Our walking football side too part in the Quay and Marsh Cup at Frenchfields Stadium in Penrith yesterday. It was a reduced squad with regulars Iain Mitchell, Peter Heath, Chris O’Toole and Mike McCaughey all unavailable.

The first game was against holders Workington. It was a really good game with two teams playing some quality football and sticking to the rules of fair play. The opposition struck several decent shots which were dealt with by the Queens defense and keeper and the game ended goal-less.

Full Time: Queens 0 v Workington 0

 

Game two came against Penrith which turned out to be a fairly even game but played with flexible rules. In the first half a barge off the ball was unpunished and the resultant shot was deflected into the Queens’ goal. The second half was similar and with running and physical contact the norm, the ball broke to Sean Marshall who fired a shot that the keeper got a hand to, to push it onto the underside of bar and in to make it two-nil. Penrith were running the clock down using the goalkeeper but were eventually caught out by Robert McAuley, who intercepted and struck the ball home. Again, the keeper got a hand to it but couldn’t keep it out.

Full Time: Queens 1 v Penrith 2
 

After the break, Queens took on eventual winners Gretna. They were a strong side and played some nice football but the Queens’ defense and keeper managed to thwarted them. Rob McAuley broke one on one with Gretna keeper but he was barged off the ball from behind and the chance went begging. Queens were awarded a free kick and the remonstration by the Gretna player earned him a blue card (off for 3 minutes). The free kick was defended and it came to nothing. In Scotland this would have been a penalty to reflect the denial of a goal-scoring opportunity. The same thing happened again in the second half when Robert McAuley was again through on goal and again barged off the ball. With only a free kick awarded as sanction it again came to nothing. With Gretna having survived they pressed on and with three men along the box they worked the ball into a position to score. With time running out Queens continued to press but Gretna managed to break again and scored a second.

Full Time: Queens 0 Gretna 2

The final match was against another younger make/shift side from Milnthorpe. This was pretty much a 50’s team and a much younger profile than Queens. Once again there was a fair bit of running and contact but it was more contained than previous matches. Queens were well in this game and had one or two chances but the deadlock was finally broken when several passes across the box found a Dallum player in space and he managed to squeeze the ball home for the only goal of the game.

Full Time: Queens 0 v Dallam 1
 

Queen of The South Team: Tom Gordon, Rob Clark, Neil McQuiston, Keith Brown, Mark Wilson, Stevie Smith & Robert McAuley.

Workington topped the table and took on Gretna in the final, the latter secured the trophy with a two-nil victory.