After showing much promise during pre-season, the nightmare all Queens fans had was that come the start of the season it would all disappear and the bad, old Queens would once again reappear…the nightmare was realised, and how?
Imagine the most disgusting thing ever, multiply by 1000, crush it up into a ball, beat hell out of it with the biggest bat you can find, throw it over a cliff and wait 100 years until it's washed up on the beach and it would still look better than Queens did today. Missing …presumed dead, the passing, the movement, the solid defence, the flowing football of pre-season, to be replaced by punts up the field and an inability to defend any ball above knee height.
Things looked bad as soon as the teams lined up. Perhaps there were some injury problems, I'm not aware of but surely it makes little sense to change a team that had been playing so well just when it mattered most. Cleeland and Steven Leslie seemed to be forming a good partnership in the centre of midfield, Boyle looked good wide on the left and Weir had played well in central midfield when he came on. So what do we get, Cleeland wide right, Boyle in the middle and Weir wide left. Andy Aitken, another who had performed well was dropped for Graeme Love who had featured only once pre-season leaving the defence looking like they had never seen each other before, never mind lined up on a football pitch together. It clearly was a mistake, as Rowan changed things around early on, Cleeland moving back into the middle with Boyle coming out onto the right side.
Unfortunately it made little difference. Cleeland looked unsettled at being asked to play wide and never seemed able to get into the game, although you'd be forgiven for not noticing, as he was by no means alone. The Queens players looked nervous and seemed to be suffering from a sever lack of confidence in the passing game, happier to kick the ball upfield out of danger than take a risk on actually giving the ball to a colleague. They looked a shadow of the team that had showed so much promise and one can only hope they snap out of it soon.
Caley looked dangerous everytime they came forward, due more to Queens lack of defending than actual good play, and they were two up within half an hour, with goals from Sheerin and McLean. Queens tried to change things, bringing on Nesovic for Adams and when he got the ball, Nas tried to bring a bit of order to the passing game. Unfortunately, despite his movement, shouting and much gesturing from the bench, nobody seemed willing, or able, to give Nas the ball and the long punts continued.
Queens had a great chance to get back into the game with a penalty just before half time. They had been denied a penalty minutes before when Nesovic seemed to be tripped just as he was about to shoot, but the referee waived play on. When the penalty did come, Stevie Mallen had the ball and seemed all set to take it but after lots of pointing and discussions with the bench Steven Leslie took the ball from him. Leslie had scored from the spot against Blythe on Monday night but seemed to be the only person who actually wanted Mallen to take the penalty and predictably, he missed.
Everyone was hoping that Alexanders roasting of the players at half time would kick a bit of life into them, and there's no doubt they got a roasting but things continued much the same in the second half.
Aitken came on for Boyle, with George Rowe moving into midfield but it did little to strengthen the defence and indeed Caley added another two goals through Shearer and Cherry. Eadie came on as a late sub for Bailey and grabbed a last minute consolation for Queens, but it was scant consolation for the supporters who had endured what will, hopefully, be the worst performance of the season.
Talking of worst performance, it is worth mentioning that referee Melville played his part in making this one of the worst games I've ever had the misfortune to witness. Overly picky, several Queens players were booked for what seemed fairly innocent misdemeanours and the number of bookings was incredibly high in a match which did not contain one "bad" tackle from either side and was by no means a dirty game.
Rowan was quoted in the papers as saying that Queens made Caley look like "world beaters" and he couldn't have been more right. Queens conceded four goals, three from crosses and one from a ball over the top, the defence never looking capable of dealing with either. Many peoples tips for promotion, Caley, looked like a typical second division team, a couple of strong centre halves and a couple of good forwards, with a midfield designed to stop other teams playing rather than contribute anything constructive. Unfortunately, this is exactly the type of team Queens will face week in, week out and if they continue to play like this it is going to be a long, hard season. I haven't been this depressed over a football game since Scotland v Morocco.
AC
Queen Of The South
12. Aitken 14. Nesovic 15. Eadie |
Inverness Caley Thistle
12. Robson 14. Farquhar 15. Bavidge |
| Officials | |
| C.J. Melville (Gourock) | |
| C.J.G. Richmond (Auchinleck) | S.M. Andrew (Kilmarnock) |
Fixtures