Carroll (qpfc.com)

As games of football go, this was about as surreal as it gets. Prior to the game, one supporter was spreading rumours that two Elgin defenders had been spotted placing bets on Queen's to win this one - an allegation to be taken with a huge pinch of salt one felt. The Queen's substitute goalkeeper Alexander Cowie was sent home with suspected mumps, so Jonny Whelan adorned the blue 'keeper's outfit, ready for duty if called upon.

It's then announced that the referee is Neil Doyle, an Irish League official, who is taking control of the game as part of some cultural exchange experiment amongst the Celtic nations.

Thank heaven for the game which would surely provide some sort of refuge for sanity!

The match kicks off, and Elgin launch the ball deep into Queen's half. Shaun Molloy stretches for it and the collapses in a heap clutching his hamstring. Less than 10 seconds on the clock, and Queen's urgently call for Stuart Kettlewell to warm up in preparation for going on.

The substitution is duly made with Danny Ferry switching sides to allow Stuart to take up a right wing-back berth. Elgin then took advantage of some temporary confusion in Queen's ranks, but Bremner shot wildly over after ex Spider Martin had created the opening.

Queen's first assault on goal came in the 11th minute when Damiano Agostini, happily restored to the first team after an absence of nearly five months following an attempt to come back from injury too early, launched the ball forward for David Weatherston to head flick the ball on for Frankie Carroll whose first time volley dipped over the bar with Renton beaten.

David Crawford made an excellent reaction save with his left foot to deny Harty two minutes later, and then was thankful to Andy McGinty for a last ditch tackle on Nelson who was about to pounce on the rebound.

The game then deteriorated into a typical end of season encounter, with Elgin becoming increasingly unadventurous, thereby forcing Queen's to take the game to their opponents.

Frankie Carroll was again slightly off target with another effort which narrowly cleared the bar, before the game exploded into life in the 34th minute. As Andy McGinty and Martin sprinted for a long ball over the top of the Queen's defence, Martin pulled McGinty back to gain a slight advantage before Andy sought to regain the advantage by doing likewise.Martin duly collapsed in a theatrical heap, but instead of awarding Queen's a free kick for the initial offence, referee Doyle sprinted purposely to the scene of the crime before brandishing a red card with some vigour to send the young Queen's defender off. Having failed to spot the initial offence, the decision was hardly surprising as McGinty was arguably the last man, but it was a sore one for the youngster to take nonetheless. A less than impressed Jonny Whelan then exchanged pleasantries with the former Spider left in no doubt as to his former team-mate's view of the incident.

With Queen's having lost three consecutive games by a solitary goal to Elgin this season, you would have found few in the ground (two on the pitch apart) who wouldn't have bet on a repeat scoreline. Dickson stepped up to take the resultant direct free kick, but it was an easy save for David "daft as a brush" Crawford who must have now been mentally preparing himself for a busy afternoon.

Undaunted by their numerical disadvantage, Queen's immediately swept up the right wing where Ross Clark sent over an inviting low cross for Frankie Carroll who met it on the run, only to see his shot flash inches past Renton's left hand post.

Then, with Queen's surprisingly continuing to enjoy by far the greater amount of possession, Mark Ferry smacked a long distance shot back off the crossbar for the second week in succession.

In anticipation of an Elgin siege during the second half, coach Billy Stark must have been urging his players to try to keep Elgin from settling into any kind of rhythm for as long as they could possibly do so. To entirely dominate the second period must have been beyond his ambition, and yet Queen's met that challenge full on.

McKenzie was booked two minutes after the interval for tripping Carroll from behind when the Queen's marksman was in full flight, but Frankie simply dusted himself down before getting on the end of Danny Ferry's free kick to force Renton into making an acrobatic save to tip his header away.

DC made his only "save" of the second half when he stooped to collect a long range trundler from Bremner which barely looked as if it had enough steam to reach the line, let alone cross it.

The procession of one way traffic towards Elgin's goal began in the 52nd minute when Mark Ferry sent a low curler narrowly past the far post, before a great solo run from Frankie Carroll ended with Renton making a reflex diving save to keep out the tenacious striker's shot.

A minute later, Dempsie was also shown a yellow card for a late challenge on Ross Clark, and then Renton was called into action again to save a long distance effort from Mark Ferry.

A Tony Quinn header was glanced narrowly wide before the same player sent over a pinpoint cross which David Weatherston should have done better than tamely nod over the bar. However, the youngster fully redeemed himself shortly afterwards when he took a pass from Paul Harvey in his stride before skipping down the right flank to send over an accurate cross which Frankie Carroll diverted past Renton from close range to notch his 16th goal of the season.

A few minutes later, Tony Quinn pulled a long distance drive wide before coach Billy Stark elected to play safe by withdrawing David Weatherston in favour of Gavin Rushford. It was a risky strategy as it handed the initiative straight back to the visitors, when leaving well alone for now might have been seen Queen's continue to dominate. However, tired legs must also have been a concern, and apart from two efforts from Martin (one blocked and one sclaffed across the penalty area), there was little for the defence to be overly concerned about.

As Queen's tried to frustrate Elgin during the closing minutes (how nice to be able to partly pay them back for their "hold at all costs" attitude from earlier this season), tempers began to fray and Martin was booked for dissent with two minutes remaining. He should have been sent from the park soon afterwards for a horrendously late challenge which seemed an automatic yellow card, perhaps even meriting a red card in its own right, but referee Doyle completely bottled it with as severe a dereliction of duty as has been witnessed at the National Stadium for some time.

Seconds later he did flash another yellow at substitute Napier for a vicious tackle from behind as Queen's kept the ball in the safety of the bottom left hand corner of the field. The game ended in the surreal manner in which it had began as Napier had taken to the field wearing a no.17 shirt, despite being listed as no.14 on the official team sheets.

The victory, their 4th in a five match unbeaten run, hoisted the Spiders up to third in the League table, and if they can avoid defeat at Cowdenbeath next Saturday, then that that is where they will stay to provide a fitting end to an excellent season. Doing so could take on an added significance during the weeks ahead as rumours abound that a  1st or 2nd Division club could yet go out of existence during the close season, which could result in the 3rd placed club being promoted after all.

It's not something that any true football club would wish upon another, but it's not a possibility that you would bet against these days!

ENTERTAINMENT VALUE :  3/5

STAR SPIDER(S) :  Tony Quinn (controlled the game in all areas of the field)

QUEEN’S PARK : David Crawford, Danny Ferry, Shaun Molloy (Stuart Kettlewell - 3), Damiano Agostini, Andy McGinty, Paul Harvey, Ross Clark, Tony Quinn, Mark Ferry, Frankie Carroll, David Weatherston (Gavin Rushford - 76)

Subs (not used) :  Jonny Whelan (G/K), Ally Graham, Bryan Felvus

Scorer(s) : Carroll (68)

Red Card : McGinty (34 - professional foul)

ELGIN CITY : Keiron Renton, Stuart Cumming, Allan Dempsie, Jamie McKenzie (Paul Napier - 62), Hugh Dickson (Pat Vigurs - 72), Craig Higgins, Fraser Bremner, Adam Nelson, Martin Harty, Willie Martin, Andy Roddie (Phil Reid - 58)

Subs (not used) : Stuart McKenzie (G/K), Stephen Donnachie

Scorer(s) : none

Booked : McKenzie (4 - trip), Dempsie (53 - late challenge), Martin (88 - dissent), Napier (90 - dangerous tackle)

REFEREE :  Neil Doyle *  (* = inept, ** = poor, *** = mediocre, **** = good, ***** = excellent)

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