Turning Queen's Park into kings

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APRIL 2018


Two bits of news items to kick off the month. First of all, i received some rather flattering compliments from Cowdenbeath manager James Fowler in the lead up to our match against them.

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Very nice to receive words like that, but could it be mind games? Who knows.

Also, i was tipped as a potential replacement for Warren Feeney at table topping Linfield in Northern Ireland.

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COWDENBEATH V QUEEN'S PARK (League One)

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Two changes for this match, as Davison and Blair come in for McGinn and Gibson. An interesting match up here, especially given that Cowdenbeath were the last team to beat us in the league when we lost 2-0 at home to them.

We got off to a terrific start, as a slick passing move led to Wylie setting up Auriemma, who finessed a first time shot into the bottom left corner. There was a contrast to the start of the second half however, as Slattery got free to head home a Robertson cross. Slattery punished us again just moments later, breaking an offside trap to latch onto a pass from Paton before hitting home past Muir. Match turned on its head within the space of a few moments...

We would hit back immediately however, as McPherson drilled a shot under Thomson to equalise after being slipped in by Auriemma. We would suffer some typical bad luck late on in the game, when Auriemma went off with an injury after we had made all 3 of our subs. The lack of numbers would cost us, as Slattery poked home an early cross from McLear to bag his hat trick.

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I feel we were unlucky to lose that game, especially given the ridiculous amount of injuries and knocks we suffered. And the bad news kept rolling in...

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He'll be a big loss in the run in, especially as he made a big impact on that game. So much so that he was named in the team of the week.

James Fowler can take a lot of plaudits for ending our 8 game unbeaten run too...

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I've also now been linked with the manager's post at League 2 side Barnet...

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We will be without Gavin Mitchell for the game against Dumbarton at the end of the month, as he has incurred a one match ban due to racking up 6 yellow cards. To make things even worse, Sean Black has suffered a back strain after over exerting himself while using weights and will miss 5-6 weeks, likely meaning he will be out for the rest of the season.

AIRDRIE V QUEEN'S PARK (League One)

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Four changes from the defeat against Cowdenbeath, as McGinn, Jackson, Craigie and Gibson replace Wylie, Davison and the injured pair of Auriemma and Black. A decent chance to get back to winning ways here, Airdrie only have one point from their last 4 games.

We should have fell behind in the 18th minute, but Carberry blazed over the bar after being set up by Muirhead. He made no mistake in the 22nd minute however, smashing home after latching onto a long ball over the top. Injuries would plague us again just moments later, as Collins was forced off. We came forward ourselves in the 54th minute, and McGinn rattled the crossbar with a volley after being set up by Jackson. Airdrie should have doubled their lead on the hour mark when Steeves gave possession away cheaply to Carberry, but he again missed a golden opportunity.

Airdrie got their second goal when Maxwell tapped in at the far post following a Muirhead cross. We nearly gave ourselves a chance late on, but again hit the bar when Smith fired a shot off from the edge of the area.

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Not a great performance, although i think a 2 goal win flattered Airdie a little. Either way, Montrose are getting dangerously close and will overtake us if they win and we lose our next game.

Our front line is now looking thread bare, as Collins will be out for around 2 weeks with a bruised rib, while McGinn will be out for around the same time with a strained wrist.

QUEEN'S PARK V CLYDE (League One)

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Six changes from the loss against Airdrie, with Greig, Wylie, Davison, Donnelly, McMillan and Marr replacing McGinn, Jackson, Collins, Craigie, Gibson and Smith. We desperately need to get something from this game, lest we hand Montrose a chance to catch up to us.

We gave Clyde a great chance to take the lead early on, as Blair clattered McShane from behind just inside the area and the ref duly pointed to the spot. Ashgar stepped up, and fired beyond Muir to put Clyde 1-0 up. We should have equalised in the 28th minute when Wylie seized upon a poor touch from McMann, but Martin was on hand to tip his shot wide. Clyde killed us off in second half stoppage time, when McShane tapped home a Downie cross.

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Another poor performance, we look a shadow of the team that went 8 matches unbeaten.

I was also linked with yet another couple of jobs...

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Thankfully for us, Ayr managed a surprise 2-0 win over Montrose over the weekend, which keeps Montrose at bay for the time being.

QUEEN'S PARK V DUMBARTON (League One)

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Four changes for this game, as Sinclair, Craigie, Gibson and Smith come in for Wylie, McMillan, Marr and the suspended Mitchell. Big game here, if we get a point and Montrose fail to win, we'll be guaranteed to stay up, but if we lose and Montrose win, we'll be chasing them going into the final day, and given that we're up against Berwick in the last game, that's not something we want. We'll have to keep a particular eye on our old loanee Eamonn Brophy, as we know how good he can be.

