Queens slumped to a seventh consecutive Championship defeat after two first half goals saw visitors Inverness become the latest team to inflict further misery on a Queens side who at this moment in time are really struggling at both ends of the pitch. In the first half of today`s encounter - largely dominated by the away side - more poor defending led to two goals, and to be honest, we were lucky that it was only the two as Inverness had numerous chances to put the game well beyond Queens before half-time, and although we made a bright start to the second period, once again we failed to score when we were dominant. The fact that we didn`t find the net during that decent spell was largely due to some excellent goalkeeping from Mark Ridgers who twice denied Stephen Dobbie, but Queens also wasted further opportunities to get back into the game and eventually the visitors regained their control of the game and comfortably eased to the win.
Match photo gallery here.
Queens made one change to the team that started against Dunfermline as full-back Jordan Marshall missed his first game of the season due to an injured hamstring and was replaced by Andy Stirling, whilst Darren Brownlie started his first game at Palmerston this campaign following his long injury lay-off. There was a switch to the formation for Queens as they started in a 4-1-4-1 set-up with Stephen Dobbie playing as the lone striker, with Kyle Jacobs sitting just in front of the back four.
VIPs today
Looking to put an end to their dismal run, Queens began well and having started the game unbeaten against Inverness this season there was a slight optimism that this might be the game in which Queens fortunes might change, and a promising run from Scott Mercer down the left saw him pick out Kyle Jacobs just outside the penalty box, and although Jacobs got his shot on target, the ball went straight at `keeper Ridgers who made a comfortable save.
Unfortunately that bright start turned out to be as good as it got for Queens, as just 60 seconds later, the away side took the lead. Slackness in midfield put Queens under pressure and when an attempted back pass from Jacobs was short Doran pounced on the error to round Alan Martin and from a tight angle slip the ball into the unguarded goal.
Doran goeas around Martin following a midfield mishap
It was just the start that Queens didn`t want and it handed the momentum to the away side, and for the next spell of the game they enjoyed the bulk of the possession without creating any clear cut scoring opportunities. For their part Queens found it difficult to find any cohesion to their game and opportunities were hard to find as a well organised Inverness team kept them at bay. Our first half chance arose after 14 minutes when after winning our first corner, Fraser Aird`s delivery eventually fell to Stephen Dobbie but his shot was charged down. Our next attack down the right was Queens best move of the opening quarter. An overlapping run made by Mikey Doyle gave him the chance to deliver a cross into the box and his deivery was met at the near post by the head of Lyndon Dykes who could only guide his effort wide. That was better from Queens and it seemed as though they were slowly starting to get to grips with the new formation, but once again just when it appeared to be turning for Queens, they conceded a second goal, and yet again, the goal came from another set-piece. Polworth`s delivery to the far post was decent enough but it should have been defended by Queens, but they allowed McKay to have what was almost a free-header as he doubled his team`s advantage.
Goal 2
With Queens looking decidedly shaky following the goal, Inverness went looking for a third goal and an effort from Polworth didn`t miss by much. The visitors did have the ball in the Queens net for a third time in the half, but scorer White was penalised for a push and the effort was correctly ruled out. A flowing move that sliced through the home defence ended with White having his shot deflected, and from the resulting corner, McCart saw his header crash against the bar with the follow up being ballooned over by White.
Queens responded with a route one attack that saw them come very close to halving the deficit. Alan Martin`s long clearance was flicked on by Dykes to Dobbie who then switched the ball out to Aird on the left and after cutting inside, Aird hit a powerful drive that Ridgers nearly let slip past him, juggling the ball and just about managing to prevent it from crossing the line. Minutes before the break, Aird escaped down the left again but upon reaching the bye-line he went down and was booked for simulation by referee Munro.
Just before the break a deep cross from Aird picked out the run of Doyle, but from close range all he could do was plant a header into the side netting.
So another disappointing first half for Queens was greeted by a few muffled boos from sections of the frustrated home support, as Queens completed another first half without scoring - with the statistics showing just 2 goals scored in the first half during their last 12 league games.
HALF-TIME QUEENS 0-2 INVERNESS CALEY THISTLE
There was a change to both personnel and formation for Queens at the start of the second half, as Jack Leighfield replaced Alan Martin in goal,who complained about an injury to his back and a slight tweak to the line-up saw us switch to a 4-2-3-1 set up. We certainly started the half on top and a quick break saw Aird deliver a ball into the area that was only inches away from finding the head of the arriving Lyndon Dykes. For the first time in the game, Queens were able to put some sustained pressure on the visiting defence, and twice in quick succession, Sir Stephen - without a league goal in 5 games before today - came agonisingly close to ending that barren spell, but Inverness `keeper Ridgers produced two really good saves to keep him out, and in between saving from Dobbie, the big `keeper also did well to turn away a shot from Dykes as Queens continued in the ascendancy.
Leighfield took over in goal for the second half
Had they managed to find a goal during that period when they were on top, then Queens might have been able to make more of a game of it, but as it was after that rocky period for the away side ended, it was the visitors who slowly regained control of the game. Chances came and went for both Polworth, and then Welsh, and as the early signs of yet another frustrating afternoon for Queens began to set in, a rash challenge by Wilson on Welsh quite rightly ended with a yellow card being shown to the on-loan Kilmarnock man.
Dobbie denied
That incident was to be Wilson`s last involvement in the game as Queens made a double change that saw him and Aird replaced by Connor Murray, and Ian McGrath for the final 14 minutes. A foul by Doyle on the right side of midfield saw him join both Aird and Wilson in the notebook of referee Munro as Queens ran out of ideas and ultimately time.
Inverness had the best chance of the latter stages to add a third goal, but after being played in by former Queens man Rooney, White saw his low drive just about kept out by Jack Leighfield.
In recent matches we have certainly been worth at least a point in some of the games, however today we were lucky not to be dead and buried before the interval, and although we produced a `mini` revival, once again not taking our chances when on top has again proved costly as we fell to another defeat.