Accies 1 Queen of the South 1: Saturday, 26 February 2000

This was one of those remarkable games where Accies were so far ahead of Queen of the South it was embarrassing. The only problem was that they failed to actually win the game.

When I heard the Accies line up before the game I was quite pleased, with Bill Davidson back in the defence and Ian Ferguson up front. The lacklustre Steve McCormick and the unfit Chris Hillcoat were omitted. The returning Nicky Henderson was on the bench beside McCormick and Gerry Crossley.

Accies started quite brightly and took charge of the game from the start. Unfortunately, referee Stuart Dougal decided that an innocuous challenge between Bill Davidson and Charlie Adam was worthy of a penalty after only 7 minutes. To my unbiased eye, Davidson had gone for a high ball, missed it and his prone body was used by Adam as an excuse to hit the deck. It was a scandalous award, but was converted neatly by the Queens player. This isn't the first time that Stuart Dougal has thwarted Accies, if you remember the injury time he invented in a cup tie against Rangers at Fir Park a couple of years ago which allowed Richard Gough to deny Accies a well deserved replay.

The Accies players heads went down for a while, which was understandable. However, they recovered soon enough and the Queens goal led a charmed life. Time and again Accies were denied by the combination of goalkeeper David Mathieson and the crossbar. Twice within a few minutes corners from the left were headed fiercely goalwards only for Mathieson to get a vital late touch onto the bar. The unlucky men were Darren Henderson and Ian Ferguson. In addition, he made a superb save from a great volley from Ian McAuley. At this stage it seemed only a matter of time before Accies would equalise, but a combination of inept finishing and goalkeeping heroics kept Queens ahead at half time.

Accies were shooting into the cold wind in the second half and continued to dominate the game. Jose Quitongo was always dangerous whenever he got the ball, but the Accies tactics seemed to consist of lobbing the ball forward for Ian Ferguson to try to flick on to Darren Henderson. There's no point in having the most talented player in the league if you don't give him the ball. He did have one or two good runs, particularly in the second half. One of these runs led him right through the Queens defence but his shot was weak and inaccurate.

Towards the end of the game, the replacement of Bill Davidson by Nicky Henderson made a major difference to Accies. It was great to see him back in the hoops and he showed that he's lost none of his skill during his layoff. One of his runs ended with a great low cross across the goal which Darren Henderson just failed to connect with. The Queens goal led a charmed life at this stage, with the ball being cleared off the line twice.

There was another move where Jose teed the ball up for Darren Henderson 8 yards out, but he managed to miss the goal. This led to hoots of derision from the Accies support, but Darren was to have the final touch of the game. Just as the clock was reaching 12 minutes to 5, Accies won a corner on the right. Ian McAulay swung over a cross and Darren powered in another header. This one was tipped over the bar by Mathieson for another corner. This time, Darren headed the ball again, but this time it looped right into the top left corner with Mathieson helpless. Henderson celebrated in style - and who could blame him. The Accies fans went mad and the game was over.

You may think that this report is just a wee bit biased and that I haven't mentioned Queen of the South very much. To be honest, they did have a couple of breakaways but they always ended with a hopeless shot from long range. I honestly can't remember Chris Reid having to make a save. Apart, that is, from two occasions when Queens showed that Arbroath aren't the only team in this league who're bereft of sportsmanship. Twice they returned the ball to us after one of their players had been treated for an injury, but on both occasions the ball was shot strongly at Chris Reid. He was awake enough to save them both quite easily, but he shouldn't have had to.

Queens must be the ideal team for a schizophrenic to support. Their fans were great, in that they sang well and encouraged their team to the hilt. On the other hand, they booed Jose Quitongo throughout the match. I can't recall any occasion when Jose has upset them so it must have been either because he's well known and talented or for some other, "darker" reason. Similarly, their 'keeper David Mathieson had a great game and prevented a certain rout against his team. On the other hand, he avoided no opportunity to waste time - it was really tedious to watch him delay every kick out as long as he could possibly manage.Queens played the last 15 minutes of the game with only 10 men after one of their players was sent off for apparently elbowing Ian McAuley. I missed it, so we'll have to take the word of the guy next to me in the stand.

I honestly thought that this was a very good performance by Accies, with only Mathieson between them and a comfortable victory. It was great to see Bill Davidson and Nicky Henderson back in the squad. When they're fully fit we should see better results. On the other hand, I thought Steven Thomson looked uncomfortable in midfield and the game seemed to pass by Martin Bonnar. The back 4 were rarely under any pressure and Chris Reid was totally idle. Ian McAuley showed a lot of real grit in midfield and this was one of his best games for Accies. Ian Ferguson was strong up front but Darren Henderson continues to frustrate.

We really should have won this game by a mile.

Accies : Reid, Davidson (N Henderson), Cunnington, Hunter, Gaughan, Thomson, Bonnar (McCormick), McAulay, Ferguson, Quitongo and D Henderson

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