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| Wood |
| Rating: | 7.68 |
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| Thomson |
| Rating: | 7.10 |
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| Reid |
| Rating: | 7.00 |
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| S3 |
| Craig |
| Rating: | 6.82 |
LATEST MATCH REPORT
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| PARTICK THISTLE 1 : 2 QUEEN OF THE SOUTH | 18th September 2004 |
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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.
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| MATCH SUMMARY |
Queens travelled to Thistle with another patched up side short of Steve Bowey, Willie Gibson and Emilio Jaconelli and with David Bagan fit enough only for the bench. Gary Wood was pushed into an unfamiliar right back role in what was effectively a back four of centre halves with Brian Reid returning from injury to partner Jim Thomson in the middle. Three ex-Jags, David Craig, Eric Paton and Tommy English lined up against their former side. However, they produced yet another superb battling away performance and returned home with a well deserved three points to delight the large away support.
The home side started well and took the lead with their first attack. A corner from the right was blocked away by David McNiven but lifted back into the box where the ball reached Juan Ramon Escalas. Controlling the ball with one touch on his right foot he lifted the ball over Brian Reid and then volleyed home from ten yards with his left foot giving Colin Scott no chance. However, Queens weren't fazed and tried to hit back immediately. In the tenth minute Tommy English's shot from 20 yards was fumbled by Kenny Arthur in the home goal but he regained possession before McNiven could reach the rebound. Seven minutes later, David Craig had a free header from the back of the six yard box from a right sided corner but he placed it into the side netting. Just before the half hour mark Willie Howie hit a shot across the face of goal for the home side but it was never going in. |
 Arthur gathers with Thomson and McNiven pressing |
In the fifteen minutes before the break Queens came close to a leveller several times. In the 33rd minute a fine move down the right involving McLaughlin and Burns saw the latter put in a dangerous cross. Tommy English managed to divert it back to Brian McColligan and his effort from the edge of the box struck the bar. Paul Burns was alert enough to reach the rebound but couldn't get over his header and it went over the bar. Two minutes later and McLaughlin's left sided cross was deflected goalward and clawed out by some combination of Arthur and the crossbar. Again Burns couldn't quite make the rebound count. A further two minutes later and McNiven's right sided cross was met by English in the penalty box before he was clattered into by a defender but referee Dougie McDonald waved penalty appeals away. Finally, with 39 minutes on the clock, Eric Paton seized on a defensive error and was allowed time to pick out a Paul Burns run on goal. However, Burns delayed a little and Kenny Arthur rushed from goal to block wide for a corner. Three minutes before the break though the home side showed at the other end as One got on the end of a deep free kick and his header from six yards was just reached by Colin Scott on his line.
The second half began in much the same fashion as the previous period with Queens on top generally. Two minutes into the half Eric Paton's expert free kick was met in the box by Tommy English but he lifted the ball over the bar from around 10 yards out. A few minutes later, Gary Wood somehow popped up in the penalty area to shoot goalward but his effort was dealt with by Arthur again. The one way traffic was halted temporarily on 55 minutes when Stevie Fulton had a shot from 22 yards fizz about a yard wide. Iain Scott then made his first change of the day, introducing David Bagan for Tommy English. That meant Paul Burns switching to the left side and Eric Paton moving to the right so that Bagan could partner McColligan in the middle. |
 Midfield action |
On 58 minutes David McNiven earned a somewhat soft free kick on the edge of the Thistle box and Eric Paton rifled the kick goalward. Kenny Arthur made the block but couldn't hold the ball and it pinballed around a little before the keeper could catch it again. Up the other end though Armand One picked up the ball 25 yards out after Jim Thomson failed to clear properly and rifled a shot goalward that Colin Scott did very well to turn wide. Thistle's management then made their first change when young Adam Strachan replaced Stevie Fulton and within 30 seconds the youngster almost finished the game. Gaining possession in the midfield he made two one-two's before striding into the box only to be denied by a last ditch challenge from Brian Reid.
However, just as Thistle seemed to have weathered the storm it was Queens who finally found a goal. Brian McLaughlin was determined enough to win possession in a midfield "stramash" and strode forward a few yards before passing the ball into the right side of the box where David McNiven had taken up an intelligent position and he rifled the ball under Arthur from about 15 yards. Queens now had their tails up and, after sitting in for about ten minutes, they went looking for the win. On 74 minutes in a move remarkably like the goal, McLaughlin fed McNiven on the right of the box again and this time his shot beat Arthur but fizzed across the face of goal with Paul Burns not quite able to reach it at the back post. A minute later a superb run along the by-line by McNiven and a defensive error allowed the striker to set up David Bagan for a shot but when it seemed easier to score he somehow hammered the ball over the bar from about six yards out. Another minute went past and Paul Burns tried an audacious chip from 25 yards which seemed destined for the top right corner until Arthur somehow arched his back to tip it over. A superb save! The remaining minutes though were filled with a succession of substitutions with Thistle bringing on Anis and Milne for One and Fleming and Queens replacing Brian McLaughlin with the lively debutant Lee George. The teams seemed happy as the game moved into injury time to settle for a point but three minutes into the overtime period David Craig went down with an injury. After a bit of treatment it became clear the big man wasn't going to be able to continue and Stephen Payne was thrown into the fray in the 94th minute. It was truly "Roy of the Rovers" stuff at this point then as a clearance fell to Payne in midfield and he strode forward to the edge of the Thistle box before holding the ball up looking for some support. None came so he doubled back on himself a little before unleashing a superb drive into the top right corner of the net from about 25 yards! The astonished Kenny Arthur put a hand on it but couldn't keep it out. So the 100% away record continues and Iain Scott must wish we could play all our games away at the moment. We also move above Thistle in the table. If only we could buy a home win we'd be right up there challenging. However, make no mistake about the spectacular manner of the win today, it was still richly deserved. The neutrals in the press box and even the Thistle fans in there were all agreed on that. On to Kirkcaldy next week for hopefully more of the same. Ewan Lithgow Photographs coutesy of QOSMAD |
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