We got off to an excellent start, as Berry curled his free kick past Ewings to give us an early lead. Our advantage didn't last long however, and Dumbarton were level when MacDonald knocked down a long throw from Linton and found Agnew, who volleyed home. It wasn't long into the second half before we fell behind, as Brophy latched onto a long ball from McAusland and easily scored to make it 2-1. We had a brilliant chance to equalise not too long after however, as Gibson was shoved by McGeever as a corner was whipped in, leading to the ref pointing to the spot. Gibson dusted himself down and placed his penalty down the left side to make it 2-2.

Our fans were sent into raptures in the 83rd minute when Berry snatched the ball after McGeever tackled Collins, before placing the ball past Ewings to give us a 3-2 lead. We almost killed the game off late on, but Horribine's free kick was well saved by Ewings. We were given another chance however, when Agnew tripped up Craigie just inside the area, leading to our 2nd penalty of the game. Gibson again stepped up but this time slammed his penalty straight down the middle, straight at Ewings, who palmed the ball away. It wouldn't come back to cost us however, as we held on for the victory.

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An excellent result for us, our stalwart Vincent Berry came up clutch for us as always, he was named in the team of the week for his performance. Unfortunately, Montrose also picked up a relatively surprising 2-0 win away to Stirling, meaning the survival race will carry on until the final day... The matchday also sealed Ayr's relegation to League Two, i pray we won't be joining them.


​
 
Apparently you are at your best against the top teams. ;)

Almost too exciting to bear! Who are you and Montrose facing in the final matches?
 
dllu said:
Apparently you are at your best against the top teams. ;)

Almost too exciting to bear! Who are you and Montrose facing in the final matches?
Click to expand...

That's how it's always been with Queen's Park and me as an FM player in general! Haha!

In the final game, we are hosting Berwick, while Montrose are at home to Dumbarton, two games which we should both be losing really!
 
FINAL MATCHDAY (?)


So... It's crunch time, we are hosting league leaders Berwick on the final day, while Montrose are welcoming 2nd place Dumbarton, Berwick will only forfeit top spot if we were to beat them and Dumbarton beat Montrose. Same goes for us, we will only drop into the relegation play off spot if we lose to Berwick while Montrose beat Dumbarton. It's going to be a massive day.

We received some rather unwelcome news in the lead-up to the game, as loanee centre back Jack McMillan broke down in training with a sports hernia meaning he will definitely miss the final day clash. We could be without both him and Sean Black, depending on how Black's recovery goes. Gabriel Auriemma is another definite absentee.

More fuel was added to the fire in the build up, as myself and George Shields' war of words was published in the newspaper.

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QUEEN'S PARK V BERWICK RANGERS (League One)

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Two changes from the win over Dumbarton, as Collins and Mitchell come in for Sinclair and Donnelly. This is it, the big game, we're in a good position, a draw is all we need, but it doesn't usually work out that way for us. Pull it off, and we can look forward to another season in League One, defying the 1000-1 odds we had of winning the league (to put it into perspective, the next highest odds were Montrose at 150-1). If it goes against us, we'll almost definitely be going against Brechin in the semi finals of the play off.

After a largely uneventful first half an hour, hearts were in mouths when ex Hibernian man Danny Galbraith was slipped in by Ferguson, but he was denied at the last second by a sliding tackle from Blair. Phew. Then, mere moments later, George Smith whipped in a cross to the near post, a cross that was met by Collins, who slammed home at the near post to net his 12th of the season and put us 1-0 up! We'd have been silly to think it would be that easy though, and we were pegged back in the 37th minute when Stallard somehow found space among a crowd of players and volleyed home a Lawson free kick to level the scoring.

Then, the news began rolling in...

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An unbelievable turn of events! Montrose now needed to score at least 3 goals to stay up.

Things took a turn for the worse early on in the second half however, when George Smith received a second yellow card for tripping Galbraith from behind. Our disciplinary record certainly wasn't getting any better. The resulting free kick was cleared out to Davison, who tried a very un-intelligent cross field ball which was intercepted by Duffie, who passed to Galbraith who then slid in Lavery, who found the top corner to put Berwick 2-1 up. Not good at all.

We were heading into the final 20 minutes of the game, and just when you thought that we were looking good to stay up...

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I swore profusely on the touchline as the news reached me, i couldn't stand still for more than a few seconds... We would still stay up as long as Montrose didn't somehow find another goal...

Then, in the 87th minute of the game, Vincent Berry played a corner to the near post and found...

GREGOR WYLIE!!!!!

