By The Spider
September 25 2002

Tuesday, 24th September, 2002 Dundee United 4 Queen’s Park 1 (CIS Insurance Cup - Second Round)

As they have so often done in the past, the Queen's Park players rose to the occasion for this second round League Cup tie against Dundee United and put on a fine performance which totally belied their current status. They were ably backed not only by an extremely vociferous travelling support which, whilst small in number, totally outsung home fans throughout the game, but also by the Club's youth players many of whom had travelled on the supporters' buses and who sung and cheered along with the best of them.

Whilst the final outcome was never going to be in doubt, John McCormack certainly did pull a few surprises out of the hat with his starting line-up which saw some "first choice" players relegated to the subs bench. Both John Gemmell and Johnny Whelan must have been as shocked as supporters to find themselves out of favour, but all credit to Cowboy for using Saturday's poor performance at Peterhead as a yardstick. Then, both players were taken off for not taking sufficient account of his repeated touchline instructions, and hopefully the competition for places will make all players more wary of being dropped if their future League performances are not up to the mark.

Supporters were certainly cheered by the return of Steven Moffat, although this game had come just to soon for Jimmy Allan. The main surprise though was the inclusion of Gordon Lappin, himself just returning from injury, and for whom this was a great opportunity to justify his boss's faith in him over the more experienced Whelan.

As anticipated, United stuck to their usual squad numbering system, which certainly made identifying players that little bit more difficult, not to mention making a mockery of the "first goal" sweeps held on the buses on the way up. The only way to avoid such confusion would have been for Queen's to score first, but that never looked like happening as United took an early grip of the game, and particularly the control that they exerted over the midfield area where their extra yard of pace was used to good effect.

The first goal attempt took only two minutes to manifest itself, O'Donnell's shot being deflected for a corner. From the resultant cross, Lauchlan's header was comfortably saved by Colin Stewart. Lilley then powered a header wide before the home side opened the scoring in the 8th minute. To the dismay of Queen's fans, Willie Young awarded United a direct free kick 25 yards from goal after O'Donnell's mazy run had been unfairly halted.

What caused the consternation was that referee Young had originally allowed O'Donnell to ride two challenges before bringing play back to the site of the original offence, but such are the difficulties that the interpretation element of the advantage rule brings. In any event, young Stephen O'Donnell was not the least bit concerned by all the fuss, and he calmly stepped forward to curl the ball over Colin Stewart's four man wall and into the tall 'keeper's bottom right corner.

At this point the immediate reaction was one of concern as to how the Queen's youngsters would respond to this early setback, but rather than let their heads go down, the amateurs began to take the game to their full time SPL opponents. Craig Taggart showed good close control to manoeuvre himself some space in midfield before feeding the fast improving Stevie Fallon on the right wing. "Pongo" sent over a good cross and Stephen Canning nicked in front of his marker to head for goal. Fortunately for United, a deflection off a defender took the sting off it and Gallagher was able to save with a lot more ease than could otherwise have been the case as the ball initially sped towards his bottom right corner.

With quarter of an hour played Wilson sent a long range effort over before McIntyre hobbled off after coming second best in a challenge for the ball with Damiano Agostini within the centre circle. O'Donnell was looking a tricky and confident player, but he did himself no favours in the 20th minute when he tried to dribble his way out of defence at his own right corner flag and was dispossessed after negotiating three initial challenges. The ball was quickly played to Craig Taggart just inside the area, but with time to spare he shot over the bar from a good position.

Two minutes later a nice ball from Duff found Lilley in space and his low shot on the turn came back off the foot of Stewart's left hand post. Then, in the 25th minute, Queen's were presented with a great chance to equalise when Lauchlan slipped just inside his own half leaving Craig Taggart free to collect a long through ball and run in unchallenged on goal. Just when it seemed as had picked his spot, the stocky striker lost his composure at the vital moment and pulled his effort well wide of Gallagher's far post.

It was nearly a costly miss as Danny Ferry was called upon to head a Lauchlan header off the line before Colin Stewart had to look lively to save a cushioned diving headed backpass from Agostini who had Thompson breathing down his neck waiting for the slightest slip-up. Then O'Donnell shot over from close range at the back post after a Paterson cross caused major problems before Stephen Canning had one shot spilled by Gallagher and another blocked by Wilson.

United's second in the 37th minute was a thing of beauty, unless of course you were a Queen's fan. Substitute Gunnlaugsson slipped a delightfully measured through ball to Stephen O'Donnell at the edge of the Queen's area and the youngster who was coming in from the right flank took it first time with his left foot to swerve it round a bewildered Colin Stewart who could only watch as it soared into the top of his right hand corner. Season Scotland fans may well recall a similar type of shot from Kenny Dalglish at an away game in Belgium.

