Queens 0 Gretna 4 |
| Posted by Administrator (admin) on Jan 04 2007 at 7:40 PM |
A crowd of 3714 turned up at Palmerston for the 3rd derby match of
the season between Queens and Gretna. Queens lined up in a 4-4-2
formation with Colin Scott back in goals following the end of Craig
Hinchcliffes loan spell from St.Mirren. The back 4 consisted of Paton,
Laughlin,Thomson and Swift with a midfield of Moon,Scally,O’Neill
and Gibson. Up front was the pairing of Weir and O’Connor. On the
bench was Barry John Corr, Andy Thomson, Paul Burns, Murray
Henderson and Barry Callaghan.
Queens started brightly attacking the Terregles Street end but the first
real point of note came when Colin Scott gave the ball away with a
poor kick out which fell to Gretna striker David Graham but his shot
was held by Scott. Queens were awarded a free kick when Weir was
fouled by Grainger after 5 mins which resulted in a bit of panic in the
Gretna box as they failed to clear the ball which eventually fell for
O’Connor who shot over.
Willie Gibson on what may well have been his last game in a Queens
jersey was looking a real threat and after 10 mins he had a good run
down the right and when he put the ball over, Weirs header nearly
gave us the lead. Willie then had a decent shot saved by Alan Main
which resulted in a corner. Queens had plenty of corner kicks in the
first half but could not produce a goal from them.
Gretna were awarded a free kick on the quarter hour mark when
McMenamin went down very easily following a challenge from J.T.
Then Eric Paton was in the right place in his own box after 20 mins
to head away a dangerous looking ball from the Gretna left. At this
stage the game became a bit scrappy with too many long balls out of
defence from both sides but Willie Gibson then had the home crowd
up out of their seats when he set out on a run down the wing only to
be brought down by Grainger. Referee Ian Brines, who was poor
throughout then yellow carded the wrong Gretna player with Skeltons
name going into the book. Gretna had not produced a real goal threat
in the first 25 mins but it suddenly went all wrong for Queens when
striker David Graham went past Eric Paton down the right hand side
before knocking the ball across goal for the unmarked McMenamin
to easily put his side ahead. He was then booked for gesturing to the
home support as he over celebrated his strike. Queens fought back
and had a corner from Warren Moon which keeper Main dropped but
he gathered it when it came back in, this was followed by some good
work from O’Connor down in the far corner when he fought hard for
the ball and it eventually got put into the box but it was the same old
story in that nobody was there to put the ball in the net.
Laughlin then picked up a booking after 40 mins and shortly afterwards
a shot from Moon went over the top before John O’Neill ran at the
Gretna defence and when the space opened up he had a shot but it was
wild and wide when he really should have hit the target. Just on the
stroke of halftime Gretna had a good chance when they kept the ball
in play near the goal line on the far side and when the ball was cut back
a Gretna player hit it over the top when it really should have been a second
goal. The halftime whistle went and Queens left the field a goal down but
they had shown plenty of fight and determination and had seen plenty of
the ball but the league leaders were a goal up thanks to the ability to finish
of their chances.
The second half started badly for Queens as Gretna came out full of running
and looking sharper and playing with more urgency. Firstly they had a good
run from Jenkins who played the ball into Graham who shot wide but on
47 mins poor defending allowed them to score the killer second goal. The
home defenders allowed Gavin Skelton far too much time and room and
the Cumbrian ran towards goal and neatly chipped the ball over the
advancing Colin Scott to make it 2-0.
Queens were still fighting and a few minutes later a good run from Weir
saw him move into the box and he put a neat ball across goal but yet again
there were no takers. Then we saw a free kick from Eric Paton which he
hit well from about 30yds out but it was deflected for yet another Queens
corner. Then a raging shot from Willie Gibson was pushed around the
post by Main. This was followed by a Weir header which the keeper again
saved at the expense of yet another corner kick. It was a decent spell of
pressure from Queens but just as its been for most of the season we have
nobody with the ability to put the ball in the back of the net. On the hour
mark Ian McCall made a double substitution when Murray Henderson
replaced Jim Laughlin and Barry Callaghan came on for Warren Moon.
This saw Willie Gibson move back over to the left side of the pitch. It
was only a matter of seconds after these changes had been made that
it was 3-0 and the game was well and truly over as a contest when
former Queens favourite Derek Townsley moved forward out of defence
with the ball and struck a low shot from about 25yds out which took a
deflection of a Queens defender before ending up in the back of the net
giving keeper Colin Scott no chance.
A few minutes later Sean O’Connor went down inside the box but the
appeals for a penalty were waved away. As O’Connor was still on the
ground it appeared as if Danny Grainger had stood on his hand. Gretna
then replaced the young Aussie Eric Paartalu with Dene Sheilds. A shot
from O’Connor inside the box was saved by Main then O’Neill received
a yellow card for a foul before Andy Thomson was brought on in place
of the hard working Graham Weir with just under 20 mins remaining.
Gretna then replaced David Graham with Matthew Berkely after 82 mins
and with 5 mins to go Skelton got his second and his teams fourth goal
as his low shot beat Colin Scott to complete a miserable afternoon for
the Doonhamers.
Queens had some decent spells in the game and the scoreline probably
does not really represent a true picture of the match but at the end of the
day it was the same old story, they took their chances while we didn’t.
Lets hope Ian McCall has a few new faces on board for the trip to
Tayside next weekend to face Dundee in the Scottish Cup 3rd round.
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