Who found the back of the net despite Horne getting a finger tip to the shot! The team was transformed from all out attack to parking the bus, i didn't want to concede again...

We entered stoppage time, and i heard the news...

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McIntosh had bagged his hat trick and had given Montrose a last minute lead.

But it didn't matter!

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Gregor Wylie's goal in the dying minutes had secured survival for another season! The whistle sparked mass celebrations from both sets of supporters, we celebrated survival, Berwick celebrated their title win. I went over to Berwick manager Colin Cameron, shook his hand and hugged him, we exchanged congratulations and then we both went and joined our respective celebration parties. I'll have to make sure not to go too overboard with the celebrations tonight...


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QUEEN'S PARK FC SURVIVE!

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What an incredible season finale - you couldn't have scripted it better!

Now I can just see Montrose filing a complaint about match fixing to the SFA... :P
 
dllu said:
What an incredible season finale - you couldn't have scripted it better!

Now I can just see Montrose filing a complaint about match fixing to the SFA... :P
Click to expand...

:O Don't say that! It might go to a tribunal!
 
Great end to the season.

How much further do you think you can take the team being amateurs or will it just be staying up for a few seasons
 
ninjaskill said:
Great end to the season.

How much further do you think you can take the team being amateurs or will it just be staying up for a few seasons
Click to expand...

We'll have to see, it's quite hard to attract any quality players to the club, we really only rely on youth players developing, but even then the big teams tend to snap them up before they can develop. We'll do our best though, hopefully if we make the right additions we can get comfortably mid table next year, but even that might be a bit ambitious.
 
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CraigWL said:
We'll have to see, it's quite hard to attract any quality players to the club, we really only rely on youth player developing, but even then the big teams tend to snap them up before they can develop. We'll do our best though, hopefully if we make the right additions we can get comfortably mid table next year, but even that might be a bit ambitious.
Click to expand...

Yeah quite a hard sell come for nothing when any other team that wants them will play if you keep up the end of season form then you could do it
 
PRE SEASON ROUNDUP

PROMOTIONS/RELEGATIONS


Dumbarton were promoted to the Championship after beating Raith in the Semi final and then Cowdenbeath in the final of the play offs. Stranraer were relegated to League One after finishing bottom, Morton were relegated to League One after a semi final loss to Cowdenbeath.

Forfar have been promoted to League One after winning League Two, while Montrose have avoided relegation after beating Annan in the play off final.

JOB SPECULATION

Linked with the vacant posts at Gateshead, Chesterfield ( English League Two), Dagenham ( EnglishConference) Morton (Scottish League One (relegated from Championship)) Linfield (Northern Irish Premiership), Dumbarton (Scottish Championship)

AWARDS

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Vincent Berry wins the Fans' Player of the Year award for a staggering 4th straight year, an exceptional feat. He still looks as good as ever despite being 30 years old. Thomas Collins pushed him close though, and could well become the new fan favourite if he develops as we hope he will.

Berry has also put his name alongside other Queen's Park icons in the fans' eyes...

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Gabriel Auriemma was inducted into the subs of our all time best eleven, and he is another who could well become a favourite among the faithful if he develops well.


RETIREMENTS


Midfielder Stephen Hughes has retired from football at the age of 35

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FINANCES

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TRANSFERS

INS

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17 year old Callum McNulty, a naturally fit right back who has signed on loan from Hibernian until the end of the season. He made 5 appearances in Hibs' first team last season, so he's perhaps not as inexperienced as he looks.

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Jamie Miller, who has returned to the club on a loan deal from Partick Thistle after Partick snapped him up from us during the 2016/17 season, he made a handful of appearances during his time there, and will provide competition for Ryan Steeves at the left back position.

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Paul Young, a versatile player who has mainly been brought in to add depth to the defensive midfield area. He spent the last couple of seasons at Montrose and has joined up after he was released by the club.

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Jason Thomson, who has just been released by Motherwell following their promotion back to the SPL, he has bags of experience at both SPL and Championship level with teams such as Hearts, Raith and Dunfermline, probably the best transfer that we've made this summer.


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Dylan Freedman, a bold defensive midfielder brought in to provide cover in the position.

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Ricky Little, who has been brought back in for his 3rd spell at the club, he knows how i operate, and will be able to provide decent competition in the centre of defense.

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Lewis Brown, a physically sound centre half who has been brought in on loan from Dundee United until the end of the season.

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Jonny Court, a very decent striker at this level, he was playing for Ayr last season and was released upon their relegation to League Two.

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Gary Thom, who, like Court, was playing for Ayr last season. He has been very consistent over the last few seasons of his career so i think he's a decent choice to bring in.

