In Need Of A Licence To Thrill
(back on the bench)
By The Spider
March 29 2004
Saturday, 27th March, 2004 Stirling Albion 0 Queen's Park 0 (Bells Scottish League – Third Division)
Kenny Brannigan
built himself a successful playing career on a no-nonsense safety first strategy, but he
needs to learn (and soon!) that such an attitude will not necessarily serve him well as a
coach. If, as he says, Eddie Hunter was an inspiration for him, then KB could do a lot
worse than ask Eddie for a few words of guidance.
You see, although a
totally uncompromising defender himself, as a coach Eddie was prepared to gamble on being
susceptible to counter-attacks because he recognised the importance of allowing his
players the freedom to attack at will, and Eddie was one coach who could never be accused
of sanctioning defensively minded line-ups.
Sadly, judging by
recent performances, KB’s players do not appear to have the same licence to thrill!
Those Queen’s supporters not present at Forthbank, and who were simply happy to note
the final outcome without enquiring further as to how it was achieved, may well believe
that a draw gained away to the league leaders was a good result, but behind the
encouraging scoreline lies a different story.
The Queen’s
teamsheet was again along familiar lines, the only change being the inclusion of Stuart
Kettlewell who replaced the injured Danny Ferry. Danny will be out for the next month or
so with a bad ankle injury, and it was Ross Clark who took over the captain’s armband
as well as moving back to fill the sweeper’s role.
As expected,
Queen’s came
close to opening the scoring in the 13th minute when Stuart Kettlewell sent
Derek Carcary haring through the middle. The young striker looked to have done everything
right as he drew Hogarth before aiming to slot the ball past him, but all credit to the
‘keeper who pulled off a great save by spreading himself and enjoying the good
fortune of having the ball deflect off his right knee and narrowly miss the far post. More
often than not, that kind of shot ends up in the back of the net.
Hay had a great
opportunity in the 19th minute when he seized on a deflected knock-down inside
the Queen’s area, only to snatch at his shot which soared miles over the bar.
David McCallum was
very late with a tackle on Hay out on the stand side touchline a few minutes later, but
referee MacDonald waved play-on to allow
In the 29th
minute, Derek Carcary was again put through to where he could see the whites of Hogarth’s
eyes, but this time he was forced to toe-poke the ball wide of him in order to get to the
ball first. The angle was too tight to attempt a first time effort, so instead Derek
cleverly picked out the supporting Frankie Carroll, but the ball bobbled on the rutted
surface as it reached him and Frankie’s effort was so badly sliced that it virtually
went at a right angle to where it was aimed.
Five minutes later,
Allan Dunning had a go from outside the area, but his trundler was intercepted by young
Carcary whose quick shot on the turn narrowly evaded Hogarth’s left hand post.
Following an
altercation with McCallum, and latterly with Bonnar who had no need to become involved,
Hay was booked for his part in the affray which basically amounted to aggressive
behaviour. Shortly afterwards, Derek Carcary collapsed off the ball in a heap in the
centre circle, a victim of the aforementioned rutted surface, and hopefully the injury is
not too serious as many a damaged knee ligament has arisen from studs catching in the turf
whilst attempting to turn quickly.
Paul Harvey was the
surprise replacement as once more KB resisted the temptation to blood David Weatherston,
so Stevie Canning moved up to join Frankie Carroll in attack. It did however allow Harvey
to meet up with his old chum Smith in the Stirling midfield, Smith being the player who
had taken Harvey out in an off the ball incident at Hampden, and whose chin had then made
a good contact with Harvey’s right fist. Smith had once more been winding Queen’s
players up at every opportunity, so the opportunity was there for sparks to fly again.
Right on the stroke
of half time, McLean had a great chance to score, but he shot wildly over.
The same player
should also have scored within seconds of the re-start, but having got away with a blatant
shove on Reilly, McLean somehow contrived to place a measured shot off the base of Derek
Scrimgour’s left hand post. It was a bad miss as McLean had all the time in the world
to pick his spot when left one on one with the ‘keeper some 12 yards from goal.
It was from this
point onwards that a reasonable game deteriorated badly, and a measure of how bad play was
is that the next notable incident didn’t occur until the 59th minute when
Hay was sent off following receipt of his second yellow card after a bad and unnecessary
tackle from behind on Frankie Carroll at the halfway line.
