LATEST MATCH REPORT
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QUEEN OF THE SOUTH 1 : 3 FALKIRK 21st August 2004
Scott
Rating: 6.40
S1
Paton
Rating: 4.76
Thomson
Rating: 6.92
Reid
Rating: 5.83
English
Rating: 5.65
S2
Bagan
Rating: 4.93
McColligan
Rating: 5.22
Bowey
Rating: 6.18
McLaughlin
Rating: 4.94
1
McNiven
Rating: 5.67
Wood
Rating: 5.22
SUBSTITUTES
S1 - 46
Burns
Rating: 5.71
S2 - 74
Armstrong
Rating: 4.38
Scott
Hilland
Samson
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Members of the Internet Fan Club can award players marks out of ten for their performance today. The player with the most points awarded in the two days following a match will be the IFC Man of the Match. All of the points will then be added to a running total for each player and the results published in the mom League Table.

Name or IFC No.
MATCH SUMMARY
A line up exactly as last Saturday's was a welcome sign for the Queens fans today as they looked to witness their side banish the memory of the undistinguished reversal in the CIS Cup versus Albion Rovers on Tuesday evening. Injury victims Eric Paton, Gary Wood and David McNiven all passed late fitness tests and took their places in the starting eleven to face a Falkirk side with Queens 'alltime great' Andy Thomson providing their fire power.

Queens started with some promise and within the first few minutes Jim Thomson could have opened the scoring as he rose above the visiting defence to power a header just wide from a corner. The first action though occurred down the other end as a corner was not properly cleared and from the foot of Brian Reid the ball reached David Nicholls on the edge of the box who fired the ball home past an unsighted Colin Scott to give the Bairns the lead.

Scott is wrong footed as Nicholls' effort flies past him for the opener
Falkirk then began to pile on the pressure as they did a 'Queens' on us by closing us down at every opportunity and not giving us any room to play the fancy passing game that we were attempting to construct. Russel Latapy was causing major problems for Queens and in one move fed Andy Thomson on the left, Tommo shot first time only to be denied by the finger tips of Colin Scott as the 'keeper made a superb save to push the ball away for a corner.

Whilst Falkirk were enjoying the bulk of the pressure Queens were still managing to make some chances and on 25 minutes Steve Bowey got himself into a good position as he cut across the face of the visitors box looking for an opportunity to unleash a shot, however the toe of Kevin James obstructed Bowsers passage and the penalty was awarded. After the customary 'scrap' between English and McNiven to determine the taker David McNiven buried the effort high past the 'keeper to keep up our 100% record from the spot this term - three so far.

McNiven is still airborne as his powerful penalty kick evens the score early on
Queens took heart from this and produced their best football of the match in the run up to half-time without really creating any great chances. Indeed it was Falkirk through first Thomson and then Nicholls who had the best chances but failed to convert as Colin Scott looked sharp to deny them both.

David Bagan takes the ball from McPherson
The second half saw an immediate substitution for Queens as Eric Paton, who had been struggling with an injury was replaced, not by the straight swap you would expect of Chris Scott but by Paul Burns, as a right-back. The strange move almost paid off immediately as Burns hit the bye-line but the ball wasn't converted.

A goal did come very soon after the break though as Falkirk capitalised on a defensive error which saw Darryl Duffy slip the ball under Colin Scott to extend their lead and send the significant numbers of visiting support wild. Things became a bit heated as some refereeing decisions appeared to wind up the players as first Brian McColligan was booked and shortly after Gary Wood.

Queens though continued to make some chances, mainly on the break away, McNiven had a first-time snap-shot from a McLaughlin feed just over the bar. And Gary Wood received an elbow in the face for no apparent reason on the left wing. Brian Reid then saw the referee's book as he tried to explain that elbows and faces aren't supposed to meet in this game.

Iain Scott made his second and last substitution as he removed David Bagan and replaced him with Chris Armstrong with fifteen minutes to go. Long balls it was then for the rest of the game with the midfield there purely to pick up the scraps. From a free-kick just outside the box David McNiven fired and effort to the 'keepers top right corner but Hill had no trouble in collecting. As Queens pressed a claim went up for a hand ball in the box, however with the Queens players still protesting Falkirk raced upfield and scored. Gary Wood complained just a little too much and received his second yellow card of the game to cap Queens poorest league showing and most indisciplined match this year so far.

Thomson can do little to prevent the game being killed with the third goal
In summary Falkirk were the better side and deserved to win - their tactic was to do to us what we had been doing to sides for the past two seasons, close them down, don't let them play, keep the tempo up, whilst Queens didn't have an answer. One good point is that the 'inevitable' goal from Andy Thomson never materialised.

A goal-less return for Andy Thomson


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