It was a wet and miserable day as we boarded the travel club buses at Palmerston this morning but there was optimism that we could get a result today against Accies on their artifical pitch.

After refreshments at the Acadmical Vaults we made our way to the ground and the travelling support of 452 looked forward to what on paper should have been a decent game.

Queens started with a 4-5-1 formation as Jamie MacDonald returned in goals with a back four of Paton,Harris and Aitken accompanied by Scally in the middle. Why we did not sign Liam Atkin is a mystery to almost all Queens fans and to play one of our best midfield players in the centre of defence is the mystery of the season so far !

In midfield we had Burns,MacFarlane,O'Neill,Tosh and McQuilken with Bingham on his own up front. This was not the starting line up that many of us expected. The game as a whole was very poor with the home side not showing much more quality than ourselves. The first 15 minutes provided very little in the way of entertainment until Andy Aitken lost the ball and the quick Richard Offiong ran through towards Jamie MacDonald and hit the ball low past the Queens keeper.

A nightmare to lose the first goal and the way we were playing gave the travelling support no confidence or hope that we could get back into the game.

Tosh , who never got involved at all in the opening stages was replaced by Jamie Mole. Whether it was an injury or not is anyones guess but Queens could hardly string two passes together and an average looking Hamilton side were in control of the game.

Queens hardly ever threatened the Accies defence but after 28 minutes John O'Neill had a good run and as he moved into the box his effort was blocked by Bryn Halliwell. It was then obvious that Jamie McQuilken was struggling with an injury but it seemed to take ages before he was replaced by Stephen Dobbie. Bingham dropped back into midfield and Dobbie then partnered Mole up front but with little success except after 38 minutes when Mole found space on the right and cut inside his marker but as he squared the ball for Dobbie it was cut out by the Accies defence.

Offiong then had a turn and shot which was well stopped by Jamie MacDonald before Neil MacFarlane had a rare shot for Queens which flew well over the top.

The second period started with no changes in the Queens side but this was hardly surprising as we had already used two of our subs. There was then a five minute delay as Accies keeper Halliwell got injured after crashing into one of his own defenders. He could not continue and was replaced by Czech keeper Cerny.

Stephen Dobbie then proved he could defend as he cleared the ball of the line from an Accies corner.

Queens looked all over the place and never looked like getting back on level terms and in the closing stages Hamilton began to assert a bit of authority on the game. Gilmour came on for the ineffective Bingham after 77 minutes but did not make any difference. Dobbie did come quite close near the end but his header went wide and then Jamie MacDonald made another decent save to keep the score at 1-0.

The game ended and the travelling support left the ground disappointed at a very poor display from Queens. There are players who just did not perform again today and a hge improvement is needed before next weeks home game with Livingston.

My Queens man of the match was Jamie MacDonald who dealt with all that was thrown at him.

It was also nice talking to young Accies defender Tom Parratts parents in the pub before the game. And Tom probably wont have an easier game all season.