Albion
Rovers 0 v 2 Queen's Park 
Division 3
14th December 2002
Albion
Rovers 0 v 2 Queen's Park
Division 3
14th December 2002
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Attendance : 442
Scorers ~ Queen’s Park : Martin (13), Sinclair (45).
As Rovers stuttered through yet another disappointing home performance, this time the renowned second-half revival simply failed to materialise and the Spiders might even have won by a more significant margin. Need convincing? Well, Rovers’ best player was goalkeeper Scott Shearer who although losing two goals, saved umpteen more. In addition to good handling, the big fellow raced from his area on no less than four occasions to clear as the visitors attempted to cash-in on Peter Hetherston’s lads pushing forward.
So, the promotion push came to a shuddering, if temporary, halt, and the disappointment was clear to see. Rovers tried hard, and although they came close on a number of occasions, it seemed that Queen’s always had the upper hand with their chasing and harrying.
After Rovers had created the first excitement of the day in the second minute - Jim Mercer’s shot was blocked and Kevin McAllister could only slice his attempt wide - it was the visitors who began to have the better of things. Even when they lost the unfortunate Tony Quinn with a broken leg in the eleventh minute, their pressure was undiminished and within a couple of minutes, they were ahead. A drive by John Gemmill rebounded nicely to the feet of William Martin whose low shot entered the net via the base of a post. Soon afterwards, Shearer turned a Johnny Whelan shot for a corner, and then Todd Lumsden became the only yellow-card victim of the day.
Although a Peter Cormack header from a McAllister corner was not too far away, it was the amateurs who nearly went further ahead. Stephen Moffat, substitute Ross Clark and Richard Sinclair, with a blistering drive brilliant turned aside by the flying Shearer, all came within inches of adding to the scoreline. During this time, Rovers’ only reply was when an Andy Paterson cross was met by Lee Duncan whose header was easily mopped-up by Colin Stewart in the Queen’s goal.
With referee Dougie Smith poised to blow for the interval, the visitors launched yet another offensive. This time, the incisive three-pronged attack of Gemmill, Whelan and Sinclair ended with the latter sliding the ball behind the helpless Shearer to spark off joyous celebrations on and off the pitch.
If Gemmill had scored from the excellent opportunity given to him just three minutes after the restart, then the result would have been beyond doubt. However, his weak shot hardly had strength enough to reach Shearer. In 54 minutes, Rovers changed their strike force, with Iain Diack and Mark Weir replacing Charles McLean and Lee Duncan, and although the change brought a marginal improvement to the attack, it was not enough to make any real difference.
In 63 minutes, Rovers came within a whisker of scoring when Cormack, up in the box with his attack, was robbed at the very last moment in a move which brought an unsuccessful half-hearted claim for a penalty. Nine minutes later, Jim Mercer fired in a volley which Stewart allowed to bounce off his chest, but there was no Rovers’ player close enough to take advantage.
Within the last minute of the match, another Mercer volley was saved, and Gemmill passed-up the chance of the match for Queen’s. Put through by a great pass from midfield, he rounded the outrushing Shearer and only had to pop the ball into the gaping goal. However, instead of carefully side-footing goal number three, he went for the glory finish - and blasted the ball high over the crossbar. In the end, it didn’t matter, as Rovers were well beaten
Albion Rovers : Shearer, Paterson, McCaig, Smith, Cormack, Lumsden, McAllister (Dick 72), Silvestro, Duncan (Weir 54), McLean (Diack 54), Mercer. Unused Subs : Richardson, Fahey.
Queen’s park : Stewart, Sinclair, Canning (J Gallagher 90), Moffat, Agostini, Fallon, Martin, Whelan, Gemmill, Quinn (Clark 11), Allan (Ferry 60). Unused Subs : P Gallagher, Mitchell.
Referee : Dougie Smith
Man of the Match : Scott Shearer
