By The Spider
December 14 2004

Saturday, 11th December, 2004 Stranraer 1 Queen's Park 0 (Tennents Scottish Cup – Second Round) (picture from qpfc.com) Putting the ball in the back of the net apart, will this be hailed as the most skillful ever performance from a Q.P. side?

Whilst this pundit wrongly predicted that this match would be a high scoring one, in truth it should have been with Queen's the clear winners. As stated last week, the return of Paul Harvey was always going to be the key factor, and his near perfect performance will now have drawn many admirers who may feel that he could be the catalyst to spark their season too. Unthinkable a year ago, but the likelihood now is that Paul is emerging as a favourite for one of the Player Of The Year awards.

Queen's fans travelled down the A77 both in good cheer and numbers in the strong belief that the last two performances were merely a blip, and that an upset was very much on the cards. The hope was that the visitors would take the game to the current Second Division leaders, and indeed they did.

An early indication of their intent came in the 6th minute when Frankie Carroll made a timely interception to release Shaun Molloy who rampaged up the left flank before delivering a great deep cross. Although the move came to nothing, it set the scene for what was to follow and a minute later a Paul Harvey low left foot drive from an Ally Graham lay-off was touched away at the last minute by McCondichie's outstretched right hand as the ball appeared to be skidding into the 'keeper's bottom right hand corner.

Ally Graham was booked for dissent a minute later as referee Melville halted play in an attempt to impose his authority on the game. It was a needless intervention by the official at that stage when a quiet word in big Ally's ear as he ran past him would surely have sufficed.

Stranraer first threatened in the 12th minute when Crawford headed over David Crawford's bar from a Graham corner. The Queen's 'keeper had to come to Queen's rescue in the 19th minute though when Graham ran onto a measured through ball from Jenkins, but the 'keeper blocked the striker's low drive with his legs.

It was from this point onwards that the game was mostly about one player, and Paul Harvey can take great pride in the fact not only did his virtuoso performance gain him the Sponsors Man of the Match award, but also a standing ovation from both sets of supporters at the end.

Alan Trouten was played in for a shot which was deflected for a corner, and then some great build up play ended with a low left footed 25 yard drive from Mark Ferry rebounding off the base of McCondichie's right hand post.

Stranraer responded briefly with a low drive from Graham which went straight to David Crawford, and then right on the half hour mark a netbound drive from Paul Harvey was deflected inches over McCondichie's bar. Stuart Kettlewell pulled a right foot drive wide, and Alan Trouten brought McCondichie into action again with a low skidding drive as Queen's piled on the pressure.

Again the warning of Stranraer's ability to break quickly manifested itself when Crawford was set up in a good position only to pull his shot wide.

But Queen's could break quickly too, and a low drive across the face of the goal by Frankie Carroll narrowly missed the far post. Mark Ferry looked to have opened the scoring for Queen's in the 38th minute when he latched onto a loose ball on the left of the Stranraer penalty area and curled a powerful shot towards the postage stamp corner. A slight deflection brought the ball nearer to McCondichie's reach, but there can be no denying the magnificence of the save as the home 'keeper flung himself to his left to make a fantastic one handed instinctive save.

Just before the interval, McCondichie again came to Stranraer's rescue when he tipped a first time effort from the left foot of Stuart Kettlewell away for a corner.

Queen's had dominated much of a pulsating first half, and the obvious fear now was that Stranraer would make some tactical changes at half time to take control of the game from a Queen's team who surely couldn't maintain this level of superiority after the break.

And yet both teams emerged unchanged, and not only did Queen's maintain their dominance, if anything they increased the amount of possession they were enjoying as Paul Harvey ran about like a man inspired playing quick one-two's with defenders, attackers and midfield colleagues alike in all areas of the pitch. In some ways it's a bit of a shame for Paul, as he is unlikely to surpass this performance, and yet the expectations of home supporters who may read this or other reports will now be for more of the same at the next home game.

A typical wriggling run by Frankie Carroll on the right wing saw him break free of two markers to send in a low cross which Ally Graham flicked narrowly past the near post with his right boot. Then Frankie himself missed the target from a Paul Harvey cut-back before Queen's again came close when Wingate hammered the ball off his own bar in a desperate attempt to clear as Frankie Carroll moved in for the kill when the ball broke loose six yards out.

Stranraer had a 2 v 1 advantage with exactly an hour played, but Graham ran ahead of Crawford to put himself offside when his striking partner's delayed pass finally manifested itself.

Stuart Kettlewell hooked a drive wide of the target and Mark Ferry sent a 72nd minute snapshot just wide of the postage stamp corner as Queen's sought to win the tie at the first time of asking. Former Spider, and ex-Loon, McPhee was booked a minute later for a crunching late tackle from behind on Stuart Kettlewell.

A low left footed curling shot from 12 yards by Ally Graham slipped agonisingly wide, and then David Crawford saved from Turnbull who was first to react to a loose ball. And then suddenly, and almost apologetically, Stranraer took the lead when Graham skipped past Sinclair to send a left footed cross onto the head of right (diving) wingback Stephen Swift who nodded strongly past David Crawford from six yards out.

Queen's now only had six minutes to respond, and with Stranraer now clearly happy to cling onto their lead, the only chance they were able to manufacture for themselves came right in the last minute when Mark Ferry rose to glance a right wing corner wide of the far post.

Quite how Queen's were not in the draw for the 3rd round will remain a mystery for some time to come. Indeed, as both sets of fans left the ground, one young Blues supporter turned to his father and was overheard to opine that Queen's should be in the Premier League on the basis of what he had just witnessed. Ah, the folly of youth, and yet his rash observation served to illustrate just how good a performance Queen's had provided.

Hopefully the same side will be fielded at Peterhead on Saturday and The Spiders will overcome their disappointment to demonstrate that this wasn't just a one-off display, and to return home with three points to vindicate their fans' belief that this a side which is capable of making 3rd place their own by the end of the season.

ENTERTAINMENT VALUE : 4/5

STAR SPIDER(S) :  Paul Harvey (now a target for others?)

QUEEN’S PARK : David Crawford, Alan Trouten, Shaun Molloy, Stevie Reilly, Richard Sinclair (Gavin Rushford - 88), Damiano Agostini, Stuart Kettlewell, Paul Harvey, Ally Graham (Bryan Felvus – 86), Frankie Carroll, Mark Ferry

Subs (not used) :  Stevie McGovern (G/K), Brian Blair, Ross Clark

Scorer(s) : none

Booked : Graham (8 - dissent)

STRANRAER : Andy McCondichie, Stephen Swift, Gary McPhee, Murray Henderson, Derek Wingate, Allan Jenkins, Kevin Finlayson, Kevin Gaughan, Brian Crawford (David Turnbull - 60), David Graham, Graham Guy

Subs (not used) : Martin McAulay (G/K), Stephen Donnachie, Gary McCutcheon, Martin McGinty

Scorer(s) :   Swift (84)

Booked : McPhee (75 – late tackle)

REFEREE : Cammie Melville ***  (* = inept, ** = poor, *** = mediocre, **** = good, ***** = excellent)