Livi spoil the party

Mar 25 2009 by Kieran Westbrook, Dumfries Standard Wednesday

QUEENS threw away the chance to celebrate their 90th anniversary with a win over Livingston, by conceding two late goals in a thrilling 3-3 draw at Palmerston on Saturday.

On a gorgeous spring day that saw former players grace the field at half-time, giving fans plenty to be nostalgic about, no one following Queens would want to remember the game’s last five minutes which saw them miss out on a vital three points.

The fair weather seemed to bring out the best in both teams early on, with plenty of good passing football being played.

But despite plenty of effort and ability on show, it wasn’t until the 11th minute that the first chance of a goal came.

A long ball from the Livi back line unlocked the Queens defence and found the pacy Leigh Griffiths.

He went one on one with Lee Robinson and belted the ball straight at the Palmerston number one who pushed it out for a corner. That brought the small band of travelling Livi support to life.

And a minute later it was the Queens fans who were given something to shout about after Sean O’Connor went down in the opposition penalty area.

The big striker looked to have been pulled to the ground by the Livingston defender, but the referee wasn’t convinced.

Livi persisted with their long balls to Griffiths and he nearly scored opened the scoring after 23 minutes.

As he advanced on the right, having beaten the Queens offside trap, he took the ball into the box.

But a great challenge from Jamie McQuilken stopped Griffiths from testing the keeper again.

With the backline looking exposed, Queens boss Gordon Chisholm changed things around just before the half-hour mark.

Andy Aitken made way for Barry Wilson and the Doonhamers reverted to their familiar 4-4-2 formation, abandoning the 3-5-2 they had started with.

And the change appeared to be a stroke of genius on 35 minutes as Wilson picked up a loose ball outside the box and smashed the it into the net.

There was pandemonium in the stands as the super-sub celebrated the opening goal.

Queens went into half-time with the lead thanks to the veteran’s great goal.

And they doubled their advantage early in the second half through a great effort from Stephen Dobbie.

After some lovely link-up play with Stevie Tosh, Dobbie found space in the box and hit a ferocious strike low past Livi’s Roddy McKenzie who had no chance.

With a two-goal cushion, Stewart Kean replaced the hard-working O’Connor in the 58th minute.

But the departing strikers had barely warmed the bench when he saw his side conceding their first goal of the day.

A flick-on by the bulky Armand One unleashed Griffiths who out-muscled Craig Barr and slotted the ball past Robinson.

Griffiths could have made it 2-2 in the 72nd minute.

A great ball through to the 18-year-old forward had Robinson rushing out to meet the ball first.

Griffiths challenged the keeper for possession in what looked like a fair 50/50 challenge.

He came away with the ball and tapped it into the empty net, but the ref gave the foul on Robinson.

And jittering nerves created by that chance would have been settled down in the 84th minute.

After some lovely play on the edge of the box by Kean, he found Dobbie with a short pass, who turned his marker and shot a left foot pile-driver into the top corner of the net.

Queens fans were in dreamland as their side looked to be cruising to a comfortable win.

But the celebrations proved to be premature.

Livi changed formation to a 3-4-3 in desperation, and were given a glimmer of hope after a cross from Griffiths into the Queens box was met by David Winters, whose effort was directed straight at Robinson.

But, from close range, the Queens’ keeper fumbled the ball into the net making the score 3-2.

And the blushes of Robinson from that error were modest compared to Ryan McCann’s after he recklessly scythed down Murray Davidson in the box in the last minute giving the ref an easy decision to make.

Griffiths slotted home the penalty and a stunned home support saw the three points slip away.

Queens gaffer Gordon Chisholm said: “To say I’m disappointed is probably an understatement.

“I think the players know how I feel.

“There is just no excuses for that defending.

I think it sums up what’s been happening to us.

“Sometimes we’ve been playing not too bad and getting in front, but you can see the nervousness and silly errors at the back costing us dearly.

“We’ve no excuses – the boys have worked hard in a pressure game. To get in a lead like that was great.

“I thought all three goals (we conceded) were really disappointing. You’re not going to win games if you concede three goals and that’s been happening far too often. It was ridiculous. All three, in my eyes weren’t acceptable.

“We should be up the table sitting comfortably. You just can’t defend like that at any level, you just can’t defend like that. It was ridiculous, the defending. With five minutes to go, 3-1 up, you should never lose that game.”

Teams

Queen of the South: Robinson, Harris, Barr, Aitken (Wilson 28), Lancaster, McCann, McQuilken, Tosh (MacFarlane 77), Burns, O’Connor (Kean 58), Dobbie.

Subs not used: Halliwell, Scally.

Goals: Wilson 35, Dobbie 54, 84.

Livingston: McKenzie, MacDonald (Winters 85), Malone, Griffin, Innes, Davidson, McParland (Miller 77), Hamill, Halliday (De Vita 55), Griffiths, One.

Subs not used: McDowall, Torrance.

Booked: Halliday, Davidson, Griffiths.

Goals: Griffiths 57, Winters 88, Griffiths 90 pen.

Attendance: 2,487.

Referee: C Allan.