Elgin Suffer Another Hampden Pounding
Clark (qpfc.com)
By The Spider
March 8 2004
Saturday, 5th March, 2004 Queen's Park 4 Elgin City 0 (Bells Scottish League - Third Division)
Looking at the
crime count in this game, you would be excused for thinking that this was a dirty game,
but for all that
Instead, referee
Chris Boyle needs to have a good look at his own performance and ask himself why every
single decision needs to be made with a flourish deserving of a World Cup final itself.
Good referees remain in the background and the sooner that Mr. Boyle understands that
spectators don’t pay their admission money to see him take centre stage, the better
for all concerned.
Before the game
there was a minute’s silence for former President Martin Smith, the man who broke the
mould that previously saw the Presidential chair only occupied by former players.
Queen’s again
fielded a largely unchanged side, Frankie Carroll coming in for the suspended Ally Graham,
and it’s good to see a settled side once again where players fill roles that they are
clearly comfortable with. Credit for this not only belongs to coach Kenny Brannigan who
has finally abandoned the belief that players can play well in any position, but
especially to Allan Dunning and David McCallum who have given the side a better balance
than at any stage so far this season. McCallum, in particular, is very much an unsung hero
of late who has been playing the best football of his Queen’s career to date.
Boosted by having
spent a couple of weeks training full time with Rangers and Falkirk when taking advantage
of a break in his studies, Derek Carcary looked his usual lively self in the opening
exchanges, and a good effort was cleared for a corner from which Jonny Whelan latched onto
a poor defensive header to fire in a dipping first time effort which only just cleared the
crossbar.
With eight minutes
on the clock, The Spiders took the lead. Some neat one touch build up play found Stephen
Canning in plenty of room at the edge of the Elgin area,
and the midfielder steadied himself before firing in a low shot from 20 yards which
squirmed under Pirie’s outstretched hands before deflecting in off the ‘keeper’s
left hand post.
Whilst Frankie
Carroll has not found himself on the scoresheet for some time now, his contribution to
Derek Carcary’s development should not be under-estimated, and it was a superbly
measured pass from Frankie in the 16th minute which sent Del clear of the Elgin
defence to fire in a stinging left foot shot which Pirie required two attempts to save.
Allan Dunning and
Elgin midfielder Steele were then involved in two separate penalty claims, one at each
end. Firstly, Allan was brought down well inside the box by a late tackle from Steele who
didn’t even come close to making any contact with the ball, but somehow referee Chris
Boyle failed to see the obvious. Thankfully, a couple of minutes later, he was equally
clueless when Dunning slipped in his own area only succeeding in bringing down Steele as
he did so. Well, at least in this instance you couldn’t complain about a lack of
refereeing consistency!
Whilst neither side
was playing fast exciting football, it was still an engrossing match, with Ross Clark and
McKenzie enjoying a particularly interesting tussle in midfield. On one occasion in the 29th
minute, young Ross was slightly late with a nippy tackle which McKenzie took great
exception to, only earning himself a booking for retaliation in the process.
As things began to
heat up, a minute later Bone found himself in the clear right in front of goal, but Derek
Scrimgour blocked his initial effort before, somewhat amazingly, Bone then volleyed the
rebound over from three yards out! Seconds later, Stevie Reilly was booked for a simple
trip on Willie Martin, an over-officious decision which then set the scene for what would
follow later.
A well struck
direct free kick by David McCallum was then well held by Pirie diving to his left.
Two minutes before
half time, Allison was booked for a hefty tackle from behind on Frankie Carroll.
After the break,
Ross Clark embarked on a mazy dribble which saw him beat three players at the edge of the
Elgin area, but his final effort was blocked for a corner.
In the 52nd
minute, another immaculate through ball from Frankie Carroll sent Derek Carcary one on one
with Pirie, and although the youngster sent him the wrong way, the ‘keeper reacted
well to block the striker’s effort with his legs.
