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Albion Rovers 2 v 1 Queen's Park |  |
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Albion Rovers 2 v 1 Queen's Park | |
| Scottish Football League 2nd January 2007 |
Attendance : 409
Scorers ~ Albion Rovers : Walker (51, 84) . Queen's Park : Canning (68 Pen).
A brace of goals from Kevin Nicoll was enough to start Albion Rovers year with a bang in the traditional derby match against Queen's Park, denting their promotion hopes rather significantly.
A Queen's corner caused some difficulty for Rovers soon after kick-off but the eventual shot from Steven Canning was met with a spectacular one-handed stop from Jamie Ewings. Tommy Lennox tried his luck unsuccessfully after much Rovers possession around the Spiders box.
Richard Sinclair was left holding his head in his hands when his shot went a yard wide of goal following a Canning cross. Dave McFarlane had a long 1-2 with Scott Chaplain which ended with an unproductive corner. When slack defending by Tommy Murray of Queen's gifted Pat Walker the ball but it was given too much elevation to trouble 'keeper David Crawford.
Nicoll failed with a long range speculative attempt before Mark Ferry at the opposite end of the park blasted over from the near side after a cross picked him out nicely.
Stuart Kettlewell was lucky to escape with a ticking off from the referee when he took a quick free-kick straight at a Rovers man on the ground 5 yards in front of him.
Queen's came close when Mark Ferry lifted the ball upfield for David Weatherston to blast towards the Rovers goal, luckily for the homesters Jamie Ewings was equal to it.
Ciaran Donnelly thwarted a 1-2 involving Kettlewell and Murray. The half ended with Murray being booked for a cynical foul which let his defence get back to handle the free-kick.
Half-Time
The first period was classified rather dull by most observers but the second couldn't be describes thus!
Tommy Lennox thwarted a Weatherston shot cum cross then for a while the Spiders were in control but Lennox and Ewings coped admirably. The balance of play then changed and it was Albion Rovers with the upper hand and they took the lead in 51 minutes when Pat Walker stuck out his neck to direct a cross by trialist Bobby Thompson into the net from close range.
A long ball upfield by Queen's looked promising with no Rovers defence being near, just as Tommy Murray was getting close to the loose ball Jamie Ewings sprinted out to clear the danger. Mark Ferry failed with no less than three attempts before Paul Ronald and Weatherston combined to give the defence a hard time ultimately fruitlessly.
Queen's Park were dominant now and having much possession near to the homesters goal. Just as frustration was showing in the visitors faces they were awarded a penalty when Moffatt appeared to handle a Paul Cairney cross. Canning stepped up and struck the ball into the net off the far post.
A long Donnelly free-kick into the Spiders penalty area saw 'keeper Crawford slip and injure himself as the ball went out harmlessly. After some "magic sponge" treatment and some walking up and down he decided to continue.
Donnelly had a header saved at the 'keepers near post which was followed by a low Brian Smith shot also stopped by the stopper. Ferry blasting inches too high preceded Rovers scoring the winner when a McFarlane through ball gave Walker the perfect opportunity to put the ball across Crawford into his net.
The match ended with Ewings confidently catching a high ball into his area from a free-kick.
Summary
A hard-fought win by an improving Rovers side against a team harbouring real promotion hopes, although Albion Rovers players, fans and officials are not ruling that out for themselves!
Albion Rovers : Ewings, Moffat, Lennox, Lennon, Donnelly, Nicoll (Felvus 90), Trialist, Chaplain (Chisholm 83), McFarlane, Walker (McBride 88), Smith. Subs Not Used : Sim, Thompson.
Queens Park : Crawford, Sinclair, Dunlop, Ronald, Agostini (Dunn 75), Canning, Kettlewell, Cairney, Murray, Weatherston, Ferry. Subs Not Used : Bowers, Waters, Colquhoun, Cowie.
Referee: C. Charleston
Man of the Match : Kevin Nicoll
