close calls when Love shot across the face of the goal and ???? had a shot blocked at close range by ????, but then Queen's nearly took the lead themselves following a piece of sublime skill from Stephen Canning who played a clever one-two with Stuart Kettlewell before embarking on a meandering solo run which sadly ended with him firing over the bar from a tight angle from close range.

Queen's were looking the more likely side to score at this point and some good play from Paddy Gallagher set up a chance for Ross Clark but the youngster pulled his shot wide from the edge of the box.

As the game entered the last minute, it looked for all the world as if East Fife were going to be denied promotion by the plucky amateurs, but then disaster struck the visitors. A long hopeful ball from the left was prodded back into the middle by substitute Love and the lanky figure of Kenny Deuchar poked out a toe to stab the ball past Mark Cairns from close range.

A couple of minutes later the final whistle blew and joyous home fans invaded the pitch to celebrate their promotion to the Second Division where it will be interesting to see if they will persist with their long ball game. As a disconsolate Queen's side headed up the tunnel, Stuart Kettlewell made the mistake of telling referee McDonald what everyone else was probably thinking about his decision to send off John Gemmell, and he too suffered the same fate.

The coming weeks may well witness the biggest turnover of staff that the famous old club has ever seen as coach Kenny Brannigan utilises the close season to replace those players that he either chooses to release or who will be the targets for other clubs. Thankfully, the Club have wisely chosen to avoid unnecessary speculation by confirming KB's appointment for a full season and hopefully with a squad of players of his own choosing, the new coach will be able to demonstrate his ability to follow in the footsteps of his mentors, Eddie Hunter and Iain McCall.

After three poor seasons, a major overhaul may not be a bad thing, but will 12 months be enough time to build a completely new side capable of challenging for promotion? Only time and The Spider will tell!

ENTERTAINMENT VALUE : 2/5 STAR SPIDER : Damiano Agostini (a stalwart at the back)

QUEEN’S PARK : Mark Cairns, Allan Dunning (Stephen Canning - 66), Paddy Gallagher, Jamie White, Damiano Agostini (David Menelaws - 79), Stevie Fallon, Ross Clark, Danny Ferry, John Gemmell, Stuart Kettlewell, Willie Martin

Subs (not used) : Tony Mitchell (GK), Ross Conlin, Craig Taggart

Scorer(s) : none

Booked : none Sent Off : John Gemmell (62 - dangerous challenge) & Stuart Kettlewell (90 - dissent)

EAST FIFE : Jim Butter, Gordon Russell, Chris Miller, Paul Mortimer, Michael Hall, Craig Farnan, Barry McLean (Gordon Love - 72), Ross Graham, Kenny Deuchar, James Herkes (Euan Donaldson - 86), Gordon Gilbert

Subs (not used) : Scott Bennett (GK), Craig McMillan, John Allison

Scorer(s) : Deuchar (89 mins)

Booked : none

REFEREE : Dougie McDonald * (* = inept, ** = poor, *** = mediocre, **** = good, ***** = excellent)