By The Spider
August 10 2002

Saturday, 10th August, 2002 Montrose 1 Queen’s Park 0 (Scottish League - Third Division)

The Queen's team was on similar lines to that which started the game against Gretna in midweek, other than at right wing back where Danny Ferry regained his place at the expense of the injured Gordon Lappin who had failed to recover from the groin strain which saw him fail to re-appear for the second half on Tuesday night.

In the 5th minute Danny Ferry and Stewart Jack combined well to allow the former to curl a cross into the Mo area. John Gemmell's challenge did enough to force the ball down to an unmarked Stephen Canning right in front of goal but, in identical circumstances to his chance in the Elgin game, Stephen was unable to guide the ball over the onrushing 'keeper whose fingertips did enough to clear the danger.

Ferry was also involved in creating the second chance of the game, but this time at the other end when his poor clearance header fell nicely for Johnson whose low shot was fumbled by Tony Mitchell but eventually gathered again after a tussle with McDonald for the rebound.

John Gemmell showed some great control for a big man in the 17th minute when he brought down a high ball and turned at the same time to leave his marker running in completely the opposite direction. However the striker's 25 yard drive sailed harmlessly over the bar.

Damiano Agostini put himself in bother with a short headed backpass and he was forced to nudge McDonald in the back to prevent the little striker from reaching the ball before Mitchell. A less lenient referee than Martindale might have administered a darker coloured card than the yellow one that the sturdy defender received for his faux pas. Right winger Webster curled the direct free kick round the Queen's wall, but Tony Mitchell was well positioned to make an easy save.

At the other end, Johnny Whelan rose well to meet a Jimmy Allan 22nd minute corner with his forehead, but his effort landed on top of the net to McGlynn's relief. Montrose immediately broke up the field where Colin McDonald got onto the end of it on the left of the Queen's penalty area. Although there appeared to be no immediate danger, McDonald somehow managed to retain possession after no less than three half hearted 50/50 challenges to take the ball off him, before rolling the ball back to left midfielder Chris Webster. A first time left footed curling cross was then placed right on the head of his namesake and Kevin Webster made no mistake with his free header from six yards out giving Tony Mitchell no chance whatsoever.

After this breakthrough, Montrose coasted through the next quarter of an hour simply content to always have an extra man at the back to play the ball to when necessary and Queen's seemed completely unable to do a thing about it with the midfield completely out of touch at this stage and Gemmell and Canning being left to try to make the most of the precious few scraps that came their way.

McDonald nearly grabbed a second for the home side in the 37th minute when, not for the first time, and regrettably not for the last, he was given acres of room inside the area to receive a cross from the right. Steadying himself at the edge of the six yard box, he took careful aim for the far corner but Tony Mitchell brought off a tremendous left handed reflex save to deny the diminutive striker.

Three minutes later McDonald was again isolated in the area and his header from another right wing cross only just curled outside Mitchell's left hand post. In the next attack, former Scotland, Aberdeen, Rangers and Leeds Utd. defender David Robertson, now the Montrose Player/Coach, sent a pinpoint crossfield pass to McDonald on the right and following a quick burst of pace to the edge of the area, the little centre forward sent a low drive inches past Mitchell's other post.

Right on the stroke of half time, a dazed Tony Quinn who was still suffering from a headknock sustained at a corner, left the field to allow Karl Lehman to be handed an unexpected debut.

John McCormack certainly had a task on his hands at half time because, after a promising last two games, Queen's had now lapsed into old habits and had failed to produce any quality football during that first half. Sadly, the first action of the second period was at the edge of the Queen's area where the normally reliable Steven Moffat failed to control a high ball and McDonald was given a great opportunity to put Montrose on easy street. This time though, the no.9 totally miscued and sliced his effort well wide.

John Gemmell was presented with an opportunity in the 48th minute but his shot from an indirect free kick touched to him by John Gallagher bounced off the wall and Danny Ferry's follow up on the rebound whizzed over the bar. Three minutes later, McGlynn completely miscued a back-pass and with Paddy Gallagher (who had just come on for Stewart Jack who was not first choice for going off by any means) unmarked in the middle, young Gemmell hammered a poor effort wide from an acute angle. Oh for some composure from the big chap, or words to that effect!

A couple of minutes later, McDonald was again all on his own in front of goal when the ball was fed through to him, but fortunately up popped Danny Ferry to slide the ball away as McDonald tried to waltz round him instead of taking the simple shooting opportunity with which he had been presented.

John Gemmell headed over the bar in the 54th minute before that man McDonald, a constant thorn in the visitors' defence, roasted Damiano Agostini out on the stand side touchline before crossing from the left wing. Fortunately for Queen's his delivery passed between two Montrose attackers in front of an open goal.

Robertson had an indirect free kick touched to him in the 67th minute and Tony Mitchell got down to his left quickly to parry the low shot away for a corner from which Gibson headed off the face of the crossbar as Queen's rode their luck. Then McKinnon cut in from the right wing to hammer a sweet left foot shot towards Tony Mitchell's left hand post, but again the Queen's 'keeper displayed great athleticism to get down to it to make a fine save.

