Palmerston Park, Dumfries, Saturday 13 October 2001
Queen Of The South 0
Attendance 1552
Accies 1
Michael Moore 57
Accies manager Ally Dawson rang the changes for this game. Michael Martin replaced the injured Eddie Cunnington at left back and Iain McCreadie came in for the suspended Martin Bonnar in midfield. Up front, diminutive trialist David McNiven replaced Gareth Armstrong. Paul Gaughan occupied his normal position in the heart of the defence, despite rumours of an injury.
Alarmingly, veteran defender Chris Hillcoat was one of the five listed substitutes, alongside John McDonald, Paul McDonald, David Grant and Ally Maxwell.
The home team had a lot of the ball in the first half although the quality of their football was decidedly average. They did threaten the Accies goal on a few occasions, although that threat primarily came from dangerous corner kicks swung into Graham Potter's goalmouth. It has to be said that Graham looked a bit edgy in goal and didn't really command his area.
Unfortunately, it appeared that the Queens players were wearing sandshoes as a few of them were unable to keep their feet. Three or four of them seemed to hit the deck with hardly any reason, although it has to be conceded that Stuart Callaghan hit the deck himself a couple of times for no apparent reason.
There was an alarming moment for Accies quite early on when Graham Potter needlessly spilled a shot and one of the Queens forwards went for it. Naturally, the home forward went down like a ton of bricks but only gained a fruitless corner for his troubles. The closest thing of the first half came when Accies young midfielder Iain McCreadie strode forward unchallenged and hit a fierce shot from 25 yards which just scraped the post with Colin Scott struggling.
Comedy moment No 1 followed when one of the Accies forwards went down with an injury inside his own penalty area. One of the pre-pubescent Queens ballboys helpfully lobbed the ball back onto the pitch but it hit the poor Accies man as he received treatment.
So it was goalless at half time and the general feeling was that Accies were well worthy of that at that stage.
SECOND HALF
Accies seemed to be in more positive mood in the second half and they took the lead after 57 minutes. The ball seemed to bobble about on the edge of the area before breaking loose to the unmarked Michael Moore about 15 yards out. He lashed the ball low past Scott and ran off to celebrate with the Accies bench.
A long period of Accies dominance followed, with the team playing some nice passes to feet and using the wings well. None of these produced anything tangible, although Michael Moore came close with a good header from a swerving cross by Stuart Callaghan.
David McNiven had a good chance to put the game beyond the hosts when he was sent clear on goal. However, his lack of confidence was obvious as he doubled back before squaring the ball expertly for one of the Queens defenders!
After this, the home team exerted some real pressure on the Accies goal. There were a few goalmouth scrambles but for once the ball fell kindly for Accies. Most of the dangerous moments for Queens came from high balls at set pieces but the Accies central defenders held firm and the points headed home with Accies.
The games second comedy moment came when one of the home players hit the deck after a challenge from Graham Potter. The referee blew his whistle and you could see the player celebrate the penalty award with the home fans. Sadly for him, and to our great amusement, the whistle had gone for a goal kick.
At the final whistle, the Accies players made a point of celebrating with the travelling support. There might not have been that many of us - and in fact I know of quite a few regulars who decided against making this trip. They missed themselves. This was a game in which Accies regained their heart after so many recent disappointments.
Long may it continue.
CONCLUSION
Accies manager Ally Dawson played the entire 90 minutes without making any substitutions. I would have liked to see Paul McDonald getting a run-out as Stuart Callaghan was getting a bit hot-headed. he was booked for dissent, as was Ally Graham for a mis-timed tackle.
I was delighted to see that old favourite Chris Hillcoat did not get a game. He even looked uncomfortable warming up at the trackside.
I thought that Graham Potter didn't really command his area and had a tough time against the tall Queens attackers. The rest of the defence did pretty well, with Gaughan and Martin particularly effective. The midfield was collectively good, with young Iain McCreadie excellent beside Jim Sherry in the heart of things. Ally Graham and Stuart Callaghan did well on the flanks and Michael Moore was his usual self up front. He took his goal well and won loads of headers against the Queens central defenders. Trialist David McNiven looked useful and will be well worth another game.
Bring on The Bankies!
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