Back To The Drawing Board - Time To Start Afresh

a rare start
By The Spider
March 14 2002

Saturday, 9th March, 2002 Queen’s Park 0 Albion Rovers 3 (Scottish League - Third Division)

Queen's have been very guilty of losing killer early goals away from home in recent weeks, and sadly that contagion spread to Hampden this afternoon.

There were only nine minutes played when a header was cleared to Jackson at the edge of his own area. Ross made the mistake of waiting for it to come to him thereby allowing Lumsden to nip in front of him and head the ball back over the top of a static defence which left Charlie McLean the easiest of tasks to slam the ball home for his third goal against Queen's in the last 25 minutes of football between the sides.

Queen's first attack of any note didn't come until the 14th minute when Ross Jackson sent a beautifully weighted pass across the edge of the penalty area but every single player had attacked the six yard box when one should always be loitering around the edge of the area for the chance of a rebound or, as in this case, a deeper cut-back.

A minute later, Booth set off on an impressive run and, having battled to keep possession, fired in a clever volley which forced Graeme Smith to make a quick diving save to his right. One of Smith's best attributes is his long kicks upfield and, on this occasion, the route one approach nearly paid dividends as Allan Dunning sped away from his marker to be only just beaten by Fahey to the ball.

Fahey had to make his first proper save in the 20th minute when Stephen Canning fired in a snap shot from 30 yards but it was too close to the 'keeper to cause him any difficulties. A minute later, Silvestro made a similar attempt at the other end but failed to hit the target. The same player nearly added a second though in the 28th minute when he only half hit a volley towards goal. Smith should have had it easily covered but slipped at a vital moment and was lucky to see the ball squirm inches past his right hand post.

Queen's made a great break just after the half hour mark when Mark Gallagher freed Liam McVey on the left wing. It was three against two and Allan Dunning wheeled to make himself available and unmarked at the back post, but Ross Jackson's flick-on from Liam's cross went just beyond his reach.

Gal then tried his luck with a volley from 30 yards, but it too went straight into Fahey's arms.

As half time approached, Queen's definitely had the upper hand and deserved to equalise with some great play in the 40th minute. A deep inswinging corner tested Fahey to the full and his weak flap at the ball left Neil Collins with a half chance at the back post but his volley was cleared off the line. The ball then broke out to James Bruce some 35 yards from goal and he stepped forward to hit great first time shot which brought out an equally fine diving save from Fahey.

But still the action wasn't over as Dunning pounced on the loose ball on the right side of the area and played the ball back across the face of the goal. However having done so, and with the ball already away, he was taken down from behind for one of the clearest penalties you will ever see. Referee Brian Cassidy could perhaps be excused for not seeing it as he was following the flight of the ball by the, but the same could not be said of stand side assistant referee Crawford Allan as the challenge took place in his direct line of view. Amazingly, in a gross dereliction of his duties, he failed to alert Cassidy of the offence despite a glance from the referee in his direction to see if he had anything to report.

As Queen's maintained their impressive momentum, Johnny Whelan made a great run from midfield to free Ross Jackson who charged into the area but got himself in two minds over whether to square the ball to Dunning or shoot for goal. Eventually he opted for the latter but sliced his effort over the bar.

The last action of the half gave Gal the chance of a header from a McVey corner, but it too went over the bar.

Following the resumption, the 'Rovers' defence seemed to have got their act together again and Queen's were unable to penetrate them with the same ease as shortly beforehand. Allan Dunning was presented with a half chance by a neat Gal chest down to him but his shot was blocked and then Ross Jackson's scissor kick volley from the deflection came close to threatening the pigeons in the roof of the West Stand.

That was virtually the last that Queen's were seen of as an attacking force. Ross Jackson is still out of sorts following his lay-off, Gal's in one week and out the next circumstances never allow him to reach the required levels of fitness and Allan Dunning spent 25 minutes hobbling following the challenge which blocked his shot before being replaced by Chris Fisher, by which point the game was long lost.

Confident in the knowledge that their defence were now in total control of the situation, Rovers extend their dominance to all areas of play and began to treat their supporters to an exciting display of one touch attacking football which Queen's fans could not help but be envious of.

In 64 minutes, four different players were involved in a move of geat control and speed which completely ripped apart the Queen's defence but fortunately Smith was well placed to block the fierce shot when it came. Then another neat build up saw Diack create an opening for Booth but, to the fury of his manager, he leant back in attempt to go for the glory goal and only succeeded in blazing the ball over the bar from 10 yards out.

