Stenhousemuir

2 |

1

Queens

Smith (28')
Dickson (72')

Mitchell (44')

Queen of the South suffered their first defeat in 20 matches and first of 2013 as they fell 2-1 to Stenhousemuir at a blustery Ochilview Park.

With the league title already secured in addition to the Ramsdens Cup the Queens players may be forgiven for taking their foot of the pedal. This combined with changes to the regular starting lineup as Pat Slattery and Steven Black made their second and third starts of the season respectively saw Stenhousemuir take advantage by catching the Doonhamers on the counter-attack.

Queens dominated much of the contest but Stenhousemuir took the lead after 28 minutes through Darren Smith`s low finish before Chris Mitchell curled in a fantastic free-kick on half-time to send the teams in level. Queens upped the tempo in the second half and created numerous chances but were unable to capitalise allowing Stenhousemuir to steal the win on the counter through Sean Dickson`s header.

The match began with both teams struggling to come to terms with the strong wind as high balls became increasingly difficult to judge but it was the Dumfries side who took early control of the contest and almost opened up the home defence after just five minutes but Chris Smith in the Stenny goal rushed out to grab the ball at the feet of Nicky Clark.

Chris Higgins then had the ball in the net as he met Chris Mitchell`s crossed free-kick with a powerful header only to see the linesman`s flag go up to disallow the goal.

Higgins heads home from an offside position

Stenhousemuir had threatened sporadically through long range efforts but opened the scoring as Sean Dickson`s throughball found Darren Smith who made no mistake as he fired the ball low past Lee Robinson from the edge of the area.

Nicky Clark then created the best opportunity of the match so far for Queens as he raced into the left-hand channel before cutting onto his right foot and hitting what looked to be a goal-bound shot only for Kevin McKinlay to pull off an outstanding block.

Despite that opportunity Stenhousemuir were the better of the two teams with the goal giving them increased confidence and Jamie Reid epitomised this increase in confidence as he attempted to lob Lee Robinson from range only for the wind to carry his effort clear of the crossbar.

Queens were still carrying a threat though as Pat Slattery fired in a fierce low drive that Chris Smith did well to hold before Chris Mitchell`s quality from set-pieces told once again.

The foul on Clark was to the left of centre of the pitch, about 25 yards from goal, in a perfect position for a free-kick taker of Mitchell`s class. He made no mistake as he curled the ball across the goalkeeper and into the top left corner to save Queens` first half blushes as the referee called an end to the half.

With their manager`s words ringing in their ears, Queens came out with much more verve and intensity as they looked to rush and harry the Stenhousemuir defence and to create chances.

They did so as Nicky Clark got in down the left to cut back for Derek Lyle to strike but the experienced forward could not catch the shot properly and scuffed over the bar.

Stenhousemuir then had an opportunity as David Rowson had a good chance to shoot from inside the box but put his shot well over the bar. Stenhousemuir were restricted to brief counter attacks as Queens were in control of the match and created a wonderful chance on 51 minutes as Dan Carmichael beat the offside trap before overcooking his touch to allow the defence a chance to recover and his rushed cutback for Nicky Clark was cleared.

Danny heads for goal

The pattern of play with Queens controlling the match and Stenhousemuir sitting in before breaking on the counter continued as Stenny`s John Gemmell had a shot from wide following some slack passing in the Queens midfield before Lyle had a half-chance from eight yards but could not get his effort on target.

The sucker punch came after 72 minutes as the industrious Jamie Reid found space on the right wing and his cross found Sean Dickson free at the back post to head beyond Robinson making the score 2-1.

Nicky Clark had a golden chance to level the scores just minutes later as he pounced on a defensive mistake to sprint clear of the chasing defence but he was denied by the feet of Chris Smith as the `keeper raced out to meet him.

Nicky takes a tumble in the box

The home side were happy to sit and defend their lead and Queens struggled to find a way through. Their best effort came from another Chris Mitchell free-kick but this time he could not find the net as his low effort clipped the wall before being pushed wide by Chris Smith.

The Second Division pushed for a late leveller but struggled to create any real chances and despite being on top for the vast majority of the contest fell to just their second defeat of the league season.