As United then pressed for a third before half time, right back Duff played a nice one-two with Lilley before firing a poor left foot drive past Stewart's left hand post. However, Queen's threw themselves a lifeline in the 43rd minute. A deep cross from the right looked to have created a headed opportunity for Willie Martin but the ball dipped behind him. Never one to give up the cause though, Willie quickly spun away to retrieve it at the byeline and, with the United defence posted missing, he played it back to Stephen Canning at the edge of the area. Retaining his composure well, the youngster steadied himself before steering a precision shot beyond Gallagher's flailing arms and into the bottom far corner. A great finish!

The main thing now for Queen's was to avoid losing a silly goal before half time so that John McCormack could have time to take advantage of this unexpected bonus. Paterson had other ideas though and he must have thought he had scored a minute later when he met a low right wing cross at the far post and, although at a very acute angle, somehow managed to squeeze a first time shot past Colin Stewart. It looked as if the ball might creep in off the keeper's other post but Damiano Agostini popped up to clear the ball off the line to ensure that his team-mates could enjoy their well-earned 15 minute respite.

Neither side made any changes at half-time and Paterson again looked determined to restore his team's two goal lead. Within four minutes of the re-start, United earned a corner from a speedy breakaway and Colin Stewart made an impressive save to deny Paterson who had met O'Donnell's corner with great power. Then Tony Quinn was given a brief glimpse of goal, but he was already leaning back before he met it with his left foot to loft it well over the bar.

United applied some sustained pressure just after the hour mark and Stewart was forced to make a further good save from Paterson, and then again twice from the Icelander Gunnlaugsson who was by now beginning to run the show as the Queen's players' legs began to tire. Coach John McCormack was quick to spot this and introduced Gemmell and Jack in a bid to freshen things up, but before the change had time to take effect United struck two killer blows.

Stephen O'Donnell grabbed his hat trick in the 69th minute when he powered a close range left foot drive past Colin Stewart after a clever reverse chip from Gunnlaugsson ripped the left side of the Queen's defence wide open.

Then, scarcely had the side time to gather their wits again than it became the feast of Stephens two minutes later when Paterson dribbled his way down the left wing to the byeline before squaring the ball for Steven Thomson who netted from the edge of the six yard box.

Gunnlaugsson seemed determined to get his name on the scoresheet too and he forced good saves from Colin Stewart in the 77th and 83rd minutes with powerful left foot shots. The Queen's 'keeper then made a comfortable save from Wilson who also fancied his chances from long range.

As the game entered its final minute, Queen's came agonisingly close to making the scoreline a very respectable one. Danny Ferry, who had an immense 90 minutes, even eclipsing superb performances by Stewart and Fallon in particular, popped up at the back post to collect a loose ball  following a deep Stuart Jack cross before firing a seemingly unstoppable drive to Gallagher's right as the 'keeper dived towards his back post in anticipation of the shot going there. Incredibly, the ball cannoned off Gallagher's right ankle and dipped over the bar leaving the Queen's skipper clearly dismayed at the outcome.

Gordon Lappin had the final act of defiance with a right foot shot narrowly wide of target, before Willie Young brought proceedings to a close and the Queen's players turned to applaud their fans for the magnificent support they had been given throughout.

Both the Challenge and the League Cup have provided an opportunity for the Queen's players to show what they are capable of, and hopefully the Scottish Cup will do likewise in due course. However, in the meantime, the team must start climbing the league and demonstrate that they are worthy of the midweek praise which has been coming their way.

This Saturday sees the visit to Hampden of close rivals Albion Rovers and the players should need no motivating for that one as both sets of supporters will most definitely be up for it - a message which will quickly convey itself to the teams when they take the field.

ENTERTAINMENT VALUE : 4/5           STAR SPIDER : DANNY FERRY (maaaaagnificent!)

QUEEN’S PARK : Colin Stewart, Stevie Fallon, John Gallagher, Steven Moffat, Damiano Agostini, Tony Quinn (Johnny Whelan - 78), Danny Ferry, Gordon Lappin, Willie Martin (John Gemmell - 67), Craig Taggart (Stuart Jack - 67), Stephen Canning

Subs (not used) : Stewart Thomson (GK), Richard Sinclair

Scorer(s) : Canning (43 mins)

Booked : none

DUNDEE UNITED (with squad nos.) : Paul Gallacher 1, Stuart Duff 15, Warren Cummings 3, Mark Wilson 27, David McCracken 24, Jim Lauchlan 6, Stephen O'Donnell 28, Derek Lilley 9 (Craig Easton 7 - 57 mins), Steven Thomson 19, Jim McIntyre 10 (Arnar Gunnlaugsson 21 - 16 mins), Jim Paterson 11 (David Winters 23 - 72 mins)

Subs (not used) : Paul Jarvie (GK), Jamie McCunnie

Scorer(s) : O'Donnell (8, 37 & 69 mins), Thomson (71 mins)

Booked : none

REFEREE :  Willie Young *** (* = inept, ** = poor, *** = mediocre, **** = good, ***** = excellent)