Whelan (qpfc.com)

Coach Billy Stark has done a remarkable job in a relatively short space of time in turning Queen’s into a team capable of playing a very attractive passing game. However, as several of his predecessors would be quick to tell him, there are some matches where it’s just as important to be able to get stuck in and play route one football. This was a game in point.

Without physical lightweights Alan Trouten (suspension) and Paul Harvey (injury), Queen’s lacked two key components of their passing strategy, so the opportunity was there to change things to suit the conditions, as the heavily rutted pitch was hardly conducive to silky soccer. However, the team was along the usual lines, although there was the option to beef up the side with Tony Quinn and Jonny Whelan if things didn’t go according to plan.

‘Shire fielded former Motherwell centre half Greig Denham to nullify Ally Graham’s presence, whilst former Dunfermline striker Chris McGroarty was listed as a Trialist. Time after time Denham got the better of Ally Graham in their aerial jousts, while McGroarty’s shoot on sight policy nearly helped him to a hat trick, and he is a player that Queen’s would benefit from having in their own ranks; a thought which surely will not have escaped the Spiders’ coaching supremo.

It only took four minutes for the home side to open the scoring when Chris McGroarty played a 1-2 at the edge of the Queen’s area with Donaldson before striding forward to despatch a low shot beyond Crawford’s outstretched left hand.

Queen’s had an opportunity to equalise in the 10^th minute following a bizarre pass across his own penalty area by ‘Shire ‘keeper Jackson, but Mark Ferry’s volley narrowly missed the target.

‘Shire added a second goal in the 14^th minute, and again it was Chris McGroarty who did the damage by firing a low first time shot through the legs of his marker and into the back of the net via David Crawford’s left hand post.

There was a nasty scuffle in the ‘Shire area immediately after Queen’s had won a corner, but neither referee Crawford Allan nor his far side assistant saw anything amiss, although it appeared as if Ally Graham had raised a hand to an opponent.

Livingstone was booked for a late challenge on Ross Clark in the 21^st minute, before Queen’s pulled one back three minutes later when Ally Graham slotted the ball past Jackson from close range after the ball had fallen nicely for his trusty left peg courtesy of a Frankie Carroll divertion.

However, ‘Shire restored their two goal cushion in the 36^th minute when Iain Diack coolly sent David Crawford the wrong way from the penalty spot after he had been tripped by Gavin Rushford just inside the Queen’s area as he made his way along the bye-line past Danny Ferry and Rushford.

A shell-shocked Queen’s team tried hard to pull one back before the interval, and Stuart Kettlewell sent a first time drive over the bar. At the other end though, McGroarty nearly grabbed his hat trick with a ferocious shot which a startled David Crawford was able to tip over his bar at the last second.

The last chance of the half fell to Ally Graham, but his powerful header from a right wing cross from Frankie Carroll went straight at Jackson.

Jonny Whelan replaced the ineffective Brian Blair during the interval, but it was a straight swap and many Queen’s fans were querying why Brian Felvus was not put on as an extra attacker to provide more options up front. As it was, Jonny turned out to be as anonymous as Brian Blair had been as the game completely passed him by in his advanced midfield role.

McGroarty had another attempt on goal, but this time his volley went well wide. Then Mark Ferry sent a trundler wide, before his close range shot from an Ally Graham knock down was blocked by some desperate defending.

Queen’s were thrown a lifeline in the 57^th minute when referee Allan awarded Queen’s an equally soft penalty after Ally Graham successfully claimed that he had been pushed at a corner. Despite experienced converters Ross Clark and Jonny Whelan being on hand, it was Frankie Carroll who grabbed the ball before stepping up to send a soft shot to Jackson’s right which the ‘keeper comfortably held.

Frankie tried to redeem himself eight minutes later when he fired in a powerful long range curler which Jackson did well to tip over his bar.

Then Denham headed narrowly past from a corner, whilst Stuart Kettlewell came even closer with a shot on the turn from the edge of the ‘Shire area.

As time began to ran out, Harvey was booked for kicking the ball away at a Queen’s free kick, and Queen’s last act of defiance was a 79^th minute header from Stuart Kettlewell which flashed over the bar.

With nothing to lose, it had been strange to see Ally Graham become the player to make way for Bryan Felvus in the 74^th minute, and it was equally confusing that Tony Quinn’s power wasn’t utilised, if not to change the game then at least to give the player some tangible sign of progress as he makes his way back from his two leg breaks.

The failure to create chances during the latter half of the second half must have been a major concern for the Queen’s coach, and hopefully it will be business as usual when Queen’s visit East Fife this coming Saturday where they will at least have a flat surface to strut their stuff on.

ENTERTAINMENT VALUE :  2/5

STAR SPIDER(S) :  Mark Ferry (developing into a classy player)

QUEEN’S PARK : David Crawford, Danny Ferry, Shaun Molloy, Gavin Rushford, Richard Sinclair, Brian Blair, Stuart Kettlewell, Ross Clark, Ally Graham (Brian Felvus – 74), Frankie Carroll, Mark Ferry

Subs (not used) :  Stevie McGovern (G/K), Tony Quinn, Tony Livingston

Scorer(s) : Graham (26)

Booked : none

EAST STIRLINGSHIRE : Derek Jackson, David Harvey, Scott Livingstone, Steven Oates, Greig Denham, John Walker, Paul Ross (Sean McAuley – 82), Paul Tyrrell, Ross Donaldson (Derek Ure – 89), Iain Diack, Chris McGroarty (TR)

Subs (not used) : Tony Mitchell (G/K), Derek Rae, Gordon Parks

Scorer(s) :   McGroarty (4, 14), Diack (pen – 36)

Booked : Livingstone (21 – late challenge), Harvey (79 – dissent)

REFEREE : Crawford Allan *  (* = inept, ** = poor, *** = mediocre, **** = good, ***** = excellent)

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