Disappointing start to Queens' league campaign

Aug 6 2008 By Colin Paterson

Queen of the South 0 Airdrie United 0

PERHAPS the most frustrating aspect of this sunshine slog for Queens was that almost 3,000 people ended up enduring it with them.

That magical Scottish Cup run last season attracted a healthy opening day attendance to Palmerston for the first league match of the new campaign.

Maybe some of them will be back a week on Sunday for the game against Partick Thistle. Maybe some won’t.

Expectation can be a terrible burden. Once the bar has been raised, it is possible for things to get very quickly out of hand.

The mood among fans at the weekend was disappointing. This was a game Doonhamers supporters had been expecting to win - and win well.

However, the 90 minutes didn’t work out that way. Up against an Airdrie side who packed their midfield and reduced the amount of room in which Queens could play, Gordon Chisholm’s men toiled.

Diamonds keeper Stephen Robertson barely had a save to make despite the fact that the manager had elected to play three strikers – Sean O’Connor, Stephen Dobbie and Stewart Kean – in his starting line-up.

It was a tactic employed successfully at Berwick Rangers in the Challenge Cup last Saturday, when they won 5-1, with Kean and O’Connor both grabbing doubles and Dobbie proving a handful.

But against woeful Third Division opposition, Chisholm’s chain of thought can be understood.

League football is an entirely different proposition, has to be treated as such and it appears one of the trio will have to be content with a place on the bench in the coming weeks.

Another point not lost on the manager will be Airdrie’s stiff 4-5-1 formation. More of the same can be expected from the likes of Clyde and Livingston when they travel down to Palmerston.

“I am disappointed,” said Chisholm. “A lot people expected us to win and I expected us to win but you have to give credit to Airdrie who made it very difficult.

“The boys are absolutely gutted and I am disappointed because I know we can do much better. But it is early in the season yet and we just need to accept this and move on.

“We created chances but weren’t clinical. To be honest, I thought a lot of the boys were off the pace and only Bryn Halliwell and Craig Reid get pass marks. I felt the rest of them were capable of more.”

To make matters worse for Queens, captain Jim Thomson was given his marching orders with four minutes left after hauling down hitman Simon Lynch who would otherwise have been clean through on goal.

“Big Jim’s sending off was disappointing,” added the gaffer. “It has come from a nothing ball down the middle which tells us we need to get sharper.

“I think it was towards the end of last season when teams started to come down here and played it tight. It is something we are going to need to adapt to and learn to cope with.

“We have to recognise that they are treating us with a lot of respect so we need to be doing things at a quicker pace.”

The best chance of the first half fell to O’Connor in the 16th minute. Full-back Matt Hazley was robbed of possession by Dobbie whose back post cross was screwed wide by the striker who should have at least hit the target.

After the interval, O’Connor again had a chance to break the deadlock following Dobbie’s neat through ball but defender Marc Smyth was in the right place to block his low shot.

In the 68th minute, Airdrie carved out their best opening when Paul Di Giacomo collected a Kevin McDonald pass and drove in a shot that Halliwell got down smartly to save.

Thomson’s red card capped the Doonhamers’ disappointment as Airdrie managed to hold on for a precious point.

Their play wasn’t pretty but effective - Queens’ was neither.

Standard man of the match: Craig Reid. Former Celtic centre-half never missed a trick. Tackling and heading was impressive throughout.

Teams

Queens: Halliwell, Barr, Thomson, Reid, McQuilken, MacFarlane (McGowan 71), Burns, Tosh, Dobbie (Arbuckle 78), O’Connor, Kean. Subs not used: Aitken, Robertson, Bell(gk).

Booked: McQuilken, Tosh. Sent-off: Thomson

Airdrie: Robertson, Smyth (Smith 63), Donnelly, Nixon, Hazley, McDougall, McKenna, McDonald, McLaughlin, Cardle, Di Giacomo (Lynch 71). Subs not used: McMenamin, Noble, Hollis(gk).

Booked: McDonald, Nixon.

Referee: Charlie Richmond.

Attendance: 2,914