By The Spider
September 28 2003

Saturday, 27th September, 2003 East Stirlingshire 1 Queen's Park 2 (Bells Scottish League – Third Division)

In the midweek match against Livingston, Coach Kenny Brannigan confused many with his starting formation. This time however, the line-up was straightforward enough with Canning and McCallum operating as wingbacks augmenting the midfield of Clark, Harvey and Reilly whenever Queen's pushed forward.

'Shire had the first opportunity in the fifth minute but centre forward Kelly only managed to fire the ball out of the ground from the edge of the Queen's penalty area. A minute later, and Richard Sinclair was quickly booked by referee Craig Mackay for a later crunching tackle on McLaren out on the left touchline.

Queen's should have taken the lead in the ninth minute when Ally Graham's direct free kick clipped the outside of Connolly's right-hand post with the hapless 'keeper rooted to the centre of his goals. The opener was delayed by only two minutes though. Connolly did well to save a Graham header from a David McCallum free kick, but seconds later Stevie McAuley got in behind the home defence before coolly sliding the ball past the exposed Connolly into the far corner.

The scorer had certainly looked to be offside when the forward pass was made by Stevie Reilly, and the 'Shire defence certainly made their feelings on the matter known to the far side assistant referee. However, when referee Mackay failed to chalk off the goal, 'keeper Connolly directed some choice words towards the official who promptly waved a red card in his direction before dismissing him from the field of play.

Down to ten men, 'Shire reorganised by taking off left winger Baldwin thereby allowing substitute goalkeeper Todd to come on. It took Queen's some time to adjust to having an extra man's advantage, and it wasn't until the 20th minute that they began to make inroads on the 'Shire defence, Stephen Moffat's long range effort from 30 yards going narrowly past the far post. Two minutes later Paul Harvey fired in a rising shot on the run which narrowly missed the top left hand corner.

Some casual play from Stephen Moffat nearly let 'Shire in for an equaliser just after the half hour mark, and the big defender had to be thankful to Derek Scrimgour for his alertness at getting down quickly to block a close range effort.

David McCallum should have done better than to fire an Ally Graham flick well over the bar in the 37th minute, but he made amends five minutes later when he fired in a first time volley from a long cross field pass which Stevie McAuley flicked past Todd only to see the ball come back off the 'keeper's right hand post before running across the face of the goal to safety.

Queen's continued to press for a second goal before half time and a Stephen Canning header, and then an Ally Graham shot, both looped narrowly over the cross bar.

Immediately upon the resumption, The Spiders went about trying to extend their lead and a Stephen Canning header from another first time cross from David McCallum slipped narrowly past the far post. A neat one touch move involving several players in the 48th minute created a fine opening for Ross Clark, but the midfielder only succeeded in duplicating Kelly's fifth minute effort by firing the ball out of the ground from an identical position.

Stephen Canning again came close in the 51st minute when Todd pushed his toe-poke around the post for a corner. Finally, two minutes later, the second goal did arrive and a thing of beauty it was. Stevie McAuley received a pass with his back to goal just inside the 'Shire half and, with Ally Graham making a run down the left, his striking partner turned to his right and outstripped his marker to run in on Todd before expertly firing the ball across him and into the far corner. McAuley has come on leaps and bounds in the last few games and, now that his fitness levels are improving, he is proving to be a real handful for opposing defences

As 'Shire began to wilt under the sustained pressure, centre half McCann was finally booked for repetitive fouling. Stevie McAuley almost grabbed his hat trick in the 63rd minute when he fired in a great volley which was matched only by the standard of Todd's reflex save. The substitute 'keeper again proved his worth seconds later when he instinctively tipped a powerful Ally Graham header over the bar. 

Right wing back McCulloch became the second 'Shire defender to be shown a yellow card after he had fouled David McCallum in the 64th minute.

By now Queen's had their tails up and Todd produced another great save, this time from a Jonny Whelan flick after Stevie Reilly had created the opening with a superb pass.

However, after a spate of substitutions in the 69th minute, two for each side, it was 'Shire who began to look the more dangerous side and they looked dangerous on three separate occasions in a short space of time. Firstly, a header slipped narrowly over the bar and then Derek Scrimgour had to rush off his line to punch the ball clear. Finally, a left foot shot from Ure cleared the bar by a matter of inches.

Queen's regained the ascendancy during the last ten minutes and a tiring Stevie McAuley hooked a first time shot well wide of the target. Ally Graham looked to have finally got the goal he deserved in the 83rd minute with a powerful header, but Todd pulled off another fantastic reaction save to thwart the big striker. Davie Menelaws then volleyed well over from a great position before Richard Sinclair sent a glancing header narrowly wide of the mark in the 87th minute.

By now, Queen's should have been several goals to the good and, with one minute remaining, they paid the price for their inability to extend their lead further when 'Shire grabbed a late consolation goal. Jonny Whelan looked to have control of the ball despite being under pressure, but he only succeeded in teeing the ball up nicely for substitute Derek Ure who lobbed the ball over the stranded Derek Scrimgour from just inside the Queen's area.

Whilst, in truth, there was never really any danger that 'Shire were going to grab an equaliser, that goal will hopefully serve as a reminder of the necessity to kill teams off should Queen's have the luxury of finding themselves in a similar position again.

Contributing to a strange afternoon was the performance of referee Craig Mackay who left supporters of both sides scratching their heads on numerous occasions with some strange awards. However, as they affected both teams equally, at least he was consistent in his decisions.

By virtue of two wins and a draw against teams unlikely to feature in the promotion race, Queen's have now managed to claw their way up to fourth place in the league, but this Saturday they will face a much sterner test when Peterhead visit Hampden. However, they now have the added incentive that if they can win this game, it will hoist The Spiders up to a lofty third place which would provide an excellent platform from which to mount a serious promotion challenge.                                        

ENTERTAINMENT VALUE : 4/5

STAR SPIDER : Stevie McAuley (very clinical finishes for both goals)

QUEEN’S PARK : Derek Scrimgour, Stephen Canning, David McCallum (David Menelaws - 69), Stephen Moffat (Jonny Whelan - 62), Richard Sinclair, Stevie Fallon, Ross Clark (Paddy Gallagher - 69), Paul Harvey, Ally Graham, Stevie Reilly, Stevie McAuley

Subs (not used) : Brian McCue (GK), Danny Ferry

Scorer(s) : McAuley (11 mins & 53 mins)

Booked : Sinclair (late challenge - 6)

EAST STIRLINGSHIRE : John Connolly, Gary McCulloch, Graham McLaren, Dougie Polwart (Robert Hare - 69), Kevin McCann, Graham McGhee, David Ormiston, Sean McAuley, Stuart Kelly, Paul Rodden (Derek Ure - 69), Chris Baldwin (Chris Todd - 12)

Subs (not used) : Jamie McKay, Jordan Leishman

Scorer(s) : Ure (89 mins)

Booked : McCann (58 - repetitive fouling), McCulloch (64 - late challenge)        Red Card : Connolly (11 mins - foul and abusive language)

REFEREE :  Craig Mackay *** (* = inept, ** = poor, *** = mediocre, **** = good, ***** = excellent)