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Paul Duff, a pacey winger who was released by the club he started his career at, Hibernian, over the summer.

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Sean McKenzie, an imposing striker who was also released by Ayr last season after their relegation, he has good ability and potential and should be able to provide good depth up top.



It's not totally unlikely that a couple of more faces will be coming in over the next month or so as well.


OUTS

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Allan joined up in pre season last year but had failed to impress in training and never really looked like getting ahead of Collins and co.

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Ross just isn't quite good enough for what we're trying to achieve here, a shame, but he wasn't going to be getting ahead of Steeves or Miller.

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Sad to see Yohan go after what he did in the first couple of seasons he spent with us, but he has faded away since then, i wish him all the best in the future.

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Shaun hasn't made an appearance for 3 years, and it's unfair for him to be sitting around doing nothing.

ALMOSTS

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All the above players opted to stay with their current clubs rather than join us.

CUP DRAWS

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Two very tough games to be sure.

MISC

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We certainly aren't being given much more of a chance than we were last year.

INJURIES

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Not a great injury for us to get, this means that we're only left with Jamie Miller in the left back position, if he also gets injured, we're in trouble...

FRIENDLIES

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A mixed bag of results certainly, but as always, it's about building up fitness.
​
 
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Forgot to add a big chunk of the transfers we made! Edited the round up post :)
 
SEASON OPENING CUP GAMES 2018-19


MORTON V QUEEN'S PARK (Challenge Cup First Round)

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Six of the starters today are new arrivals to the club, Thom, Court and Duff could also make their debuts if brought on. This will be a tough game, Morton are clear favourites to win the league this season and going to their place and winning will be a big ask.

Morton had the ball in the net just past the half hour mark, but Morgan's strike was disallowed for offside after he had latched onto a cross by Michael Miller. We were lucky not to go behind again just 5 minutes later when Ferns took advantage of a poor touch by Jamie Miller but then fired into the side netting. We wouldn't be so lucky a couple of minutes later when Morgan set up Tidser, who volleyed past Muir to give Morton a 1-0 advantage. Things got worse for us after 40 minutes when McNulty was forced off with an injury. The injury problems worsened on the other side of half time, when Mitchell had to come off and forced us into making our 3rd sub. We had a golden chance to equalise in the 80th minute when Greig's free kick found an unmarked Little, but his first time volley hit the crossbar and bounced clear.

From the resulting counter attack, Russell whipped the ball to the back post where an unmarked Tiffoney fired towards goal, Muir could only help the ball into the net as Morton took a 2-0 lead. To cap off the horrendous day, we took our 3rd casualty of the day as Little had to come off.

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Not a good performance, i think we were a little unlucky to lose 2-0, but Morton definitely deserved the win.

Thankfully, Gavin Mitchell was the only one to come out of this game with a lengthy injury, but he will sadly miss 5 weeks with a fractured arm.

There was more job speculation around, too.

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Northern Ireland loves me, apparently. I refused to comment on the rumours, and the board took it as golden, so no issues there!

QUEEN'S PARK V RAITH (League Cup 1st Round)

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Six changes from the loss to Morton, as McKenzie, Collins, Court, Craigie, Freedman and Gibson replace Sinclair, Greig, Davison, Mitchell, Young and Little. This is certainly a more winnable game than the Morton one, although we'll definitely have to play better if we want to progress.

After a drab and dull first half, we were lucky not to go behind in the 55th minute when Simpson fired high and wide after running through on goal. We almost got in front ourselves 10 minutes later when a clearance up the field eluded the head of Fitzpatrick and made its way to Sinclair, but he was denied by a good save from McGurn. McGurn was on hand again to deny Sinclair with 15 minutes left, tipping wide his effort from the edge of the area. Raith were reduced to 10 men going into the last 10 minutes, when Murdoch was shown a second yellow card for sliding in hard on Court. We entered extra time with the game still on a knife edge.

Sinclair had a decent opportunity to score straight from kick off, but blazed his effort from just inside the area over the bar. We lost our man advantage in the 95th minute, as substitute Gregor Wylie went off injured, we really weren't getting the rub of the green. This seemed to motivate the squad however, and we surged into the lead when Thomson's early cross found the head of Sinclair, who found the bottom right corner to give us a 1-0 lead in the 100th minute. The two combined again in the 108th minute, as Sinclair volleyed a Thomson cross past McGurn to double the advantage and kill off Raith. Both us and Raith were reduced to 9 men in the 115th minute, as McKenna received his second yellow card for a crunching challenge on Thomson, the tackle left its mark on Thomson, who had to come off with an injury.

