By The Spider
February 9 2003

Saturday, 8th February, 2003 Queen's Park 1 Albion Rovers 1 (Bells Scottish League - Third Division)

Don't let the 1-1 scoreline from this game fool you as this was a cracking match which could just have easily finished 3-3. Between them, the two sides conjured up an incredible 37 goal attempts with 21 of them on target. Only some great goalkeeping and some poor finishing prevented this one from being a classic.

It was also the first opportunity for both coaches to field some new signings. 'Rovers had procured Mark Yardley to add weight (literally!) to their attack, whilst Kenny Brannigan handed debuts to goalkeeper Mark Cairns and left sided defender/midfielder David McCallum with Tony Mitchell and Paddy Gallagher dropping down to the subs bench to make room for the new boys.. Queen's other new signing, Derek Scrimgour, was unavailable due to work commitments.

Queen's created the game's first opening in the 2nd minute, Danny Ferry firing a rising drive over the bar after good work from John Gemmell and Jimmy Allan forced a half clearance from Paterson. Then Cormack nearly scored an own goal in the postage stamp corner when a driven cross from a Stevie Fallon free kick came off the big defender's head at completely the wrong angle. However, Cormack nearly put the ball into Cairns' postage stamp corner a couple of minutes later, his powerful header from a Stirling free kick being glanced narrowly wide.

The front line partnership of Gemmell and Allan caused the 'Rovers' defence more problems in the 8th minute as the pair combined to put David McCallum through, and although the new boy slipped the ball past the onrushing Shearer, Smith got back in the nick of time to clear the ball off the line.

A Johnny Whelan header created an opening for John Gemmell in the 11th minute, but Shearer easily saved the striker's shot on the turn. Then Whelan himself came close when he nodded a David McCallum free kick inches wide of Shearer's left hand post. Five minutes later and it was John Gemmell's turn again as he latched onto a long pass from Ross Clarke to fire in a fierce first time shot which Shearer saved low to his right at full stretch.

Mark Cairns was called into serious action for the first time in the 19th minute when he made a great point blank save from Diack who had peeled away from his marker to get on the end of a measured head-flick from Yardley. As the action continued unabated Ross Clarke forced a good low save from Shearer after the young midfielder had pounced on a rebound from a Jimmy Allan breakaway. Then Mark Cairns again thwarted Diack after the tall striker had fired in a fierce effort from 20 yards following some woeful Queen's defending from a throw in.

By now Cairns was being called on more often to prove his worth, and saves from a Yardley header and another shot from Diack showed just why Queen's should be delighted to secure the services of a quality 'keeper with several medals in his collection.

The impressive Ross Clarke put Jimmy Allan through on Shearer in the 36th minute, and although the winger went round the 'keeper this time, his final effort was hacked away by a covering defender for a corner which failed to trouble the visitors' defence. Then Allan turned creator for Gemmell whose goalbound drive took a wicked deflection inches past the target for another corner. This time the corner caused havoc in the 'Rovers' goalmouth with firstly Damiano Agostini, and then Johnny Whelan, both having close range shots blocked on the line.

As half time approached, Cairns threw himself full length to his right to touch a powerful drive from Stirling narrowly past for a corner. Richard Sinclair then became the first player to be booked for a late challenge on Silvestro seconds after a crunching tackle from behind on Diack. The tackles had been fairly flying about from both sides in a pulsating first half, and the only surprise was that it had taken referee Hardie so long to open his little black book.

There had been little to choose between the sides with both 'keepers being called into action on four separate occasions, but Queen's could probably consider themselves unfortunate not to have gone in at the interval at least a goal to the good.

Bradford had been somewhat subdued during the first half, but within seconds of the re-start he had cut in from the right wing to send a powerful effort whistling inches wide of Cairns' right hand post. Then a particularly energetic looking Johnny Whelan forced Shearer to make another impressive stop after the Queen's midfielder had seized upon a Gemmell lay-off.

As the pace of the game showed no signs of dropping, Cairns did well to hold onto a another great drive from Bradford whilst Danny Ferry was less impressed with his own effort as he sent a volley well over the bar.

Queen's finally made the breakthrough right on the hour mark in somewhat fortunate circumstances. With referee Hardie completely unsighted on the left edge of the 'Rovers' penalty area following a corner, there were loud appeals for handball on the right hand side after the ball had struck Silvestro's hand during a challenge for a loose ball. Far side assistant Willie Weir had a clear view of the incident and immediately indicated a penalty to his colleague who had little option but to take Weir's advice. It looked somewhat harsh on Silvestro, but countless penalties have been awarded against Queen's over the years in similar circumstances where the ball has struck the hand rather than the other way about, so there was no way that Queen's weren't eager to accept it.

