By The Spider
July 20 2002

Saturday, 20th July, 2002 Annan Athletic 1 Queen's Park 1 (Pre-season friendly)

Due to major roadworks on the way down from Glasgow, the Queen's players' bus only arrived shortly before the scheduled kick-off time of 2.00pm and the start was delayed by 15 minutes to allow them time to change/limber up, and also for the Supporters' bus to get there too. Perhaps it's because the dressing rooms are so small, but those Queen's fans who were not on the bus and who arrived early were treated to the unusual experience of the Annan team being given their pre-match instructions in a corner of the Social Club. John McCormack on the other hand, preferred to hold court on the pitch while his players gathered around him.

Emphasising that this was a very low key affair, neither team did much in the first quarter of an hour with only a fierce 25 yard drive from John Gallagher (which just zipped over the bar) giving either 'keeper any cause for concern. That quickly changed though right on the 15 minute mark when Steven Moffat climbed all over McMenaman who duly collapsed to earn an obvious penalty. Ally Sloan stepped up to the mark and sent his low shot to Tony Michell's left, but the Queen's 'keeper was equal to the task.

Mitchell was in action again after half an hour when he had to dash to his near post to usher an Irons direct free kick narrowly past the upright. Jimmy Allan tried to inject a bit of life into Queen's game but his left foot drive went just the wrong side of the bar.

Skipper Danny Ferry nearly broke the deadlock right on the stroke of half time when he played a neat 1-2 with Paddy Gallagher on the edge of the area to leave himself with just Johnstone to beat, but the big 'keeper got down quickly to his left to tip Danny's first time effort narrowly past for a corner. When the resultant cross came over, the ball was only cleared to the edge of the box but Paddy Gallagher couldn't keep his shot down and Johnstone safely shepherded it over the bar.

Both teams began the second half having made several changes, and they would continue to do so right up to the end with some players even coming back on again. This had the effect of opening the game up and both sets of fans at least had the pleasure of seeing their favoured side score.

Annan were first to do so in the 55th minute. A right wing corner wasn't cleared properly and when the ball broke to substitute Alan Smith, the little striker was able to hook the ball home, albeit severely aided by a wicked deflection. However, moments after the re-start, the scorer crumpled in a heap on the right touchline after a hefty but fair challenge, uttering the immortal words, "I'm f*cked!" as he fell. Slowly picking himself up, he noticed a few ladies amongst the visiting support positioned just a few yards away from him, at which point he became extremely embarrassed and immediately apologised for his bad language. You can almost imagine it happening at an Old Firm game, can't you!

Queen's struck back in the 63rd minute following a little piece of magic from Jimmy Allan. Skipping past several lunging challenges with consummate ease, he sped to the edge of the Annan penalty area before slipping the ball inside. Although it didn't quite reach it's intended target, the ball broke kindly to big John Gemmell who had the simplest of tasks to slide it low past Johnstone and into the middle of the net.

A minute later, Annan's Jardine took exception to the tall Queen's striker's ability to shrug the home midfielder off the ball and he simply and deliberately scythed Gemmell down from behind right in front of the referee. In normal circumstances it would have been a red card offence but, as is the custom in minor friendlies, Jardine was simply invited to leave the field for compulsory substitution.

Ten minutes later, Chris Fisher struck a low shot from a short corner narrowly wide, but it was Annan who nearly grabbed victory with six minutes remaining, but Queen's were lucky that Gary White was on hand to clear a powerful shot off the line.

So honours even at the end, but the result was unimportant, the performance being what mattered most. Without Neil Collins at the back, following his shock and sudden transfer to Dumbarton (had Queen's known that he intended to leave they could have probably alerted several bigger clubs who had previously expressed interest in him!), the defence looked shaky and the visit of Everton could now be a cause for concern. A dominant figure like Annan's Kevin Proudfoot would be most welcome. However, the introduction of Gary White at left back certainly helped, and he certainly deserves another run out on Tuesday.

Of the other new boys, John Gallagher looks steady if unspectacular, while Stuart Jack and Paddy Gallagher still have a lot to do if they are to make it into the forward line as regulars this season. Darren Magee still looks short of fitness in midfield, but Gordon Lappin looked quite promising in that area and he spread play about well. Pick of the bunch though was Jimmy Allan who, if given the opportunity to link up with Chris Fisher and Stephen Canning, will at least ensure that a lot of the long ball play from last season will disappear.

Roll on Tuesday, but let's keep it respectable. After all, it would be rude to beat them by too many after coming all that way from Merseyside like!

ENTERTAINMENT VALUE : 3/5               STAR SPIDER : Jimmy Allan

QUEEN’S PARK : Tony Mitchell (Trialist - 46), Richard Sinclair (Danny Ferry - 80), John Gallagher (Gary White - 53), James Bruce (Damiano Agostini - 46), Steven Moffat, Gordon Lappin, Stuart Jack, Darren Magee (Chris Fisher - 46), Paddy Gallagher (John Gemmell - 46), Danny Ferry (Tony Quinn - 46), Jimmy Allan

ANNAN ATHLETIC : Mike Johnstone, Craig Allan, Kevin Frazier, Kevin Proudfoot, Paul Laurie, David Irons, Craig Irvine, Chris Jardine, Graham Armstrong, Garry McMenaman, Ally Sloan.  Subs: (all used) David McWilliam, Kevin McCulloch, Stan Leslie, Mark Little, Alan Smith, Alan Tuzivitch, Simon Ferrie