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It took a while, and it took its toll, but we got there in the end. Hopefully this will put us in good stead for the league season.

The win came at a heavy price though...

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Of all the people to get injured... This will definitely hurt us in the coming months, hopefully we can cope with it.

We've been dealt a tough game in the next round, too...

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We'll just have to enjoy the experience!​
 
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AUGUST 2018


Some good news to kick off the month, as youth striker Alex McGuigan opted to stay with us rather than join Highland League side Clachnacuddin.

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To add to that, we have also captured midfielder Callum Welsh, who spent last season playing for Championship side Alloa, i believe this to be another excellent acquisition for a club of our stature.

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QUEEN'S PARK V STRANRAER (League One)

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Five changes from the Raith match, Welsh comes in for Craigie to make his debut, and Sinclair, Young, Thom and Little come in for Collins, Freedman, Gibson and the injured Thomson. This match is a tough one to call, Stranraer are one of the favourites for promotion after their relegation from the Championship, but they lost 5-2 to Annan and 4-0 to Montrose in their cup games, so they're bound to be reeling a bit.

After a quiet opening to the game, Stranraer were reduced to 10 men in the 28th minute when Maxwell fouled Sinclair and received a second yellow card. We almost took the lead in the 33rd minute, when Miller cut the ball back to the edge of the area and found an onrushing McNulty, but his first time effort was well saved by Mitchell. We finally found the breakthrough just before the hour mark, when Miller's corner to the near post found Court, whose pass inside found Welsh, who was on hand to find the bottom left corner and bag a debut goal!

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A great debut from Welsh, and a thoroughly confident performance from the team as a whole. Miller, Little, Welsh and Court all got into the team of the week for their displays.

More good news too, as Dean Horribine has opted to stay with us instead of accepting a contract offer from Montrose.

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We received another cash injection from James Stables too, this time totalling £120k. He was certainly doing his best to wipe off the debt we had, although it will be a lengthy process.

AIRDRIE V QUEEN'S PARK (League One)

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Two changes from the Stranraer game, as Wylie and Marr replace McKenzie and Thom. If we play like we did vs Stranraer there's no reason we can't get a result here, but it will be tough.

We appeared to have fallen behind in the 15th minute when Maxwell fired the ball into the bottom left corner, but the linesman had his flag up for offside following a pass from Muirhead. We had a superb chance to go ahead ourselves straight from the resulting free kick as it flew all the way over the top to Wylie, but he slid his shot just wide of the left hand post. The ball eventually found its way to Marr just a minute later, and he found Court with a cross, but Court's swivel and shot struck the foot of the post and bounced wide.

We edged ahead in the 36th minute when one of Little's giant throws found Wylie, who cut the ball back to Miller, who shot past Andrew Muir to score his first goal for the club. We got another lucky break 3 minutes later, as a Lyon goal was also chalked off for offside. Our entire bench leapt to their feet in the 56th minute when Auriemma picked up the ball 30 yards out and caned a shot into the top left corner past the despairing dive of Muir. Not the first time he's done that! Our 2 goal lead wouldn't last long though, as a a scramble in our area fell to Watt, who found the bottom right corner to halve our advantage.

And our hearts sank just moments later when McQueen got onto the end of a cross from Muirhead and volleyed home to equalise for Airdrie. I felt a bit shell shocked. We had a perfect chance to regain the advantage in the 76th minute though, when Sinclair was tripped up from behind by McNaughton just inside the area. Miller rolled up his socks, and stuck his penalty straight down the middle to put us 3-2 up and bag his second of the day. He came incredibly close to netting a hat trick a couple of minutes later when Auriemma set him up following another throw from Little, but his effort was tipped wide by Muir.

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An exceptional game of football, and a great 3 points to pick up, i certainly wasn't expecting 2 wins from 2 to kick off the campaign! Little, Miller and Auriemma were all named in the team of the week for their performances.

It wasn't all good news though, as Marr and Wylie will be out 3-4 weeks and 11 days to 2 weeks with a gashed lower leg and a bruised rib respectively. We've certainly been in the wars recently.

We would see a departure from the club in midweek too, as Ryan Steeves has decided to join League 2 side East Fife.

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A bit of a blow, as now we're left with Jamie Miller as the only suitable left back, not a bad thing, but if he gets injured, we're in trouble.

Speaking of injuries, Gary Thom has sustained a bruised thigh during a match against Livingston's U20s, and he'll be out for 2 weeks.

We have also confirmed another signing, as experienced midfielder Garry Fleming has joined the club. He spent the last 6 years playing for Dumbarton at Championship and League One level, and brings a wealth of experience to our squad.

