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QUEEN OF THE SOUTH 1 : 1 RAITH ROVERS

16th April 2005

Barnard Rating: 5.58

Paton Rating: 6.48

Reid Rating: 6.33

Thomson Rating: 6.14

English Rating: 6.12

Payne Rating: 6.95

Lovell Rating: 5.32

S1 McColligan Rating: 5.50

S3 Bowey Rating: 5.57

S2 Lyle Rating: 5.78

1 McNiven Rating: 6.55

SUBSTITUTES
S1 - 61 Bell Rating: 5.03	S2 - 69 Wood Rating: 5.40	S3 - 75 McLaughlin Rating: 4.91	Carr	Wright

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Members of the Internet Fan Club can award players marks out of ten for their performance today. The player with the most points awarded in the two days following a match will be the IFC Man of the Match. All of the points will then be added to a running total for each player and the results published in the mom League Table.

Name or IFC No.

MATCH SUMMARY

Whilst many expected a more experimental side today with first division status practically assured, Iain Scott went with what could arguably be described as his strongest eleven. The lads looking to make an impression were put on the bench today with both Chris Carr and Steven Bell keen to get a run out. The only real change to the team line from last week being David Craig making way for the returning Jim Thomson, Craig not even featuring on the bench. The match was not to prove to be a classic but both sides did put in honest performances with opponents closing each other down quickly and effectively and playing most of the football in the middle of the park. Queens were the dominant side in the opening twenty minutes but chances were few and far between, a Jim Thomson header from a corner spun wide, David McNiven was unlucky as his effort from a Stephen Payne run and cross was blocked by Berthelot and then Tommy Englishs' blushes were spared by the offside flag as he found himself clear in on goal and 'passed back' straight into the arms of the goalkeeper. A breakthrough did come however and it was all down to some neat play down the left involving English, Bowey and Brines (that's right Mr Brines the match referee). Bowser won a through and English took it quickly giving it to the captain who fed it straight back to Tommy, a shinny down the left and a quick cross was put in by the left back, however the ball crashed off the referee's face but fell nicely for English to then hit the bye line and put over a perfect cross for David McNiven to nod into the back of the net for his twelfth of the season. A fortunate break for Queens and an unfortunate one for Raith however Tommy did make sure that the referee was okay before continuing his celebrations.

English and McNiven are congratulated on a great goal

Queens looked more lively for a few minutes and a break saw Derek Lyle almost feed a free running David McNiven but the ball just wasn't good enough to get to the scorer. Eric Paton then managed to beat almost the entire Raith defence, all apart from a last defender who pushed the ball back to his keeper to alleviate the danger. Disaster struck a few minutes later as a free kick conceded on the right hand side of the box saw Richie Barnard come for but not make the cross, the ball fell to the edge of the box where Neil Jablonski hammered it through a ruck of players and into the back of the home sides net.

Barnard is beaten by a Jablonski strike

The second half saw Queens shooting into the Terregles street goal but not too many chances being made by either side. There was a first home debut for Steven Bell who looked a threat from midfield but otherwise only a Stephen Payne curling effort that just went past and very late chance for David McNiven where he opted to chip the keeper but only succeeded in getting it high enough for Berthelot to comfortably hold were worth talking about.

Berthelot makes a decent save

The recently re-signed Gary Wood came on for twenty minutes and injected some more urgency into the team and Brian McLaughlin also had fifteen minutes to create some more chances down the left. There were no bookings for either side and the game was a fairly contested affair that was probably a fair share of the points. With Partick defeated again and Queens now mathematically safe from relegation maybe next week at Dingwall will see some changes to the line up.