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Queen's Park 1 v 1 Albion Rovers |  |
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Queen's Park 1 v 1 Albion Rovers | |
| Bell's League Third Division 3rd January 2004 |
Attendance : 454
Scorers ~ Queen's Park : Gallagher (59). Albion Rovers : McManus (68).
Rovers first-footed Hampden with a couple of unfamiliar faces, Chris Kerr having been signed from Ayr United and going straight into the defence and Ricky Patrick stepping up from the youth team for the first time into midfield. Spiders had also had a different look to their team as they, like Rovers, had a few injuries and unlike Rovers a couple missing due to them being red-carded last time.
Stand-in 'keeper Crawford didn't have long to wait for a touch of the ball as he easily scooped up a weak shot from the visitors. A few minutes later a Steve Reilly header was saved by Bennett in the Rovers goal but it transpired the player was offside anyway.
Rovers next attempt at goal came in 8 minutes when Paul McManus executed a sharp turn in the box but his shot was stopped by Crawford. A couple of minutes later former Rovers hero Ally Graham sent Steve Moffat down the left but his cross was blasted over the bar by Steve Canning.
Seconds later Moffat skied a shot of his own. Little happened for the next 10 minutes, then a McManus shot was stifled hitting the side-netting and giving the visitors what proved to be an unproductive corner.
Shortly afterwards 'keeper Neil Bennett flapped at a ball from a corner and was well out of position, luckily for Rovers nothing came of the move. In 37 minutes a Queen's move failed when a Paddy Gallagher shot went wildly over the bar from just outside the 6 yard box, the knockdown coming from "big" Ally Graham. Graham was next to try his luck a few minutes later but his weak shot was blocked when it hit Spiders McAuley.
With 3 minutes of the first half left Graeme McCaul was unlucky to see his well-struck shot from 25 yards saved in the "postage stamp" by 'keeper Crawford. Rovers were in command and seconds before the whistle Mark Yardley missed the target from within the 6 yard box.
Second Half
Queen's could have gone ahead seconds after kick-off when Steve Reilly shot from just outside the penalty box which Bennett was powerless to stop, unluckily for him the ball skimmed over the crossbar.
Rovers had the best of the next 10 minutes or so
with Mercer, Yardley and McCaul all coming close.
Blunderland
In 59 minutes under-fire Cliftonhill 'keeper Neil Bennett did little to improve his reputation with fans when he gifted Queen's Park the opening goal. With little impending threat to his goal Bennett came out to the corner of his box to scoop up a relatively slow-moving loose ball and then proceeded to drop it at the feet of Paddy Gallagher. The Spiders frontman gladly accepted the gift and struck the ball across Bennett into the far corner of the net.
In 67 minutes Cliftonhill manager Kevin McAllister changed the team to a more attacking format when he replaced defender Chic Connelly with striker John Bradford. Just a minute later Rovers were level when several spectating defenders failed to stop Paul McManus shooting from the edge of the 6 yard box. The relatively slow ball squirmed through 'keeper Crawford's hands and seemed to trickle over the line.
Both teams were now going all out for victory. Scorer Gallagher saw a skilful header saved by Bennett although it may have been going past the post. In 77 minutes Jered Stirling went down in the Queen's penalty box and was admonished by referee Sproule for complaining that no penalty was awarded.
In 81 minutes Graeme McCaul was put through on goal and with only the keeper to beat but his shot from 20 yards skimmed post the post. Play immediately switched to the other end of the pitch where a couple of Queen's players seemed reluctant to shoot.
In the dying minutes Ally Graham and Paddy Gallagher both had shots which didn't trouble Bennett much. A last roll of the dice by Kevin McAllister saw youth team ace hitman Marc McKenzie replace Graeme McCaul but it was too late.
Summary
Although perhaps neither side deserved a victory it was the Santa Claus antics of Neil Bennett that denied the visitors the full 3 points. Fans will be hoping their favourite Chris Fahey is between the sticks in a fortnights time when Stranraer visit Coatbridge.
The only booking of the match was for Danny Ferry of the Queen's.
Queen's Park : Crawford, Ferry, Canning, Moffat (McCallum 77), Agostini, Fallon, Reilly, Harvey, Graham (Whelan 88), Gallagher, McAuley (Clark 57). Subs not used – McGinty, McCue.
Albion Rovers : Bennett, Connelly (Bradford 67), Kerr, Smith, Cormack, Stirling, McCaul (McKenzie 88), Patrick, Yardley, McManus, Mercer. Subs not used – Valentine, McBride, Fahey.
Referee : Martin Sproule
Man of the Match - Paul McManus
