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QUEEN OF THE SOUTH 4 : 3 PARTICK THISTLE 27th January 2007
MacDonald
Rating: 6.49
Paton
Rating: 6.21
Thomson
Rating: 6.33
1
Lauchlan
Rating: 6.47
McQuilken
Rating: 6.17
Gibson
Rating: 6.52
Adams
Rating: 6.34
S3
Scally
Rating: 7.41
Murray
Rating: 8.41
2
Dobbie
Rating: 8.17
1 S2
O'Connor
Rating: 8.09
SUBSTITUTES
S1 - 46
Burns
Rating: 5.09
S2 - 67
Weir
Rating: 4.67
S3 - 78
O'Neill
Rating: 3.98
Henderson
Corr
SUBMIT YOUR mom RATINGS
Members of the Internet Fan Club can award players marks out of ten for their performance today. The player with the most points awarded in the two days following a match will be the IFC Man of the Match. All of the points will then be added to a running total for each player and the results published in the mom League Table.

Name or IFC No.
MATCH SUMMARY
Some hectic early morning transfer activity paid dividends today as two new signings were made and both Stevie Murray and Jamie Adams came in on loan from Kilmarnock and were immediately pitched into the starting eleven. Added into the side was new on loan goalkeeper Jamie Macdonald and it looked a different Queens side that took to the pitch today. From last week Barry John Corr was relegated to the bench as was Murray Henderson, Jim Thomson was reinstated today whilst Paul Burns and Warren Moon lost out to Murray and Adams, the front two however remained with the on form strike pairing of Sean O'Connor and Stephen Dobbie.

Queens started with a purpose and didn't let up much in the next 84 minutes. In the first few minutes both Willie Gibson and Sean O'Connor could have opened the scoring as both tested Tuffey in the Thistle goals. The first wasn't long in coming however and it owed a fair amount to the Killie connection. Jamie Adams strode forward only to be fouled about thirty yards from goal, the free kick was taken by Stevie Murray and the winger dropped the ball onto Sean O'Connor's head from where it was sent to nestle in the back of the net.

Sean strikes early on - from David Gow on the terracing
Queens continued to press with Partick looking devoid of anything in the way of a threat from their strike force. It was Queens that extended their lead just before half time as another Stevie Murray dead ball, this time a corner, found the head of Jim Lauchlan as the defender made it look so easy as he nodded the ball past the helpless Tuffey.

Jim Lauchlan heads home - from David Gow on the terracing
It could have been three moments later as Dobbie and O'Connor combined well to allow Dobbie to force the Thistle 'keeper to tip the ball over the bar. Thistle though did come close just after but from the short ball out of defence to Willie Gibson Queens extended their lead with the best goal of the game as Gibson danced through the retreating Thistle defence before feeding Dobbie wide right and with the instincts of a great goalscorer the striker fired the ball from outside the box across 'keeper Tuffey and into the far corner of the net to make the score 3-0.

Deadly finishing from Stephen Dobbie
Youngster Jamie Adams received Queens only booking of the match for what was adjudged as an overly robust challenge on a Thistle defender after just having been warned for a similar challenge shortly before. As it turned out it was almost his last action of the game as Ian McCall decided with the half time score at 3-0 to put Paul Burns on in place of the Killie loan star.

Thoughts at half-time drifted back to years gone by when three goal leads had been lost before but no one seriously expected the powder-puff Partick strike force to cause Queens any real damage.

The build up to the penalty - from David Gow on the terracing
That view was consolidated within three minutes of the restart as Jim Lauchlan was pushed in the box at a corner and a penalty was awarded. With no John O'Neill on the pitch Stephen Dobbie negotiated with Sean O'Connor and blasted the ball into the net to give Queens what was surely an unassailable 4-0 lead.

The penalty - from David Gow on the terracing

The penalty strike is celebrated
That is pretty much the way that things stayed as a number of Partick fans made their way out of the stadium to begin the journey back up the road to Maryhill.

Queens were still well on top and Stephen Dobbie was denied a hat-trick opportunity as he charged down a Pat Keogh clearance and found himself one on one with the goalkeeper only to be penalised for a handball.

After putting in a superb shift Sean O'Connor was removed and Graham Weir put on as the Partick defence had been re-arranged to attempt to handle the big striker. Queens still pressed although the visitors were getting some success down their right hand side as Jamie McQuilken was having difficulty preventing the Partick wide men from getting the ball across the penalty area, fortunately though their were no takers.

Queens made their final substitution with just twelve minutes to go as Neil Scally, who was feeling unwell, made way for John O'Neill, a move that was to leave the midfield a little less balanced than it had been. It didn't take too long for things to change on the park and with only six minutes to go Partick forced the ball over the line from a stramash in the goal mouth. Queens were not done though and almost from the restart Stevie Murray put a ball across for Stephen Dobbie to head towards goal, this time though - when everyone expected the goal - the 'keeper made a terrific save.

McQuilken doesn't stop the ball from slipping in at the post
At the opposite end of the park the referee awarded a penalty kick for pushing in the box by a Queens defender and the spot kick was converted by Mark Roberts to make the last few minutes interesting. It only took another two minutes for them to get more interesting as Pat Keogh bundled home a third for Thistle making the Queens fans wonder if a draw was going to be the final result. As it turned out the game ran out without any further scares and Queens were deserved winners.

Pat Keogh strikes the third and fear into the hearts of the home support
In summary if you forget the last six minutes this was as comfortable a game as Queens have had this season and in reality a 6-0 score would not have flattered the side. Stevie Murray was outstanding, Jamie Adams impressive and Jamie MacDonald looked solid. Sean O'Connor is really finding form just now and Stephen Dobbie is one of the most clinical finishers we have seen at Palmerston for quite a while. One lesson learnt was that Neil Scally at the heart of the side is essential.



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