This weekend sees Queens play their final fixture of the regular season away to Cowdenbeath. Thanks to last week`s win over Livingston, and presuming Dumbarton don`t win by an astonishing margin at Dundee, the game will mean an awful lot more to our opponent than it does to us. With a potential playoff fixture on Tuesday Queens focus may be elsewhere whilst Cowdenbeath know a victory is an absolute necessity if they want to avoid entering the playoffs at the other end of the table. Victory though will move them up to 8th unless Alloa surprise Falkirk away from home.
After a slightly stuttering start this season has turned into a successful one for Queens with a playoff place all but clinched and, statistically at least, a win would make this our most successful season since reconstruction to four divisions. In 2010 Gordon Chisholm`s side, with the season finished with Kenny Brannigan in charge following Chisholm`s departure for Dundee, finished 4th with 56 points. We currently have 54 points so a victory would set a new best for this level.
We are unbeaten against Cowdenbeath so far this season. Our first meeting at Palmerston was one of our poorest performances of the season but Andy Dowie`s late header salvaged a 1-1 draw. Since then we have won 2-0 at Central Park at Xmas time courtesy of goals from Paul Burns and Iain Russell and then 2-1 in the most recent Palmerston meeting with goals from Chris Higgins and Gavin Reilly.
Queens will definitely be without the suspended Mark Durnan and Derek Lyle whilst Michael Paton was injured last weekend. There are several other regulars who have slight knocks and late decisions might be needed on whether they feature. Cowdenbeath have the very dangerous front pairing of Kane Hemmings and Greg Stewart who will certainly be a handful for a defence shorn of the fairly unanimous Player of the Year, Mark Durnan.
It is of course traditional for our travelling support to wear Fancy Dress for the last regular season away game and we`ll be looking forward to some inventive costumes tomorrow. Enjoy your day!