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I also received an offer of an interview from yet another Northern Irish side...

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Naturally i declined!

QUEEN'S PARK V CLYDE (League One)

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Three changes from the win over Airdrie, as Collins, Fleming and Craigie replace Wylie, Welsh and Marr. Another ever anticipated game against our rivals Clyde, hopefully we can make it 3 out of 3.

We got off to a great start as we scored in the 6th minute when a Miller free kick was headed out by Buchanan only as far as Sinclair, who rifled a shot into the top right corner to give us an early lead. We doubled our advantage 20 minutes later, when Fleming got onto a long throw from Little, before playing the ball inside to Craigie, who hit a first time shot into the top left corner to make it 2-0. Clyde came forward in the 71st minute, and had a superb chance to score when Duthie slid in an unmarked Johnstone, but he hit his shot wide of the left hand post.

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Another superb performance on our part, apart from that one late chance, we were always well in control of the game. I really never expected to be sitting second after three games. Little, Fleming, Craigie and Sinclair were all named in the team of the week.

This result also sparked some rather bitter comments from Clyde manager Craig Dargo...

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Not my fault we were just better than you!

QUEEN'S PARK V HIBERNIAN (League Cup 2nd Round)

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Six changes from the win over Clyde for this game, as Jackson, Auriemma, Welsh, Freedman, Gibson and Mitchell replace Collins, Craigie, Fleming, Young, Little and McNulty. This will be an incredible test for our team, there's no pressure on them in truth, there is a lot of talent in Hibs' side, but a good bit of youth too. Scott Allan and Holmbert Frojonsson are definitely the ones to watch.

We came forward in the 11th minute of the game, and after a Miller cross was headed away by McLean, the ball fell to the edge of the box directly to Welsh, who lashed his shot into the bottom right corner to give us a shock 1-0 lead! Was i dreaming? We couldn't rest on our laurels however, as Frojonsson and Allan linked up, with the former playing the ball through to the latter, who was denied by a superb save by Muir. The resulting corner found the head of Allan, but he headed wide. We made it to half time with our lead intact and i couldn't help but be the tiniest bit excited. Could we actually manage this?

Shame on me for thinking so, as we had an unbelievable stroke of bad luck a couple of minutes after the break, as Frojonsson headed onto the crossbar, the ball bounced back out and hit Muir on the leg and creeped over the line. Devastating. Muir was involved again on the hour mark, as an Allan cross caused a scramble inside our area before the ball broke to Alston, whose shot was denied by our ever present goalkeeper. He was on hand to save us again moments later, as Handling volleyed a Mcilduff cross towards goal, only to see his effort held by a flying Muir. Hibernian were reduced to 10 men in the 69th minute, as Scott Allan lunged in with two feet from behind on Auriemma as he was attempting to chest a ball down.

Hibs launched another attack in the 87th minute, as Frojonsson fired towards goal after again getting on the end of a Mcilduff cross, but Muir was once again there, saving the ball with his legs to take the match into extra time. In what has become a bit of a regular occurrence for us now, Mitchell was forced off with an injury a few minutes into extra time, and we had lost our man advantage. We were dealt a crushing blow in the 114th minute, as Gray was found at the back post by a cross from Handling, allowing him to tap in and send Hibernian into the lead. We were left a little exposed at the back as we pushed to try and get an equaliser, and nearly fell two behind when Frojonsson ran through after being played in by Handling, but the ever reliable Muir again managed to deny him.

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Really gutting to lose the game that deep into extra time, but we did ourselves proud, there's no shame in going out to Hibs.

In some deadline day transfer news, goalkeeper Lewis MacLeod has left the club to join East Stirlingshire. He has wanted to leave for a while, so this is no real surprise.

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In better news, Scott Gibson declined a move to Ayr by signing a new contract with us.

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We did quite well for ourselves in the awards for this month, too!

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All and all, a great start to the season, now it's all about maintaining this form.​
 
SEPTEMBER 2018


QUEEN'S PARK V RAITH (League One)

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Five changes from the Hibernian game, as Fleming, Berry, McNulty, Little and Jones come in for Jackson, Auriemma, Welsh, Gibson and Mitchell. Our match with Raith in the cup went to the wire, this one could really go either way.

It didn't look good for us after 5 minutes, as Grant finessed the ball past Muir after being played in by Naismith to give Raith a 1-0 lead. Our first chance of the first half came when Court teed up McNulty on the edge of the area, but his strike was well parried out by McGurn. We came very close again on the stroke of half time, when Fleming struck a powerful shot from 25 yards which rattled the Raith crossbar and bounced clear. We gifted Raith a chance to double their lead in the 66th minute, when Freedman pushed Grant over in the area when a Naismith free kick was floated in. Murdoch stepped up to the plate and confidently converted to send us 2 goals down. Raith would well and truly put the game beyond any doubt late on, when Naismith placed his shot past Muir after being played in by Ferris.

