Queen's Park 1 v 1 Albion Rovers 
Division 3
8th February 2003
Queen's Park 1 v 1 Albion Rovers
Division 3
8th February 2003
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Attendance : 671
Scorers ~ Queen’s Park : Gemmell (60 pen). Albion Rovers : Shearer (90).
Well, did he or didn’t he? When Rovers’ vital equaliser hit the net in the 94th minute, the media credited goalkeeper Scott Shearer with getting the final contact. The big man was certainly up there on the goal line adding his not inconsiderable presence to the action, but was his the important last touch? Just to further confuse matters, substitute Jim Dick has also laid claim to the strike which the Hampden announcer considered to be of the "own goal" variety.
Of course, they can’t all be right, but the means by which the goal came about and who actually put it into the net are secondary to the fact that it salvaged a point from a match which seemed to have slipped away from Rovers, due in no small way to an unjust penalty awarded to Queen’s by referee Colin Hardie.
Generally speaking, it was not a great football match on a Hampden pitch which stood up very well and which belied the criticism levied at it in recent days.
Rovers had the first real chance of the match in 8 minutes when a Jered Stirling free-kick to the back post was met by Peter Cormack whose header scraped the outside of a post on the way past. Within a further minute, the action had switched to the other end where a shot by new signing David McCallum beat the outrushing Shearer but was cleared off the line by Cormack. It was a stark warning for Rovers who, a few minutes later, were relieved to see a Johnny Whelan header skim the crossbar. In the 18th minute, Whelan was again in the picture with a shot which Shearer saved then a nicely-constructed move by Rovers ended when Ian Diack was crowded out near goal.
Sinclair Booked
After Shearer had touched a low drive from Ross Clark for a corner, a Stirling cross caused panic in the Spiders’ defence and a shot from Diack was saved by Mark Cairns in the home goal. Soon afterwards, Rovers’ debutante Mark Yardley saw Cairns save his rather weak header. In the 34th minute, a good Yardley lay-off to Mercer saw the lanky one fire wide before Queen’s James Allan - a constant thorn in the visitors’ flesh - raced clear of the defence to be faced by Shearer whose diligence was rewarded when he blocked the wee man’s drive. Rovers survived a scare in 42 minutes when a dangerous home attack ended with Shearer flopping on the ball virtually on the line. Queen’s Richard Sinclair was booked in 44 minutes for a foul on Chris Silvestro - a caution which was to have further effect later in the game.
Straight from the second half kick-off, John Bradford surged forward and let fly from 20 yards, his shot skimming a post as Cairns looked on. Some minutes later, a careless pass-back by Andy Paterson looked as if it was going to be punished, but again Shearer advanced to block the shot. In 60 minutes, and with the game evenly balanced, Shearer dropped a home corner kick and when the shot came into the box, the ball seemed to strike the unfortunate Silvestro on the arm. As the stocky midfielder had his back to the action at the time, there was little he could have known about it, but Mr Hardie decided otherwise and John Gemmell expertly thumped the penalty-kick behind Shearer. This was a real blow to Rovers’ hopes and it took them some time to regain their composure.
Rovers’ Pressure
Manager Peter Hetherston then rang the changes, with Silvestro and Bradford making way for Jim Dick and Kevin McAllister respectively. Then, in 78 minutes, Charles McLean entered the fray in place of the tiring Diack. As Rovers turned up the pressure, Mercer had a header saved and Cormack shot past from about twenty-five yards.
Rovers won a corner on the right and Shearer left his charge to go upfield. The corner came to naught, but the ‘keeper remained up front for a bit longer than he really should have done and it was fortunate that Queen’s were unable to capitalise on it. After Sinclair had been stupid enough to kick the ball away, earning a second yellow card quickly followed by a red, it was into injury time which had already seemed to last for ages when Rovers again gained a corner on the right. This time, with Shearer once more prepared to throw his weight around, the ball was crossed to the near post - and suddenly it was in the net! Rovers had snatched what could be a very important point at the end of the season and the home support was silenced.
The Aftermath
Well, any normal support would have been silenced, but the baying Hampden fans - surely the most biased lot of people ever to inhabit a football ground - roared their anger at Rovers, the referee and anyone else not wearing the black & white colours! A few weeks ago, this column criticised the Greenock Morton support for their intolerance. Sorry for that lads, you’re like choirboys compared to the many chanting morons who inhabit Hampden on match days - especially those nut-cases who sit just behind the Press Box!
Of course, we all like to see our team winning, but most of us are sufficiently fair-minded to realise that in any football match it’s not always the thuggish opposition who are out to maim our heroes. that our own lads are often guilty of misdemeanours and that the referee is so biased that he should be demoted without delay. Those Queen’s supporters should take a reality check - and soon!
Queen’s Park : Cairns, Ferry, Canning (Gallagher 59), Sinclair, Agostini, Fallon, Clark (Kettlewell 65), Whelan, Gemmell, McCallum (White 71), Allan. Unused Subs : Menelaws, Mitchell.
Albion Rovers : Shearer, Paterson, Stirling, Smith, Cormack, Lumsden, Bradford (McAllister 69), Silvestro (Dick 66), Yardley, Diack (McLean 78), Mercer. Unused Subs : McCaig, Fahey.
Referee : Colin Hardie.
Man of the Match : Jered Stirling