With normal penalty taker Stephen Moffat absent through injury, it was assumed that Johnny Whelan would step forward, but John Gemmell immediately made his intentions known by grabbing the ball before striding forward to send Shearer the wrong way whilst fairly hammering the spot kick low into the 'keeper's bottom right hand corner.

Whelan nearly got onto the scoresheet himself in the 68th minute, but somehow Shearer blocked his shot right on the line for the second time of the afternoon.

Mark Cairns saved well in the 74th minute from substitute McAllister before John Gemmell embarked on a solo effort, albeit that Jimmy Allan was unmarked in the middle, which resulted in Shearer beating away his powerful effort from close range. Queen's should then have added to their lead on several occasions, but over-eagerness on the part of John Gemmell each time led to him being flagged for offside, as well as earning him a right good earful from an increasingly frustrated Kenny Branninigan who was as keen as every Queen's supporter to see a second go in to finish the game.

As the game neared it's conclusion, Mark Cairns produced further saves from Stirling and McAllister, whilst Johnny Whelan forced Shearer to save a direct free kick in the 90th minute.

By now the game looked won, but Queen's hadn't reckoned on the intervention of 'Rovers' 12th man, referee Colin Hardie. Firstly, Richard Sinclair was shown a second yellow card for kicking the ball to Mark Cairns to take a free kick, an action that the official misconstrued as wasting time when in fact Cairns had been coming out of his area to take free kicks all afternoon.

Then, as if that wasn't bad enough, Hardie took it upon himself to add an incredible 5 minutes and 49 seconds of injury time in a game where an extra three minutes would have been considered more than generous. Deep into the 94th minute of the game, 'Rovers won a corner which was swung into a busy goalmouth made even more crowded by the intrusion of Scott Shearer who had come up for the corner. Although the 'keeper missed the ball as it flew past his head, it may well have entered the net by being deflected back off Shearer from Jim Dick's header immediately behind him. Unless someone else steps forward to claim responsibility, that may well be how it is recorded for future posterity.

The final whistle blew seconds later and all credit to Queen's for keeping their emotions reasonably under control in the circumstances. This is by no means the first occasion that the Club has had cause to query this official's sense of fair play, and whilst it will have no purpose as far as the outcome of the game is concerned, let's hope that a suitably critical report is sent to the SFA which, in due course, along with those from other clubs, will see Mr. Hardie demoted from his present rank.

The final outcome apart, this was an overall fine display from Kenny Brannigan's new look side which has adapted well to his new formation. Apart from Mark Cairns who was superb in every aspect of his game (positioning, handling and kicking), KB also got magnificent performances from Damiano Agostini, Stevie Fallon, Ross Clarke and Johnny Whelan, with the rest not far behind.

However, Kenny now doesn't have his problems to seek for Monday night's cup replay with Hamilton. His players will be shattered both physically and mentally by a gruelling 96.28 minutes, whilst the goalkeeping position is a major concern. With Mark Cairns cup-tied, unless Derek Scrimgour can have his 14 day waiting period negated upon appeal (unlikely because we chose to free Stewart Thomson, then KB will need to rely on Tony Mitchell who aggravated his injury in the half time warm up and who looked in no shape to replace Cairns had the need arose. There is now a genuine possibility that U-18 'keeper Chris Lamb may have to be called upon to make his debut, and whilst that may cheer those who remember Derek Atkins rise to prominence in similar circumstances 24 years ago, it is most certainly not the ideal preparation for such an important game.

ENTERTAINMENT VALUE : 4/5           STAR SPIDER : Mark Cairns (flawless performance)

QUEEN’S PARK : Mark Cairns, Danny Ferry, Stephen Canning (Paddy Gallagher - 59), Richard Sinclair, Damiano Agostini, Stevie Fallon, Ross Clarke (Stuart Kettlewell - 64), Johnny Whelan, John Gemmell, David McCallum (Jamie White - 71), Jimmy Allan

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

Scorer(s) : Gemmell (pen - 60 mins)

Booked : Sinclair (late challenge - 43) & (time-wasting - 90)

ALBION ROVERS  : Scott Shearer, Andy Paterson, Jered Stirling, Jordan Smith, Peter Cormack, Todd Lumsden, John Bradford (Kevin McAllister - 69), Chris Silvestro (Jim Dick - 65), Mark Yardley, Iain Diack (Charlie McLean - 78), Jim Mercer

Subs (not used) : Chris Fahey (GK), Jim McCaig

Scorer(s) : Shearer (90 mins)

Booked : none

REFEREE :  Colin Hardie * (* = inept, ** = poor, *** = mediocre, **** = good, ***** = excellent)