The writing was on the wall though and it only took another minute to produce a goal that no fair minded person could begrudge the visitors. Again the midfield was by-passed in a quick move which found Harty with his back to goal on the halfway line. Showing great alertness he swivelled quickly to clinically dissect the entire Queen's defence with a slide rule pass which Mark Booth ran onto before gleefully slipping the ball past Smith from the penalty spot. Probably as good a passing move as has been witnessed at this stadium for a number of years and, had it been a Queen's player that had scored it, it would have been raved about in the Social Club for hours on end.

A clinching third nearly followed in the 71st minute when another defence-piercing pass from Harty sent Diack on his way, but all credit to Johnny Whelan who had run half the length of the pitch to cover the run and save the day with a perfectly timed tackle just as the Albion Rovers' substitute was about to pick his spot.

The first booking of the day took place in the 72nd minute when Hamilton felled Stephen Canning as he sped past him on the left touchline. The coup de grace was finally delivered four minutes later. A free kick was awarded right on the edge of the Queen's area and Smith lined up his wall to cover his near post before covering the back one in anticipation of the cross which he must have felt would follow. A series of blind runs resulting in two 'Rovers players finding themselves completely unmarked at the back post but, while all this was going on, the ball was touched to the side and Chris Silvestro calmly placed the ball just inside Smith's near post with the defence having lost the plot completely.

Bottom of the league, and now being humiliated at home by their modern day rivals, one might have expected there to be some backlash against John McCormack but, to their great credit, there was scarcely a word of dissent in recognition of the achievements of two seasons ago. This week the usual platitudes about injuries and inexperienced players will be wheeled out again for Cowboy is not a man who is prepared to publicly criticise his players in any circumstances. However, several home supporters chose to silently register their disapproval with their feet and began heading for the exits with quarter of an hour still remaining.

As the heads dropped around him, Johnny Whelan at least tried to pull one back with a speculative long range effort which just dipped over the bar, but it was more of a token effort as it never looked likely to beat Fahey who had it covered all the way.

With the game now well and truly lost, Queen's saw fit to bring on Chris Fisher who joined the list of recent subs who have been brought into a game only when it has been too late to make any difference. 'Rovers for their part simply killed the game at this point and wound down the last 10 minutes with two further changes of their own.

There now appears to be little chance of avoiding finishing bottom of the basement league for the first time in the Club's history, so the up side to that is that there is absolutely nothing to be lost between now and the end of the season. Instead of clutching at straws, write off the remaining games and concentrate instead of building a side for next season. Abandon this nonsense of simply booting the ball aimlessly up the park and concentrate instead on finding players who are comfortable with the ball at their feet.

Yes, goals will be lost along the way, but it's hard to launch a counter attack when the ball is 50' up in the air so bring in boys who are comfortable in playing one-two's out of defence and start to build our attacks from the back. Every team has outplayed us this season. All credit to the boys for outfighting their opponents on several occasions but that's not the way to build for the future.

Guys like Allan Dunning, John Gemmell, Willie Martin and Chris Fisher should be all be given a run between now and the end of the season if available. No disrespect intended but Jim Brown, Mark Gallagher and Paul Patterson have all, for the most part, looked ineffective and the others now deserve their chance. The same goes for Graeme Smith who has failed to perform to the standards expected of a player from a full time Premier League club so let's find out whether Tony Mitchell is worthy of retaining for next season.

Even if we do come away from Brechin with a hiding next Saturday, it would be better to have done so with a team of players who made mistakes but were at least seen to be trying to provide us with a better standard of football. Those supporters who left with around twenty minutes to go did so not because we were being beaten (they are used to that by now), but because there was nothing enjoyable about our football to watch.

Unless Queen's change the way that they are playing, and there is no better time to be doing so than now, it is difficult to envisage any long term change in the team's fortunes. Sure, effort alone will win them the odd game here and there, but the season is now at a stage where the league table tells its own story, and a truthful one at, that no matter how much it hurts to admit it. It's time for a re-think!

ENTERTAINMENT VALUE : 3/5    STAR SPIDER : Johnny Whelan.

QUEEN’S PARK : Graeme Smith, Anthony Quinn, Liam McVey, Neil Collins, John Cunningham (Jim Brown - 70), James Bruce,  Ross Jackson, Johnny Whelan, Mark Gallagher (John Gemmell - 70), Stephen Canning, Allan Dunning (Chris Fisher - 78)

ALBION ROVERS : Chris Fahey, Gerry McKenna, Todd Lumsden, Jordan Smith, Stuart Easton, Mark Booth, Colin Waldie, Steve Hamilton (James McKenzie - 79), Charlie McLean (Iain Diack - 62), Martin Harty (Paul Rodden - 89), Chris Silvestro