Albion Rovers 1 v 1 Queen's Park

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Attendance : 501

Scorers ~ Albion Rovers : Savage (90). Queen's Park : Weatherston (54).

Fresh from their CIS cup triumph over Aberdeen, Queen's Park knew not to take anything for granted against a Rovers side resplendent in their new kit. They thought victory was theirs until injury time when Joe Savage headed an equaliser.

Rovers started strongly and had 'keeper Cairns scrambling to bundle the ball away within a couple of minutes from the kick-off. In 5 minutes a crossed ball from Mark Ferry from close to the corner saw Paul Ronald snatch at the ball spoiling any opportunity he had to score.

Former Spider Bryan Felvus was in a decent position but seemed to catch his foot in the turf as he shot and the ball was given too much height. A move by Savage and McBride then broke down before Jamie Ewings was forced to rise to punch clear a high ball into his area. Scott Friel didn't unduly worry Cairns with a long-range shot easily caught when Rovers went on the offensive.

Scott Chaplain teed up a shot which curled past the Queen's post. Then Bryan Felvus gave the club top scorer another opportunity shortly afterwards giving him the ball at the near post but the resulting shot bulged the side netting from the wrong side.

A Scott Friel free-kick from far out was easily saved then Felvus advanced once more to give Joe Savage an opportunity which saw his shot round the post although the apparent deflection for a corner wasn't given by the referee.

Gordon Lennon was at the right place at the right time on the half-hour mark to blast the ball clear from an advancing Queen's attacker. A minute later Jamie Ewings left his penalty area to help thwart Weatherston.

Cairns was busy getting down to save a tricky Felvus effort and then to hold a strong Chaplain drive from distance. Play switched ends for Trouten to hit the ball wide of the mark from 25 yards. A Weatherston run ended with a cross to Kettlewell who forced save from the Rovers stopper. 

On the brink of half-time Michael Dunlop body checked Chaplain close to the Spiders box. Ciaran Donnelly stepped up to blast the free-kick off the assembled wall.

Half-Time

The first action of note on the second period came in 54 minutes [Photo E] when David Weatherston on the wing struck the ball with his left foot only to see it slip over Jamie Ewings in the Rovers goal. His body language immediately afterwards confirmed the theory that this was a complete fluke!

Chaplain had a shot blocked within the opposition box before the Spiders gave their fans a fright when Paton awkwardly kicked a long ball into his box to 'keeper Cairns. Referee McKendrick reasonably concluded it couldn't possibly have been a deliberate pass-back and play continued. Martin McBride was next up when he went on a cross park run passing to Savage who tried to curl the ball into the net but Cairns was on hand.

A wayward Ferry attempt on the Rovers goal became a Rovers attack with much lead up ending with Gordon Lennon being off-target. Quinn then lofted the ball too high before Jim Chapman brought on winger Andy Sim for defender Graham McGhee. Bryan Felvus was in a position to turn and fire from a tight angle, regrettably straight to Cairns between the sticks.

Queen's gaffer took off striker Weatherston and replaced him with midfielder Steve Canning at a point they seemingly they were content with a one goal lead. A long move up the field by Rovers ended disappointingly for the home fans when Martin McBride tamely put the ball straight to Cairns.

In 83 minutes the referee booked Scott Chaplain when to all the world looked like he'd been brought down by Dunlop. Queen's advanced and were awarded a corner which Trouten wildly put over the Rovers crossbar.

A last throw of the dice by Jim Chapman saw midfielder Phil Creaney and forward Patrick Walker replace midfielders Jamie Doyle and Martin McBride. Rovers were awarded a corner on the 90 minute mark after a rather optimistic penalty claim was denied, the short corner eventually found Joe Savage who headed the ball over Mark Cairns to level the scoreline much to the delight of the Rovers faithful.

One final Queen's move failed with the interjection of Ciaran Donnelly who cleared a ball which Trouten seemed to have well under control.

Summary

Not the most exciting of matches but Rovers proved once more that teams shouldn't take anything as read even whilst awaiting the final whistle! It would have been grossly unfair if Queen's Park had taken all 3 points back to Hampden with them.

Albion Rovers : Ewings, Moffat, McGhee (Sim 71), Lennon, Donnelly, Friel, Doyle (Creaney 85), Chaplain, Felvus, Savage, McBride (Walker 85). Unused Subs : Chisholm, Thompson. 

Queen's Park : Cairns, Paton, Dunlop, Agostini, Whelan, Trouten, Kettlewell, Quinn, Ronald (Dunn 67), Weatherston (Canning 75), Ferry. Unused Subs: Bowers, Carroll, Crawford. 

Referee: John McKendrick 

Man of the Match : Joe Savage

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