A minute later, and
not for the first time, Derek Scrimgour came for and missed a corner, and he was indeed a
relieved man when Danny Ferry was on hand to clear a header off the line.
Jonny Whelan had a
header easily saved by Scrimgour, before Coulter became the next player to be shown a
yellow card, this time for a tackle from behind on Carcary.
Elgin were reduced
to 10 men in the 62nd minute when McKenzie went in late on Clark to earn his
second yellow card, whilst Bone joined him in the book for suggesting that referee Boyle
was perhaps in danger of losing his grip on the game.
Elgin were still
very much in the game despite all this, and it took a fine 76th minute save
from Derek Scrimgour when he clawed away a Coulter header to keep Queen’s a goal
ahead.
Whilst some
referees have the ability to have a quiet talk in a player’s ear to keep them in
order, that is clearly not Chris Boyle’s style, and a minute later his inability to
handle players came to the four when McMullan earned a yellow card for contesting another
disputed decision, and then within seconds was shown another for continuing to put forward
his point of view.
With Elgin now down
to nine men, the game had disintegrated into something of a farce, as Queen’s
contentedly stroked the ball around leaving Elgin’s beleaguered players chasing
shadows. Huge holes began to appear in the visitors’ defence, and Paul Harvey was quick to take advantage when he stroked a delicate shot
across Pirie which crept in at the far post via the woodwork.
Frankie Carroll was
next to enter the little black notebook when he kicked the ball away a split-second after
the whistle had gone for an Elgin foul, and he was then joined there by substitute
McMillan for a late challenge.
Seconds later, the
Elgin defence got itself into an almighty fankle and presented the ball to Derek
Carcary right in front of goal with the ball being
smartly clipped past the exposed Pirie.
And it was also Derek
Carcary who delivered the last minute coup de gras when
he accepted a long ball on the right wing, before advancing to the penalty area where he
skipped round the last defender and slipped the ball beyond the advancing Pirie. It was a
good thing that he did so too, as before and after taking on the last defender, he had
David McCallum completely unmarked to his left, who would not have been in the least
impressed had the chance been wasted.
So, another
emphatic home win over Elgin brought a third win in a row for Queen’s, and hopes will
now be high that the run can be extended to four consecutive victories when The Spiders
visit Albion Rovers at Coatbridge on Saturday.
If his side can
maintain this sort of form until the end of the season, then memories of Stevie Moffat and
Stevie Fallon will diminish more quickly than would otherwise have been the case, thereby
taking some of the pressure off Kenny Brannigan and allowing him to look forwards instead
of backwards.
ENTERTAINMENT VALUE : 4/5
STAR SPIDER : David McCallum (an unsung hero in Queen’s resurgence)
QUEEN’S PARK : Derek Scrimgour, Danny Ferry, David McCallum, Allan Dunning, Damiano Agostini, Ross Clark, Stephen Canning, Stevie Reilly (Stuart Kettlewell – 69), Frankie Carroll, Jonny Whelan (Paul Harvey – 69 replaced by Martin Bonnar – 88), Derek Carcary
Subs (not used) : Brian McCue (G/K), David Weatherston
Scorer(s) : Canning (8), Harvey (81), Carcary (87 & 90)
Booked : Reilly (30 – trip), Carroll (82 – dissent)
ELGIN CITY : Martin Pirie, Robert Coulter, Craig Campbell, Jamie McKenzie, Craig Tully, John Allison, Ryan McMullan, David Hind (Ally McMillan – 75), Alex Bone, Kevin Steele (Neil McLean – 55), Willie Martin
Subs (not used) : Peter Hamilton (G/K), Hugh Dickson, Steve McCormick
Scorer(s) : none
Booked : Mackenzie (29 - retaliation & 62 - late challenge), Allison (43 – tackle from behind), Coulter (59 – tackle from behind), Bone (62 – dissent), McMullan (77 – dissent & 78 further dissent), McMillan (87 – late challenge)
REFEREE : Chris Boyle ** (* = inept, ** = poor, *** = mediocre, **** = good, ***** = excellent)