LATEST MATCH SUMMARY

Match Date 27:12:98

Queen of the South 2 Livingston 2

Mathieson
LilleyRoweAitkenMcAllister
TurnerNesovicBoyleBailey
ArmstrongEadie

In keeping with the festive spirit both sides served up a cracker of a match, that kept the fans in suspense right until the end. The game itself did not kick off until 4-15pm as the Livingston bus was held up in traffic on the M74, as were a few of the Queens players. A crowd of 1221 however waited the hour and a quarter and their wait proved well worth while.

Queens lost the toss and Livingston elected to play towards the Terregles Street end for the first forty five minutes, from the kick off the ball was played wide left to Nesovic who burst through the Livvie defence and was brought down by McManus, the Referee had no hesitation in awarding the penalty kick which Ken Eadie cooly slotted into the keepers left hand corner with Alexander diving the wrong way. This rattled Livingston and they immediately commenced a spell of heavy pressure which the makeshift Queens defence coped with admirably, Andy Aitken looked very comfortable partnering George Rowe in the centre and left midfielder Jamie McAllister proved an effective attacking left back with some exceptional distribution.

Ken Eadie retired hurt from proceedings relatively early after taking a knock which he immediately knew meant that he was to take no further part in proceedings, he was replaced with on form, after his hat trick for the reserves last week, striker Charlie Adams to partner the impressive Gareth Armstrong who made some strong running and well crafted openings all afternoon. Livingston had an impressive close passing play in the first half but were unable to break down a hardworking Queens defence and were often thwarted by the hardworking midfield of Bailey, Nesovic, Turner and Boyle, in particular Alex Nesovic showed the level of commitment missing recently and provided the Livvie defence with problems on a number of occasions.

The second half started disastrously for Queens who like Live in the first half were caught flat footed within seconds of the kick off and a Miller shot from the edge of the box with Mathieson unsighted crept in at the keepers left hand post. Queens however were not subdued by this and became more dominant as the half wore on, on a number of occasions Livvie keeper Alexander was forced by his defenders to clear by foot from pass backs, with Gareth Armstrong always taking the chance to run him down the keeper was often relieved to send the ball out for throws, in the other goals however David Mathieson showed that he is back to his best as the best young keeper in Scotland with a comfortable assured display.

As the half wore on Livvie resorted to soaking up the pressure and breaking away whenever possible, the tiring ex-Livvie Lion, Lee Bailey, playing just in front of right back David Lilley, was being pulled further forward and leaving gaps for the Livvie No. 10 to exploit. In the seventy sixth minute the second Livvie goal came from precisely this source as Lilley was attempting to cover the whole line, the No. 10 escaped down his left and sent in a ball that David Bingham had no trouble in slamming into the back of the net. At this stage it looked like another odd goal defeat for Queens who in all fairness had outplayed probably the best team in the league.

Minutes after the goal Super Sub Stevie Mallan was brought into action at the expense of Bailey and he immediately livened up the front runners with Charlie Adams stepping back a bit to cover Baileys position. The combination of Mallan and Armstrong caused even more problems for the Livvie defence who were lucky to escape on a number of occasions, that is until the eighty seventh minute when Armstrong's shot was saved by Alexander but Stevie Mallan was on hand to finish in some style and tie the scores. The remaining three minutes saw Queens coming very close to snatching it but it was not to be. All in all it was an excellent performance but with East Fife winning away at Inverness the gap between Queens and East Fife is now some seven points.

PS No photos this week, too busy repairing storm damage to remember to take the camera.

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