Queens were sent crashing out of this seasons Scottish competition after being beaten by second division amateurs Queens Park, with both goals being scored a player who was deemed to be not good enough for Queens during his time at the club. Two first half goals had the away team in a good position,and that could have been even better but for a stunning reflex save from Robby McCrorie, but an expected fightback from Queens never materialised, and although Connor Murray halved the deficit with a superb volley in stoppage time, it was sadly much too little, much too late

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Injury to Lee Kilday kept him out of today`s game with Andy McCarthy replacing him, and Kevin Holt moved to centre-back as Darren Lyon slotted into Holt`s full-back position.

VIPs today

 

Queens lined up in a 4-4-2 formation but right from the start there seemed to be a lack of urgency about us as we struggled to build up any momentum and in fact it was the visitors who began brighter and forced the first save of the game - albeit a very comfortable one - from Robby McCrorie who kept out a header from Summers.

 

Queens responded with a shot form Stephen Dobbie being blocked after he got on the end of a cross from Gary Oliver, and then minutes later Oliver almost collected Darren Lyon`s long ball but the pace of the pass just carried it through to `keeper Muir.

The best chance for Queens during that opening spell came when Scott Mercer`s persistence down the right saw him get to the bye-line and pull the ball back into the path of McCarthy, but level with the penalty spot, he got too much height on his shot that ended up in the Terregles Street terracing.

 

Having passed up those early half chances, Queens were pegged back on 15 minutes. A foul conceded by Darren Brownlie gave the visitors a free-kick wide on their left and Lidouren`s perfect delivery was glanced into the bottom corner by the head of former Queens player Salim Kouider - Aissa who delighted in celebrating his goal in front of the main stand.

 

Kouider-Aissa enjoys his goal celebration

 

A quick response was needed from Queens and they should have levelled the game just 2 minutes after falling behind when Dobbie fed Murray, but instead of shooting himself he sought out Oliver who had his effort blocked. Another opportunity came the way of Queens when a foul by Little on Oliver offered up a set-piece chance, but Dobbie`s shot flew straight into the wall and was then cleared to safety as the visitors defence held firm. Midway through the half Kouider - Aissa almost scored a second goal for both him and his team when both Mercer, and McCarthy conspired to give away possession by the corner flag on the Queens left, and the striker was only denied by a wonderful save from Robby McCrorie who threw up an arm to turn a header onto the far post and fortunately for Queens no-one in the black and white hoops was near enough to turn the loose ball into the net. A really big chance fell to Queens following their next attack when Oliver was set up by Dobbie, but with space either side of the `keeper, Oliver went for power and drove the ball straight at Muir and when the rebound fell to Dobbie- with virtually an open goal to aim at - he somehow managed to slice the ball wide of the target. 

 

No way through for Oliver

 

That spell was Queens best period of sustained pressure and when a long ball from Dan Pybus picked out the run of Dobbie down the right, the Queens talisman was unfortunate to see his angled half-volley just fail to dip enough to find the far corner. They may have been half chances but you would have expected Queens to at least work the `keeper and their failure to do so was punished on the half hour when the visitors doubled their advantage and again it was Kouider- Aissa who did the damage as he got on the end of a Summers cross to prod the ball home from close range.

 

Kouider-Aissa side foots number two

 

Surely now at two down Queens would have to change their style of play which up until that point had consisted of far too many sideways, backwards and meaningless slow passes which allowed the visitors plenty of time to organise and keep a very tight defensive line.

 

The change that Queens made was to sacrifice McCarthy for the fit again Michael Paton, but in truth there were several candidates who could have been replaced after a pretty woeful first 30 minutes.

 

We did have a couple of chances to get back into the game before the first period ended,a close range header from Oliver went over, and with just about the last kick of the half following a corner, a header from Darren Brownlie was blocked on the line.

 

Off the line from a Brownlie header

 

After a very disappointing first half came to an end some of the disgruntled home support let it be known that they were not happy as a chorus of boos greeted the players as they dejectedly trooped from the pitch, perhaps realising that they had to do more than just turn up to win the game.

 

HALF-TIME QUEENS 0-2 QUEENS PARK

 

If the home fans amongst the crowd of 1066 were hoping for a second half onslaught from their team, then sadly they were to be very disappointed as for whatever reason, it failed to materialise, as the second half continued to serve up even more frustration. The opening phase saw Queens continue to give up possession almost at will and it wasn`t difficult for the away team to protect their lead as Queens had no ideas of how to break them down. Time after time the ball was passed back and forth along the back line before eventually being launched forward more in hope than with confidence as Dobbie and Oliver were well marshalled by the very impressive Clark and Jamieson at the heart of the Queens Park defence.

 

With Murray and Mercer trying to get behind the defence on either flank our best chances seemed to be created when we got the ball out wide, but the visitors were strong in defence as they moved ever closer to pulling off a surprise victory. Lewis Kidd was booked for a clumsy challenge in midfield, and the best chance of the opening 20 minutes fell once again to Kouider - Aissa who nearly caught McCrorie out with a shot from distance but his effort lacked sufficient power to cause any real problem.

 

With 15 minutes remaining we were given another set-piece opportunity when a foul on Oliver again by Little offered up a shooting chance, this time it was left to Connor Murray to try his luck, but once again the ball flew straight into the wall.

 

The low attendance was starting to become even smaller as fans began to drift out with all of the noise being made by the 99 travelling Queens Park fans who were certainly enjoying their day trip.

 

Queens won a couple of corners in quick succession as the game moved toward it`s conclusion, with Stephen Dobbie going close to pulling a goal back from one, and then with what was virtually the final kick of the cup-tie, Connor Murray did pull a goal back with an absolutely stunning half volley, which sadly as good a goal as it was, won`t be remembered as it ultimately counted for nothing.

 

Murrays superb strike was nothing but a consolation

 

A poor performance,and a poor result means that another cup run has ended before it`s even got started, but there can be no complaints or hard luck stories about this one as it was the better of the Queens who progressed.....unfortunately it was just the wrong Queens!!

 

The 121 travelling spiders celebrate their deserved win