Brave Second Half Fight-back Ends In Vain
Agostini (qpfc.com)
By The Spider
December 6 2004
Saturday, 4th December, 2004 Queen’s Park 1 East Fife 2 (Bells Scottish League – Third Division) (Picture from qpfc.com) Again Queen's failure to capitalise on all their pressure was their undoing as East Fife clung on to take all three points.
Two home games in a
row had given Queen’s the opportunity to consolidate their position in 3rd
place in the League, but only one point has been gained and The Spiders can consider
themselves fortunate indeed that other results have gone their way to leave them in fourth
place, just the one point behind Montrose.
As in the previous
game against
The visitors took
the game to Queen’s in the opening stages, and only some good defending kept David
Crawford from becoming quickly involved. It took 12 minutes for Queen’s to make any
headway, but Ross Clark sclaffed his shot well wide from 30 yards out. Then some good
one-touch play involving several players was spoiled by Stuart Kettlewell’s poor
finish when he sliced wide from a good position.
East Fife’s
first hint of menace came in the 19th minute when Brash put in a quick cross
and Mitchell headed marginally over. The visitors did take the lead seven minutes later
though when Brian Fairbairn bent a direct free
kick over David Crawford’s defensive wall to leave the Queen’s ‘keeper
grasping at air as he dived in vain towards his bottom right hand corner.
Shortly afterwards,
Stevie Reilly was booked for persistent fouling as the Queen’s defence struggled to
cope with the fleet footed pace of Nicholas and Fairbairn.
Queen’s
managed to gain a grip of the game for the next quarter of an hour and managed to create
some decent enough chances. Morrison saved a low shot from Frankie Carroll, and then the
‘keeper was relieved to see a measured chip from Stuart Kettlewell just clear the bar
at his far post following a powerful run from the midfielder.
A header from
Frankie Carroll went narrowly wide, and then a 30-yard sizzler from Brian Blair whistled
over Morrison’s crossbar.
East Fife had
completely dropped out of the game at this stage, so it was completely out of the blue
when they added a second goal two minutes before the interval when woeful marking allowed Greig
McDonald to score with a free header from a Fairbairn
left wing corner.
To set the seal on
a miserable first half for Queen’s, Alan Trouten was booked for a late challenge
right on the half time whistle.
Queen’s had
begun the game along the usual lines, the only change being the inclusion of Brian Blair
in place of the flu-ridden Paul Harvey. However, it was clear that changes were urgently
needed and Damiano Agostini and Bryan Felvus were thrown into the fray in place of the
ineffectual Ross Clark and Ally Graham.
The changes
certainly added more energy to Queen’s, and with play being switched from side to
side to make good use of Hampden’s width, at last East Fife began to look stretched.
Bryan Felvus headed
a Shaun Molloy cross over, doing well to even get his head to the ball, and then Mark
Ferry took a wild swipe to balloon the ball over the bar. A clever through ball from
Frankie Carroll sent Stuart Kettlewell racing through on goal, but his toe-poke past the
advancing Morrison just cleared the ‘keeper’s left hand post.
The same player
then sent a superb dipping shot over Morrison, but the ball missed the far post by a
matter of inches. Mark Ferry was next to have a go
with a drive over the bar in the 68th minute, but he did pull one back seven
minutes later when his powerful shot was deflected beyond Morrison.
Frankie Carroll
should have equalised two minutes later, but his close range flick from a low Trouten
cross just evaded the back post.
A powerful shot
from Shaun Molloy was deflected into the side netting, and from the resultant left wing
corner Bryan Felvus saw his flashing near post header cleared off the line at the back
post.
As Queen’s
kept up their incessant pressure, Brian Blair sent a volley over before Brash was booked
for a crude late tackle from behind on Bryan Felvus.
As the game went
into its extra four minutes of time added on for injuries/time-wasting, Queen’s made
one last push but Mark Ferry’s header lacked sufficient power to trouble Morrison and
the visitors held in to take all three points. It was just a shame that Queen’s had
started the game so slowly, or this is a match that could well have been won.
It will not have
escaped Billy Stark’s notice that both goals were lost from set-pieces, and this is
an aspect that will need to be worked on during the week if Queen’s are to have any
hope of being included in next Saturday evening’s 3rd round cup draw
following the visit south to high flying Stranraer who seem destined for the First
Division if they maintain their current form.
But anything is
possible in the cup, and if Paul Harvey is able to return to weave his magic then
Stranraer may get more of a game than they perhaps are bargaining for following the last
two displays.
ENTERTAINMENT VALUE : 2/5
STAR SPIDER(S) : Stuart Kettlewell (couldn’t be faulted for effort)
QUEEN’S PARK : David Crawford, Alan Trouten, Shaun Molloy, Stevie Reilly, Richard Sinclair, Brian Blair, Stuart Kettlewell, Ross Clark (Damiano Agostini – 46), Ally Graham (Bryan Felvus – 46), Frankie Carroll, Mark Ferry
Subs (not used) : Stevie McGovern (G/K), Gavin Rushford, Tony Quinn
Scorer(s) : Ferry (75)
Booked : Reilly (30 – persistent fouling), Trouten (45 – late challenge)
EAST FIFE : Scott Morrison, Michael Renwick, Kris Brash, Craig Lumsden, Kevin Bain, Gary Kelly, Sean Paliczka (Kevin Steele – 72), Greig McDonald, Steven Nicholas (Stephen Tarditi – 85), Jonathan Mitchell, Brian Fairbairn
Subs (not used) : Trialist (G/K), Paul Gaughan, Les Byle
Scorer(s) :
Fairbairn (26), McDonald (43)
Booked : Brash (87 –
late tackle)
REFEREE : Ian Frickleton ** (* = inept, ** = poor, *** = mediocre, **** = good, ***** = excellent)