Queens tasted defeat at the hands of local rivals Stranraer this afternoon in a match which, as so often is the case at Stair Park, that was dominated more by the wind than by the footballers on the park
Queens won the toss and elected to play with the wind at their backs for the first period. both teams made early chances but once again Lee Bailey should have done better with an effort but the Stranraer keeper palmed the ball away. Other efforts from Queens in the first half were generally restricted to long range shots from the midfielders who were attempting to make use of the wind, both Findlay and Leslie had efforts just past and saved.
The best chances of the first half fell to Bryan Caldwell who, from a corner watched as his inswinging cross went only narrowly past the upright, Cody then had another attempt just before half time from the edge of the box which skimmed narrowly past the post.
Queens continued the second half as they has concluded the first and Lee Bailey broke clean through on the keeper but again wasted the chance. This was not the most serious miss however as both Caldwell and Mallan managed to get sufficiently into each others way after Steven Leslie had put them through and all that was required was a simple finish.
Things then went disastrously wrong for Queens when Mallan lost possession midway in his own half and the recipient Smith strode through and stroked the ball past Hillcoat to score what proved to be the winning goal. The last fourteen minutes saw Queens pushing forward with little regard for defence and three times Hillcoat produced fine saves to limit the scoreline.
There now appears to be a clear split in the league with Arbroath, Alloa, Stenhousemuir and Ross County disappearing and the rest being left somewhat adrift.
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