A Change Of Socks, But No Change Of Fortune

lacking sparkle
By The Spider
March 5 2003

Saturday, 1st March, 2003 Queen's Park 1 East Fife 2 (Bells Scottish League - Third Division)

Kenny Brannigan is still striving to register his first win since coming back to Hampden, and with some tough fixtures coming up during the next few weeks, Queen's fans may have to wait a little longer while before before raising a glass to toast our new coach.

The Queen's team which took the field was virtually unrecognisable from that which had drawn away to Montrose the previous Saturday, not in terms of personnel as there were only two changes with Stephen Canning and David Menelaws making way for Richard Sinclair and Ross Clark, and neither of those alterations came as any surprise as Sinclair and Clark have been two of our best players in recent weeks. No, the change was that for some reason, as yet still unexplained, The Spiders were wearing white socks for the first time in several years - isn't it amazing how different an entire strip can look by such a simple change?

Anyway, looking at the list of players occupying the subs' bench, there was something of a surprise there. No, not the omission of Stephen Canning who does not look to be anywhere near his best with lack of match fitness probably the main cause, but where is Allan Dunning? We have been struggling up front so why, in the absence of Willie Martin, is Dunning not being given his chance when Gallagher, Fisher and Menelaws are all being given an opportunity to shine.

Queen's got off to a decent start, and within the first couple of minutes they saw two good efforts blocked by some desperate defending from the visitors. However the Fifers, well backed by an unusually large (for them) and noisy travelling support, gradually came to grips with the game and began to look the stronger side. It took a great point blank save by Mark Cairns to deny a Deuchar header in the 3rd minute, and then in the 15th minute it was Danny Ferry who came to the rescue when he got back just in time to head a dangerous cross out for a corner.

John Gemmell raised home supporters' hopes in the 22nd minute when he fired a left foot volley narrowly over following a Danny Ferry cross, but it was East Fife who were looking the more dangerous outfit, and Cairns did well to hold a quick shot on the turn from Herkes three minutes later. Purists might argue that East Fife play the high ball more often that they would like, but that is also a criticism which could justifiably be levelled at Queen's on occasion, the main difference being that the Fifers are better at it right now.

Good teams play to their strengths and unlike the other leagues, it's not always the best footballing team who wins the championship in the lowest division (Doug Rougvie's Montrose were a perfect example), which is why two from Peterhead, Morton and Albion Rovers could well be playing Queen's again next season. Having struggled to cope with the visitors' aerial superiority on several occasions, and particularly at corners, The Spiders finally succumbed to the 6th attack by that means. The ball wasn't properly cleared, Graham hooked the ball back in from the right, and Kenny Deuchar rose high above everyone else to nod in at the back post.

Indeed, had it not been for the agility of Mark Cairns, Queen's could have conceded a second four minutes later as the 'keeper flung himself to his left to fingertip a curving left foot volley from Donaldson away for yet another corner.

As with the Montrose game the week before, fluent passing play from both sides was minimal, and it wasn't until the start of the second half that Queen's began to show more of their true selves. Firstly, in the 48th minute, John Gemmell rose well to head a Richard Sinclair cross narrowly over the bar before, a minute later, Jimmy Allan sprang into life on the right wing and left three defenders for dead as he cut in before firing narrowly wide of the far post for what would have been, from a Spiders' viewpoint, a candidate for goal of the season.

However, Queen's were unable to sustain any kind of pressure, and the game quickly deteriorated into banality once more. Then, almost out of nowhere, fans of each side were treated to tremendous goals.

There was little that Queen's could have done on the hour mark when substitute McLean made a great run down the right touchline before crossing at pace, and Ross Graham's blind side run to the near post was timed to perfection as he dived full length to power an unstoppable header past the unfortunate Mark Cairns from barely six yards out.

Queen's responded 15 minutes later with an better score. There looked to be no danger whatsoever when the hitherto ineffectual David McCallum picked up the ball on the right hand side of midfield some thirty yards from goal, but with an almighty swipe of his left foot, the former Partick Thistle midfielder showed exactly why Kenny Brannigan had brought him across from the other side of the city and sent an unsaveable shot past the despairing dive of Jim Butter and into the keeper's top right hand corner.

Briefly encouraged by this breakthrough, Queen's redoubled their efforts and, for the first time in the game, the visitors began to look vulnerable at the back. A long range shot from Paddy Gallagher brought Butter to his knees, but although the Hoops had plenty of possession in the last ten minutes of the game, they were unable to carve out any half decent chances for themselves, a reason why the subtleties of Dunning could have been useful at that stage.

In all fairness, Queen's got what they deserved from the game, as on this occasion East Fife were the better side and were deserving of their win. Whether they can brush aside their fellow promotion challengers in the weeks ahead with strength alone, will determine where they will be playing their football next season. Queen's have the opportunity to do them a major favour this week, as Morton are clearly a scalp that Queen's will not only be desperate to claim, but are also more than capable of claiming. However, Morton are also a physically strong side in midfield, and in the continued absence of Tony Quinn, much will depend on Johnny Whelan and Ross Clark if The Spiders are to flourish.

ENTERTAINMENT VALUE : 3/5           STAR SPIDER : Stevie Fallon (held the defence together)

QUEEN’S PARK : Mark Cairns, Danny Ferry, Richard Sinclair (Paddy Gallagher - 71), Jamie White, Damiano Agostini, Stevie Fallon, Ross Clark (Chris Fisher - 59), Jonny Whelan, John Gemmell, David McCallum, Jimmy Allan

Subs (not used) : Tony Mitchell (GK), David Menelaws, Stuart Kettlewell

Scorer(s) : McCallum (75 mins)

Booked : none

EAST FIFE  : Jim Butter, Gordon Russell, Euan Donaldson, Craig Lumsden, Michael Hall, Craig Farnan, James Herkes (Gordon Gilbert - 86), Craig Miller, Kenny Deuchar, Ross Graham, Craig McMillan (Barry McLean - 46)

Subs (not used) : Craig Martin (GK), John Allison, Andrew Rollo

Scorer(s) : Deuchar (30 mins), Graham (60 mins)

Booked : none

REFEREE :  John Gilmour *** (* = inept, ** = poor, *** = mediocre, **** = good, ***** = excellent)