Ten minutes later,
Stirling were down to just nine men when McLean was slightly late in challenging Scrimgour
for a through ball inside the Queen’s area. The initial challenge merited a yellow
card at worst, but it was what followed which resulted in McLean being shown a straight
red card on the advice of the far side assistant who had witnessed the former Partick
Thistle striker’s sly tugging at Scrimgour’s hair as the pair disentangled
themselves.
Shortly afterwards,
when play had switched over to the stand side, the assistant on that side then drew
attention to uncomplimentary remarks that had emanated from the home dug-out, an
indiscretion which resulted in Bino’s coach Allan Moore being banished to the stand.
With almost 20
minutes remaining, this was a great opportunity for Queen’s to take the game by the
scruff of the neck and impose themselves. Instead, it was the home side that took control
and a warning was served when Lyle sent a wild effort over Scrimgour’s bar.
Lyle had another go
in the 78th minute, and Scrimgour did well to grab his direct free kick. With
Queen’s in total disarray on the field, now was the time for Kenny Brannigan to
steady the ship whether by positional change or tactical substitution. There were plenty
of options open to him. He could move Allan Dunning up front, put Ross Clark in midfield
or allow Tony Quinn an ideal re-introduction by allowing him to impose himself on a
midfield that was badly lacking in physical presence.
Sadly, nothing
appeared to have been done about the imbalance created by the sending offs, and Stirling
continued to intercept loose passes or inaccurate long balls before surging forward with
the vociferous backing of a home support who could sense Queen’s vulnerabilities as
much as their players did.
An almost comical
situation developed where Queen’s defence struggled to cope with Stirling’s
quick passing movements and panic clearances became the norm thereby handing back
possession to the home side. On the few occasions that Queen’s did make progress into
their opponent’s half, possession was surrendered cheaply, with Paul Harvey being
particularly guilty. Whilst inexperienced players can be forgiven for struggling to adapt
to new circumstances, there is no case for his defence.
Finally, with only
four minutes remaining, there was movement in the away dugout, with David Weatherston
replacing Allan Dunning who would have made a far more effective forward than David
Stewart who was increasing being seen in advanced position.
The change almost
brought an instant result as the youngster’s pace and control began to worry the
Stirling defence. For once Paul Harvey played an ambitious pass over the static defence
and David Weatherston’s powerful volley looked a winner all the way until Hogarth
somehow miraculously kept it out. Either he knew little about it and it was a lucky
rebound, or it was as good a save as has been seen at this level for some time.
So Queen’s dug
out the draw that most realistic supporters would have settled for before the game, but in
the circumstances this was a very poor outcome and, more worryingly, charges of neglect
now require to be answered by the Queen’s coach. He has been happy to lay the blame
at the players’ door when they have been missing in action, so it will be interesting
to see how much responsibility he accepts for his apparent lack of input during the last
half hour of a game which is best forgotten if you are a Queen’s Park supporter.
This coming
Saturday, hapless East Stirlingshire are the visitors to Hampden, and anything less than a
convincing Queen’s victory will have home fans calling for their coach’s head.
‘Shire are a side who should be swept aside by a procession of forceful attacks which
should yield a few goals. Should an early goal be achieved, a second should be vigorously
pursued as anything action other than going for an exposed jugular will not be welcome by
a support who remain to be convinced whether Kenny Brannigan is indeed the right man for
the job.
ENTERTAINMENT VALUE : 2/5
STAR SPIDER : Martin Bonnar (played consistently well throughout)
QUEEN’S PARK : Derek Scrimgour, Martin Bonnar, David McCallum, Allan Dunning (David Weatherston– 86), David Stewart, Ross Clark, Stuart Kettlewell, Stevie Reilly, Frankie Carroll, Stephen Canning, Derek Carcary (Paul Harvey – 44)
Subs (not used) : Brian McCue (G/K), Damiano Agostini, Tony Quinn
Scorer(s) : none
Booked : McCallum (26 – late challenge)
STIRLING ALBION : Myles Hogarth, Paul Nugent, Stewart Devine (Derek Anderson – 31), Chris Scotland, George Rowe, Andy Smith (Gary Kelly – 62), Paul Hay, Colin McKinnon, Scott McLean, Derek Lyle (Ryan Davidson – 86), David O’Brien
Subs (not used) : Scott Morrison (G/K), Craig Ferguson
Scorer(s) : none
Booked : Hay (40 – aggressive behaviour, 59 – tackle from behind)
Red Card : McLean (69 – violent conduct)
REFEREE : Scott MacDonald **** (* = inept, ** = poor, *** = mediocre, **** = good, ***** = excellent)