2001/02 A Championship Season Reviewed

A serialised account of our championship winning season by our man who has been at almost every match home and away - Ewan Lithgow

Part Three - September

The turn in fortunes was continued the following weekend when Stenhousemuir came to visit. Two goals from John O'Neill who had returned from suspension, the second of them a delightful chip, saw three more points in the Palmerston bank. The game was also notable for the debut of a young man who would go on to be crucially important in our title challenge. Joe McAlpine it was who gambled on dropping a division from Airdrie and going part time in return for a bit more security and first team football. Seven months later, and after a few vital goals, he would have no cause to doubt his decision. He picked up two Young Player of the Year Awards, the "Away Day" Player of the Year Award and a championship medal whilst his former colleagues saw their club enter full liquidation.

Apart from the signing of McAlpine, there were other changes off the field at Palmerston in the week that followed. Gareth McGhie, Mark Patterson and Alan Hogg were all released by the club and returned to the North East of England. McGhie and Patterson had both struggled with the pace of the game in Scotland and had seen limited first team opportunities whilst Hogg had never managed to match his impact as a substitute when used from the start and wanted to move for first team football. Later that week Queens also announced that retired farmer David Rae had been co-opted on to the Board of Directors, taking their number up to five. The win over Stenhousemuir set us up nicely for the first derby of the season down at Stair Park. In a typically bruising affair, Paddy Atkinson opened the scoring direct from a wind-assisted corner but Ian Harty equalised from the penalty spot and George Shaw put the "Cleyholers" in front. However, Billy McDonald was sent off for two quick-fire rash challenges and O'Neill headed home an equaliser from a corner to share the spoils, though Feroz missed a good chance to win the game in the final minute.

The Tuesday following that match was a fateful day in World history. September 11th will be remembered unfortunately for much more important events than any connected to Queen of the South FC. However, as the World watched the twin towers of the World Trade Center collapse under terrorist attack, a reduced Queens support headed for Falkirk and a

1st Round CIS Insurance Cup tie at East Stirling. On the night, the gulf in class between the two sides was huge and Craig Feroz, cleared to play by Livingston, struck a hat trick including a spectacular 40 yard chip to comfortably dispose of the Division Three strugglers and clinch a home tie with Aberdeen. The margin very much flattered the Firs Park side and Peter Weatherson in particular missed many a good chance to increase the score. Peter's misery was completed when he was given his marching orders in the final minute after tangling with an opponent and being somewhat harshly adjudged to have used an elbow.

With Weatherson suspended for the visit to Cowdenbeath that followed, John Connolly attempted to capture the services of Carlisle United forward Ian Stevens but failed to reach agreement with the player. So it was a rare outing for son Stuart as partner to Craig Feroz. The match was a real end to end game and ended in a reasonably fair 1-1 draw. John O'Neill struck yet again from the penalty spot in 38 minutes after Feroz was tripped in the area but Toby King equalised with a header misjudged by Colin Scott just before the break.

A fourth successive away game saw Queens travel to Berwick a week later. Though unbeaten away from home to this point, four league draws from four had hardly been inspiring but this was put to rights in an excellent display. Berwick sat bottom of the League but were still a dangerous side, as their later exploits against Rangers would show, however Queens cantered home with a 4-0 victory. The match was a personal nightmare for veteran Berwick centre half Allan Neil who scored an Own Goal to put us on our way before conceding a penalty for handball, converted by O'Neill and giving the ball away to Gordon Connelly for the fourth. In between times, O'Neill had converted a second penalty given for a foul on Feroz that saw his opponent sent off. The following Tuesday saw the visit of Ebbe Skovdahl's young Aberdeen side in the CIS Cup 2nd Round. Disappointingly the fans were robbed by injury of the chance to see Jamie McAllister play for the Dons but they did see a magnificent cup-tie that had nearly everything. Queens started nervously and fell behind to an early goal by Eugene Dadi following some panicked defending. When Ben Thornley scored a second goal on a lightning break from a Queens corner after just 23 minutes, the portents didn't look good. However, the part timers rolled up their sleeves and played their way back into the game with some tremendous football. Just after the hour mark Craig Feroz pulled a goal back following good work from O'Neill and Queens put their opponents under some tremendous pressure for the rest of the game only to be thwarted time and time again by young goalkeeper Ryan Esson who made several point blank stops. It was Aberdeen who were far the happier side on hearing the final whistle but, whilst they headed for the next round, Queens could be justifiably proud of their efforts.

Four days later, the final game of the month saw Terry Christie bring his much fancied Alloa side South. Another excellent performance saw a 2-1 win that really should have been by a much greater margin. Gareth Hutchison gave the visitors the lead very much against the run of play but Joe McAlpine scored his first goal for the club to equalise within a minute and, just seconds into the second half, Craig Feroz forced in the winner. In the dying moments Alloa had a decent

penalty shout rejected but, had they taken anything from the game, it would have been an absolute travesty of justice. This meant the month ended with Queens having taken 16 points from their 9 games to date, losing just once.

Ewan Lithgow

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