Summary Report for 25 June:
On Sunday 25 June, 2023, Queen of the South Walking Football Team travelled to Harraby Community Sports Complex, Carlisle to take part in the second round of league fixtures in the Cumberland FA Walking Football League, 2023. With temperatures in the mid-twenties and the threat of thundery downpours by late morning, the weather had a part to play, particularly with the heat over the first four matches.
The Team on the day consisted of Tom Gordon (GK), Keith Brown (Capt), Rob Clark, Martin McGarrie, Alan Cameron, Robert McCartney, Stevie Smith and Ray Thomson.
Queens played all six of their fixtures winning 3 matches against; league leaders Gretna FC 2008 Walking (1 – 0), Carlisle Utd Community (Blue) (1 – 0) and Carlisle Utd (Green) (2 – 0). They drew two of their matches 0 – 0 with Workington St Josephs (Blue) and 1 – 1 with Carlisle Old Boys Walking; and lost one game to Workington St Josephs (Black) (4 – 0).
The official list of results and current league positions have yet to be published however Queen of the South started the day in 3rd place with 9 points and having picked up a further 11 points are in a healthy position going into the next round of fixtures on 16 July, especially having beaten the league leaders Gretna FC 2008 Walking in this round.
The first match of the day was against Workington St Josephs (Blue) which ended in a 0 – 0 draw although it was a lively opener with both teams creating chances. Queens deployed some slick passing from back to front but both goalkeepers dealt competently with any threats on goal. With Keith Brown marshalling the midfield and Rob Clark sitting deep, they limited the opportunities for Workington, who moved the ball well particularly down their right hand side. Alan Cameron and Rob McCartney combined well to create the chances that we had but couldn’t break the deadlock.
The second game was against Carlisle Old Boys which was another fairly evenly contested match that ended in a 1 – 1 draw. Queens moved the ball about in a very controlled manner throughout this match and dealt comfortably with any encounters towards their goal save for one occasion when Wilson Stewart from Carlisle found himself advancing one on one with the Queens keeper and slotted home to lead 1 - 0. Queens created one or two chances through Alan Cameron and Robert McCartney before a quick free kick by Rob Clark found Ray Thomson, who grabbed the equaliser.
The third encounter was against Carlisle Utd Community Trust (Green), a team that Queens had not managed to overcome to date, having lost by the odd goal in both their previous league and cup matches. On this occasion however, the slick passing and forward movement allowed Queens numerous attempts on the ‘Greens’ goal with Alan Cameron managing to grab both goals in a relatively comfortable 2 - 0 win.
The fourth game was another story with Queens coming up against, what we consider to be the strongest team in this league, Workington St Josephs (Black) - and we were no match for their slick performance on the day. They closed the ball down and Queens had difficulty getting passes forward to Martin McGarrie in any position where he could competently threaten the Workington goal. Workington managed to attack in numbers where their deadly strike-force found space for numerous shots on goal from close range, beating the Queens goalkeeper on four occasions. Football of course is all about learning and we will be better prepared the next time we meet.
Our fifth game was against a strong Gretna FC 2008 side, which had beaten us in the last two encounters, and they had commenced the day on top of the league table. Queens settled well into the game and tried to get the passing going and to be fair so did Gretna and the game was well balanced at 0 – 0 at half time. The second half was however a different story when Gretna mounted several sustained attacks in the latter part of the game, forcing several double saves from the Queens goalkeeper, who was grateful for the very competent assistance of Rob Clark and Stevie Smith. In the dying stages of the game however, Queens put a serious of slick passes together to mount an attack on the Gretna goal, when Alan Cameron fired home to see Queens win the game 1 – 0.
The final game of the day was against Carlisle Utd Trust (Blue) who are also a very capable side and very slick in passing and getting forward in numbers. The game was pretty evenly matched at half time with both teams having chances, thwarted by both goal-keepers. Late in the game however Alan Cameron struck again when his shot took a slight deflection to beat the outstanding Bill Bentley in the Carlisle goal. With the clock now running down Carlisle had insufficient time to reply.
This was a very successful day for Queens, given that some of our players are over 70, giving away significant years in some cases. This outing demonstrated improvement on prior results and performance and put us in second place in the league table, but only on goal difference.
Workington St Josephs (Blue) 0 v 0 Queen of the South Walking Football
Carlisle Old Boys Walking 1 v 1 Queen of the South Walking Football
Carlisle Utd Community Trust (Green) 0 v 2 Queen of the South Walking Football
Workington St Josephs (Black) 4 v 0 Queen of the South Walking Football
Gretna FC 2008 Walking 0 v 1 Queen of the South Walking Football
Carlisle Utd Community Trust (Blues) 0 v 1 Queen of the South Walking Football
The next round of matches takes place on Sunday 16 July, 2023.