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The scoreline slightly flatters Raith i feel, but it was still a poor performance by our recent standards, especially in front of our own fans.

To cap things off, centre back Lewis Brown will miss a long period with a torn hamstring.

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I feel we had made big improvements to the defence from last season, and two of the reasons for that are already injured long term.

We received yet another cash injection in mid week, this time a total of £90k

I also made a move to bring in more defensive cover to make up for these injuries we're getting...

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Yep, Gordon Hardie has returned to the club on a permanent basis after being released by Falkirk, he adds some much needed depth after the injuries to Thom and Brown.

COWDENBEATH V QUEEN'S PARK (League One)

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Five changes from the loss to Raith, as Greig, Davison, Welsh, Mitchell and the re-debuting Hardie come in for Court, Fleming, Berry, Jones and the injured Brown. This will be an interesting game, Cowdenbeath have 4 points from their opening 4 games, so it's hard to judge them right now.

Things took another bad turn in the 25th minute, as Greig was forced off with an injury, an annoyingly common sight for us. We came agonizingly close in the 59th minute, when a Welsh free kick from the edge of the area rattled the crossbar. Hearts were in mouths 5 minutes later, when Muir palmed a Weir free kick out only as far as Moyes, but Muir lept to his feet to incredibly save the rebound.

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A bit of a dull game, but a much improved performance from the one against Raith, so i can't complain too much. William Muir was named in the team of the week for his performance in goal.

More job speculation would creep up too.

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It is at least good to know that there would be other opportunities if Queen's Park didn't work out for some reason or another!

FORFAR V QUEEN'S PARK (League One)

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Three changes from the draw against Cowdenbeath, as Horribine, Gibson and Marr come in for Davison, Little and Mitchell.

We fell behind to a touch of quality in the 43rd minute, as Brownlie struck a lovely shot from the edge of the area which flew over the head of Muir into the net.

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Not impressed at all, a dull, lifeless performance from us, and we really didn't show any fight after Forfar took the lead.

STIRLING V QUEEN'S PARK (League One)

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Seven changes from the defeat to Forfar, as Wylie, Court, Davison, Fleming, Thom, Little and Mitchell come in for Horribine, Sinclair, Greig, McNulty, Gibson, Hardie and Marr. A much improved performance is needed here, especially against a Stirling team performing so well this season.

We were inches away from taking the lead in the 9th minute when Wylie just about got away from his man to get on the end of a cross from Little, but his toe poke was just wide of the post. We had a half chance in the 18th minute when Welsh played a through ball to Court, but his first time effort from a fairly narrow angle glided over the bar. We would pay for missing those chances, as Paul Kelly got on the end of a cross from Burns at the near post and volleyed home. Stirling doubled their advantage with 5 minutes to go in the half, when Robbie Mitchell somehow squeezed the ball under Muir. We halved the deficit in the 56th minute when Welsh picked up a loose ball before the Stirling defense and placed his shot into the top left corner.

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Another disappointment, after a bright start we just fell away and didn't really trouble again after our goal. To make things worse, Gregor Wylie will be out for 6-7 weeks with a twisted ankle.

QUEEN'S PARK V MORTON (League One)

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Another seven changes for this game, as Jackson, Collins, Sinclair, Freedman, Gibson, Hardie and Young come in for Wylie, Court, Davison, Fleming, Thom, Little and Mitchell. Another defeat wouldn't surprise me here, Morton are flying high and we're really struggling.

We should have taken the lead in the 32nd minute when Sinclair slipped in Collins, but he hit a tame shot which went right into the arms of Brennan. Morton had a chance of their own moments later when McHugh played a reverse ball through to Martin, but Martin's shot was well saved by Muir. We took a sensational lead in the 68th minute when Sinclair drilled the ball in towards Collins, who smashed the ball in from close range to put us 1-0 up. Unfortunately for us however, Morton were awarded a penalty in the 77th minute when MacDonald went down after a challenge from Berry, the referee pointed to the spot despite MacDonald appearing to dive. Tidser stepped up and put his penalty down the left hand side to equalise. The match ended on a sour note for us, as Sinclair had to come off with an injury.

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Slightly disappointed to have thrown away the lead there, but it's a step in the right direction with the result. Little was named in the team of the week for his performance.

We ended the month by securing a new left back too, as ex Dunfermline and Hibs (among many others) man Steven Smith has joined up

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August and September were like night and day!