Karl Lehman set up a half chance for Paddy Gallagher in the 76th minute, but his fellow sub got underneath the ball and his left foot snap shot on the run curled harmlessly over the bar from close range.

Up to this point, referee Eric Martindale had been relatively harmless; making a number of incorrect decisions of a fairly inconsequential nature, and evenly distributed between both teams. However, he was now to make two absolute howlers and whilst, it must be added, neither should take away from the fact that Montrose undoubtedly deserved to win this game, they incurred the wrath of the Queen's players and their supporters alike.

The first occurred with ten minutes to go and could have thrown Queen's a beggar's chance of salvaging something in that remaining period. Following a minor altercation between McQuillan and Stephen Canning over a disputed throw in, the former kicked the latter off the ball in full view of the referee. In such circumstances there is no room for interpretation on the official's part, a straight red card should be issued and as Martindale reached into his top pocket, everyone else in the ground was anticipating that very course of action. Needless to say, when a yellow one was flashed at McQuillan instead, there was an initial stunned silence amongst the Queen's ranks before the hapless official was given pelters from on and off the field.

With little else happening on the field to distract attention from the incident, the haranguing of Martindale continued right up to the end when he was afforded an opportunity to exact some retribution of his own. A free kick was awarded to Queen's deep in their own half at their left corner flag following an 89th minute foul on John Gallagher by Ralph Brand. Brand then walked away taking the ball with him and held off two separate attempts from Gallagher to retrieve it. The Queen's left back then went in hard from behind and clipped Brand on the heel as he did so. It was a clear example of a player being frustrated by the deliberate time wasting tactics of an opponent and, in an effort to prevent such confrontations from occurring, a law was introduced to the effect that the time waster would receive an automatic non-negotiable yellow card for his actions. However, to Mr. Martindale, it was the perfect chance to get his own back on his hecklers and he waved Brand away before booking the Queen's player.

There was just enough time left after all that nonsense for Queen's to launch one final assault on the home goal but Stephen Canning's snapshot from the edge of the area was more a token act of defiance than a strike of any real conviction and it drifted slowly by McGlynn's right hand post.

So, yet again, Queen's returned empty handed from Links Park and once more without the crumbs of comfort that defeat following a good performance brings. Montrose deserved their victory and are a good enough side to be challenging again for promotion this season, but they don't look like potential champions.

For Queen's, Cowboy will be well aware that he has two problem areas that urgently need fixing if this season is to be radically different from the last. Neither wing-back is performing to the standards one would wish for and either they need to find their form sooner or later, or John should consider giving youngsters like Alastair McNiven their chance. In addition to the lack of penetration down the flanks from the back, further forward the problem is the same and whilst Stewart Jack shows a great first touch and comes on to a game now and again, on the left side Jimmy Allan has been a huge disappointment when compared to the pre-season flair that he exhibited. Interestingly, Chris Fisher didn't even make the bench this week although he was apparently with the travelling party. Perhaps he was late turning up for the bus again?

The lack of quality on the wings means that neither Tony Quinn nor Johnny Whelan have much of by way of options when looking for the chance to make a decisive pass and, all too often in this game at any rate, Messrs. Gemmell and Canning were left isolated without a supporting player to lay the ball off to.

Hopefully this will prove to a one-off poor performance, but unfortunately it bears a worrying resemblance to last season's standard fare. This Tuesday's 2nd round Challenge Cup tie provides an opportunity for the side to prove that the ability to play good football is still there, but Forfar has been a graveyard for our hopes in the past and it will require a special performance if Queen's are to enter the third round for only the second time since the launch of the forerunner of this competition, The Centenary Cup, in 1990.

ENTERTAINMENT VALUE : 2/5           STAR SPIDER : Tony Mitchell (kept us in the game)

QUEEN’S PARK : Tony Mitchell, Danny Ferry, John Gallagher, Steven Moffat, Damiano Agostini, Tony Quinn (Karl Lehman - 45), Stewart Jack (Paddy Gallagher - 49), Johnny Whelan, John Gemmell, Stephen Canning, Jimmy Allan (Willie Martin - 64)

Subs (not used) : Stewart Thomson (GK), Jamie White

Scorer(s) : n/a      Booked : Agostini (18 - foul from behind),  J. Gallagher (89 - off the ball skirmish)

MONTROSE : Gary McGlynn, Graeme McCheyne, David Robertson, Keith Gibson, Frank Conway, John McQuillan, Kevin Webster (Ralph Brand - 86), Grant Johnson, Colin McDonald (Jonathan Mitchell - 84), Chris Webster (Moray Leask - 74), Ray McKinnon

Subs (not used) : Mark Anderson (GK), Graeme Sharp

Scorer(s) : K. Webster (22 mins)      Booked : McQuillan (80 - off the ball kick)

REFEREE : Eric Martindale *  (* = inept, ** = poor, *** = mediocre, **** = good, ***** = excellent)