By The Spider
September 6 2004

Saturday, 4th September, 2004 Stenhousemuir 1 Queen's Park 1 (Bells Scottish League – Third Division) (picture from qpfc.com) Despite the absence of several key players, Queen's still managed to gain a point at Ochilview, a difficult venue for them.

Stenhousemuir at Ochilview is traditionally one of the harder encounters on any Queen’s fixture list, so the absence of key players in the form of David McCallum, Stevie Reilly, Paul Harvey and Frankie Carroll made this match an even more difficult prospect than already was the case. Whilst the return of the recently suspended Gavin Rushford and Ross Clark, plus Richard Sinclair’s first league appearance of the season, to fill three of those roles was to be expected, the debut of last season’s U-19 skipper John Weir in midfield most certainly was not, nor indeed was the choice of partnering Clark up front with Ally Graham.

There had been little to separate the sides in the Challenge Cup tie which opened the new season so, given the home side’s scoring sprees since then, anything that Queen’s could take from this game would have to be viewed as positive by new coach Billy Stark in charge of his first league game for the Club.

Queen’s looked the brighter of the two teams in the opening stages and Ross Clark should have done better than take a swipe at fresh air at the edge of the area in the 4^th minute. Brian Blair at least made contact with the ball five minutes later when he latched onto an Ally Graham lay-off, but his first time effort soared well over the bar.

David Crawford made his first save in what was to prove to be a busy afternoon for the ‘keeper in the 12^th minute when he got down well to save a low shot from McGrillan who was first to react to a Davidson cross.

Whilst Ross Clark was looking lively up front, he was getting little by way of opportunity to run at opponents with the ball at his feet, but his first such sortie in the 16^th minute was brought to an abrupt halt by Henderson who deliberately brought him down from behind. A couple of minutes later, Ross laid the ball gently back to new boy John Weir whose measured right foot cross was well saved at his left hand post by McCulloch.

Ross then looked to be chasing a lost cause, but his perseverance paid off as he twice charged down clearances to create an opening for himself, but he snatched at the ball and pulled his left foot volley wide.

McGrillan was looking dangerous up front for the home side, and right on the half hour mark he was only inches away from opening the scoring when his sweetly struck first timer dipped off the underside of the bar before bouncing clear. Then the same player again came close to breaking the deadlock when his shot wickedly deflected off Gavin Rushford to narrowly miss David Crawford’s left hand post.

Alan Trouten was having a quiet game in comparison to midweek, but he broke clear on the right in the 37^th minute to square the ball to Stuart Kettlewell whose first time shot bobbled wide of the target. McBride then embarked on a powerful solo run cutting in from the right touchline before unleashing a low left foot shot which David Crawford was the equal to.

Alan Trouten then attempted to do likewise by going on his own through the middle and whilst his final shot beat McCulloch, a defender’s deflection also took it wide of the target.

As the interval approached, Queen’s were guilty of failing to clear their lines with some sloppy defending, and when the ball eventually got crossed over from the right, they paid the ultimate penalty when McGrillan slipped the ball to Lee Collins right in front of goal who made no mistake by firing the ball low beyond an unsighted David Crawford.

It was a lead that the Warriors probably just deserved, and they nearly increased it a minute after the restart when David Crawford brought off a wonder save to thwart Davidson, and then had cause to be thankful to Damiano Agostini who used all his strength and experience to hold off Savage as he closed in for the rebound. Seconds later, Davidson got his head to a cross at the back post, but David Crawford was well positioned to save.

Stuart Kettlewell was over-ambitious with a long range shot from 30 yards which harmlessly drifted high and wide in the 48^th minute, before David Crawford reacted well to push an effort from a similar distance by Collins over the bar. The young Queen’s ‘keeper then produced the save of the game when he flung himself to his right to superbly tip away a direct free kick from McBride.

Crawford was literally single-handedly ‘keeping Queen’s in the match, and whilst Stuart Kettlewell missed the target from a Ross Clark pass, the ‘keeper’s efforts were duly rewarded when Bryan Felvus was again the super-sub by latching onto an astute through ball from Ally Graham before rounding McCulloch to fire home with his right foot from an acute angle.

Collins tried to restore the home side’s lead with a close range shot that dipped just over the bar, before Ally Graham did likewise at the other end. Then McCulloch stopped a header from big Ally right on his line, before a lob by Savage beat David Crawford but fortunately also missed the far post.

Brian Blair then forced a great save from McCulloch with a close-range volley which seemed destined for the postage stamp corner, and then a Shaun Molloy header was cleared off the line and McCulloch saved another netbound effort from Alan Trouten.

Stuart Kettlewell was booked in the 81^st minute for a dangerously high challenge on Savage, and David Crawford again had to look lively to grab McBride’s direct free kick.

Collins was next to enter referee Duff’s notebook for blocking a quick Ross Clark free kick without retreating the regulation 10 yards, and he was joined a minute later by McGrillan who was shown his yellow card for dissent after the Queen’s goal had experienced an amazing escape. McBride had looked certain to score as he waltzed his way into the heart of the Queen’s area, but he dilly-dallied instead of slotting the ball home, and was eventually crowded out by a posse of defenders who slid in from all angles to block his path. McBride duly crumpled in a heap, and had it been at the other end there would certainly have been loud appeals from the considerable away support, but referee Duff thought otherwise and it was left to the home supporters and players to howl in protest.

During the remaining six minutes McGrillan tried hard to exact revenge in the proper manner as he sent over several dangerous crosses, but it was Alan Trouten who nearly stole a winner for Queen’s when his last minute effort was deflected onto the outside of McCulloch’s left hand post.

Whilst both sides could probably put forward reasonable arguments as to why they deserved a victory, in truth the share of the points was the fairest outcome even if it allowed Peterhead and Gretna to pull further away. However, the visit of Montrose next Saturday followed by an away game against East Stirlingshire offers Queen’s the chance to prove whether they have what it takes to maintain a challenge this season, and six points has to be a realistic target from these two matches against sides who will undoubtedly finish in the bottom half of the table.

ENTERTAINMENT VALUE :  4/5

STAR SPIDER(S) :  David Crawford (made several important saves)

QUEEN’S PARK :  David Crawford, Alan Trouten, Damiano Agostini, Gavin Rushford Richard Sinclair, Shaun Molloy, John Weir (Bryan Felvus – 56), Stuart Kettlewell, Ally Graham (David Weatherston – 88), Ross Clark, Brian Blair

Subs (not used) :  Stevie McGovern (G/K), Martin Bonnar, Tony Quinn

Scorer(s) : Felvus (61)

Booked : Kettlewell (81 – dangerous challenge)

STENHOUSEMUIR : William McCulloch, Stevie Fallon, David McInally, Keith Knox, Robbie Henderson, John Paul McBride, Martin Lauchlan (Anthony Smith – 74), Lee Collins, Joseph Savage, Ryan Davidson (Mark Gardiner – 74), Paul McGrillan

Subs (not used) :  Kevin McKeown (G/K), Thomas Sinclair, Paul Murphy

Scorer(s) :   Collins (43)

Booked : Henderson (16 – professional foul), Collins (83 – unsporting behaviour), McGrillan (84 – dissent)

REFEREE : Steven Duff ***  (* = inept, ** = poor, *** = mediocre, **** = good, ***** = excellent)