0
Robinson
0
Mitchell
1
0
Black
0
Higgins
0
Holt
0
Carmichael
(Sub1)
0
McKenna
0
Slattery
0
Paton
0
Lyle
0
Clark

Subs

1
Atkinson

1
Smith
Sub1-86

1
McGuffie

1
Fitzpatrick

1
Orsi

For Real Time Updates Go To Our Updates Page

	18:22	Hello folks and welcome to a sunny but blustery evening at Ochilview Park as Queens travel to Stenhousemuir.
	18:22	Tonight`s teams:
	18:23	Queens: 1 Robinson 2 Mitchell 3 Holt 4 Black 5 Higgins 6 Slattery 7 Carmichael 8 McKenna 9 Lyle 10 Clark 11 Paton
	18:24	Subs: 12 Smith 14 McGuffie 15 Fitzpatrick 16 Orsi 17 Atkinson (gk)
	18:25	Stenhousemuir: 17 C Smith 2 Devlin 3 Ross 4 McKinlay 5 McMillan 6 Hodge 7 Reid 8 Rowson 9 Gemmell 10 Dickson 11 D Smith
	18:25	Subs: 12 Kouider-Aissa 14 Brash 15 Corcoran 16 Summers 1 Shaw(gk)
	18:28	Stenhousemuir currently sit in 7th place with 40 pts from 32 games and their win over East Fife last week arrested a run of 6 without a win.
	18:29	The last meeting here took place in December with a Nicky Clark goal and Gavin Reilly brace giving Queens a 3-1 victory.
	0 min	THE GAME KICKS OFF
	5 min	Queens begin on the front foot and Derek Lyle almost plays Nicky Clark in behind the defence but the `keeper is out to grab the ball.
	7 min	Stenhousemuir`s Darren Smith sends a decent effort just over Robinson`s bar from 25 yards. Good effort but Robinson didn`t look too bothered
	15 min	Chris Higgins heads in from a Chris Mitchell freekick but the linesman`s flag is up and it doesn`t count.
	19 min	So far the busiest man on the pitch has been the linesman with three offside calls already against Queens players.Queens looking most likely
	22 min	Decent attacking move from Queens as Paton beats his man before crossing low to Lyle but the frontman couldn`t connect and it goes wide.
	28 min	Queens have dominated the match so far, keeping better possession but without creating anything. Stenny have threatened in patches.
	28 min	Goal Stenhousemuir. Smith the scorer
	30 min	Out of nowhere that goal, really. Queens defence split open by Dickson`s pass and Darren Smith finishes well low past Robinson.
	34 min	Best chance of the match for Queens as Clark gets in behind but his goalbound shot is blocked at the last minute by McKinlay.
	34 min	Yellow Card : Chris Mitchell stops a Stenhousemuir counter attack and is cautioned.
	40 min	Stenhousemuir are looking confident now since their opener and winger Jamie Reid tries to chip Robinson from distance but floats it over.
	40 min	At the other end Pat Slattery tests Smith in the Stenny goal with a low, hard shot that was well held by the goalie.
	44 min	GOAL QUEENS! Mitchell the scorer
	45 min	Wow! Talk about free-kick specialist. Chris Mitchell whips a free-kick from 25 yards straight into the top corner. Beckham-esque.
	Half Time	HALF TIME - Stenhousemuir 1:1 QOS
	Half Time	An iffy performance from Queens as they were rocked a bit by that Stenhousemuir goal but Mitchell`s excellent free-kick sees them in level.
	Half Time	That was Chris Mitchell`s second league goal of the season - his other one was also a free-kick, also against Stenhousemuir at Palmerston.
	45 min	SECOND HALF UNDERWAY
	47 min	Chances at both ends. First Stenny are in but for Robinson`s speed off his line to clear and then Clark sets up Lyle who slices over.
	49 min	Another chance for Stenhousemuir as Rowson has a good chance but skies his shot from an angle. Bright start to the half by both sides.
	51 min	Real opportunity for Queens as Carmichael is free and clear down the right but overcooks his touch and his hurried cutback is cleared.
	57 min	Queens have begun this half with much more zip and are pressing high up the pitch.They`re very much on top and putting Stenny under pressure
	66 min	John Gemmell has a chance to shoot from wide after slack passing from Queens but the angle is against him and Robinson gathers.
	67 min	Half-chance missed by Lyle. Nicky Clark hooks the ball over his head and into the area where Lyle controls but sends his shot wide.
	72 min	Goal Stenhousemuir. Dickson the scorer
	73 min	Simple goal for the home side as Reid gets clear on the right wing and crosses to the back post where Dickson is waiting to head in.
	74 min	Massive chance for Queens as Nicky Clark pounces on a defensive error and races clear but Smith saves with his feet before the defence clear
	81 min	Queens have a free-kick 30 yards from goal. Mitchell steps up...
	83 min	...saved! This time he goes low, it takes a nick off the wall and the `keeper pushes wide. From the corner Lyle has a header saved easily.
	86 min	Substitution : Smith on for Carmichael
	90 min	Queens are huffing and puffing but can`t knock down the Stenhousemuir defence at the moment.
	20:20	FULL TIME - Stenhousemuir 2:1 QOS
	20:21	Disappointing result for Queens and not a brilliant performance either. Still champions though...