Queens were bundled out of the CIS Cup for the second successive year by a team from a lower division and once again they have only themselves to blame. The Queens defensive line-up included the unlikely pairing of Carr and Wood with Thomson strangely left on the bench. Stirling looked an attractive footballing side from the start and the Queens defence looked very uneasy indeed . Queens had hardly got going when they gave away a goal on 10 minutes when Connolly surprised everyone by slipping the ball past Barnard. The same player scored again on 12 minutes with the Queens defence in complete disarray. The several hundred Quens fans who had ventured up the A74 were in complete despair as the 2nd Division side went out looking for more. Queens however gradually came back into the game with Bowey driving them on. Payne was looking very dangerous indeed as Queen carved out chance after chance against a desperate Beanos defence. McNiven (twice) and Lyle missed easy chances before McNiven pulled one back for Queens on 31 minutes. It was now game on as Queens took the game to Stirling who by half-time were just hanging on. Stirling were delighted to be 2-1 up at the interval but Queens should really have been ahead.
Half-Time
Stirling Albion 2 Queens 0
The second half was full of frustration for Queens as they threw men forward in a frantic attempt to save the game. Thomson replaced Carr and Wood eventually moved up to support the attack. Payne was supplying some tempting crosses which McNiven and Lyle failed miserably to take advantage of as he home team grew in confidence. Stirling almost snatched a third as Queens left gaps at the back. Lyle blasted wide when he should have passed to a teamate and McNiven was thwarted by a last ditch tackle. The best chance fell to Wood in the dying minutes when he was clean through only for the home keeper to save with his knees. Queens really should have buried the home side during the second half but it was not to be. No one could grudge Stirling their win but Queens must be kicking themselves for missing those chances in the first half. They certainly played a lot better than Saturday and went down fighting but the result will disappoint the Queens support and it will be a tense match against Brechin at Palmy on Saturday. Scotty must shore up this defence for if they give away early goals against Brechin on Saturday it will be curtains. Incidently there were a dozen or so Americans from Maryland along supporting Queens at Forthbank and they were obviously disappointed with the result.
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