Disappointing yet encouraging cup game against Hibs...
 
OCTOBER 2018

STRANRAER V QUEEN'S PARK (League One)

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Four changes from the draw against Morton, with Court, Fleming, Little and Mitchell coming in for Jackson, Collins, Gibson and Young.

We were lucky not to fall behind in the 7th minute when Roy flicked on a long ball to Walker, who blazed his shot well over the bar from close range. We took the lead in the 11th minute, when Sinclair swiveled inside the area and set up Court, who drove the ball home low to finally bag his first goal for the club. We nearly doubled our lead 3 minutes later, but McNulty's free kick from the edge of the area rattled the bar and went behind. We did get the second goal in the 54th minute however, when Mitchell got onto a ball from McNulty down the right flank before drilling across the six yard box and finding Court, who tapped home for his second of the day.

We suffered yet another injury on the hour mark, when Welsh was forced off. We came forward again in the 67th minute, as Miller ran almost an entire half with the ball before crossing and finding an unmarked Fleming, who easily scored to make it 3-0. We sadly couldn't keep a hold of our clean sheet however, as Stranraer got a goal back when Millen hit an excellent free kick from 20 yards out into the top left corner.

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An excellent win from us, and a much improved performance compared to recent weeks. Miller, Little, McNulty and Court were all named in the team of the week. The only bad point to the game was that Welsh suffered a groin strain which will rule him out for the next 4-5 weeks.

We also discovered who our opponents will be in the 3rd round of the Scottish Cup...

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Stenhousemuir have won the replay between the two sides, so we will face them in the 3rd round. Not a terrible draw, but we'll still have to put in a good shift.

Yet more job speculation, too.

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MONTROSE V QUEEN'S PARK (League One)

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Two changes from the win against Stranraer, as McKenzie and Gibson come in for Little and the injured Welsh. This should be a good game, we have a good record against Montrose, but they've been on good form recently so it won't be easy for us.

This was proved in the 13th minute when Splaine got his head onto a Callaghan free kick and nodded into the top left corner to give Montrose an early lead. Splaine was involved at the other end of the field in the 34th minute, as he tripped Miller just inside the area, and the ref duly awarded us a penalty. Gibson took to the spot and buried his penalty into the top left corner to level the scores. Splaine bagged his second of the game in the 39th minute when he poked in at the far post following a cross from our old player Ryan Baptie. We fell two goals behind not long after half time, when Robbie McNeil tapped in a cross from, yep, Splaine.

We should have had our second of the day when Court received a corner at the near post, but he shot well over the bar after cutting inside. We set up a grandstand finish in the last 10 minutes when Mitchell found some space just inside the area and hit a shot which flew in off the right hand post. Sadly, we got caught out at the back as we pushed for an equaliser, and Montrose bagged a 4th when McIntosh found McNeil with a long ball, allowing McNeil to slide under Muir.

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An ultimately disappointing result. We lacked the cutting edge that Montrose showed today.

We did receive a boost in mid week though, with the news that Jason Thomson has resumed full training after missing 3 months with a broken ankle. He is unlikely to be rushed back into the squad, though.
QUEEN'S PARK V AIRDRIE (League One)

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Four changes from the defeat to Montrose, with Greig, Davison, Young and Marr coming in for Court, McKenzie, Fleming and Mitchell. I see this as a decent opportunity to get back on track, but Airdrie are very capable of beating us if we don't show up.

Things didn't get off to a great start, and Ferry scored in the 9th minute, squeezing in at the near post after getting on to a long ball. To make things worse, we were reduced to 10 men when Young received his second yellow card after just 25 minutes for tripping Lyon. This seemed to give the side a kick up the backside though, and we equalised moments later when Sinclair nodded in substitute Auriemma's cross. We weren't level for long though, as Ferry's header a minute later looped over Muir, hit the underside of the bar and bounced over the line. Things got worse for us in the 59th minute when Ferry set up Watt at the near post, before Watt's shot somehow went through the arms of Muir and into the net.

Sinclair should have brought us back into the game in the 74th minute when he was slipped in by Auriemma, but his shot was weak and easily held by Kelly in the Airdrie goal.

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Another really poor performance from us, we never really looked like getting back into the game. We're starting to drift dangerously close to the bottom two, and things will only get worse unless we improve our performances.

Gavin Mitchell suffered a bruised head at the end of the month and will be out for 9-12 days.​
 
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dllu said:
August and September were like night and day!

Disappointing yet encouraging cup game against Hibs...
Click to expand...

Hasn't gotten much better either!

And yep, was a very exciting cup game, sadly the performances just haven't transferred to the league :(
 
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