QUEENS LOSE THEIR WAY ON THE ROAD TO DUNDEE

Nelly carried off injured.

Dundee ran out comfortable winners thanks to some shocking defending by Queens in the first half. Queens made a fight of it in the second half but there was no way back. The atmosphere at Dens Park was completely flat as the teams kicked off in front of a very poor crowd. Two of the stands were completely empty and the away support were herded into the wing section of the old stand under the watchful eyes of an outrageous amount of police and security staff. There was a huge blow to Queens when Scott was injured during the warm up and young Robertson was thrown into the deep end. From the kick off the young goalkeeper was put under tremendous pressure as the Queens defence looked all over the place. It was a surprise that it took Dundee 17 minutes before they scored and it was due to a blunder by McAlpine. Instead of closing down his man he lunged in and was completely skinned on the right and from the resulting cross Sara had a simple tap in for the opening goal. Queens were battling hard but were finding space a premium. Another defensive lapse on the 21st minute allowed an unmarked Cabellero to pick his spot and beat Roberston. Queens looked well out of it at this stage, however Weatherson scored a spectacular goal from about 25 yards in 29 minutes to give the noisy Queens contingent some hope. Hopes of a fight back were dashed in 39 minutes when Sara picked up a pass on the left and beat Roberston with an angular drive. It was a poor first half for Queens and they looked very vulnerable at the back.

HALF TIME 3-1


Thomson and Neilson(I THINK) were introduced for the second half and there was a marked improvement in Queens. They looked more compact at the back and Dundee were being pushed back. Queens had a couple of half chances and also a couple of penalty claims turned down. They also struck the bar but one had the feeling that Dundee were content to play out time. The damage had already been done in the first half and there was the sad sight of Weatherson being carried off with his foot wrapped in ice so it looks he will not make it for Saturday. So a rather disappointing night for the many Queens fans that made it to Dens Park but again defensive lapses cost us dear. One positive from the match was the form of Thomson. When he came on he seemed to transform the team. JC must play him on Saturday alongside Aitken. We must also put our two best full backs on the field. Sadly Henderson had another stinker at right back and why JC persists with him is beyond me. We must put this reverse behind us and if we play like we did in the second half then we should beat Arbroath on Saturday nae bother. I was surprised at the large police and steward presence at the visitors end. Everyone was body searched for bottles and we even had stewards outside the toilets. The travel club bus even had a police escort to the outskirts of Dundee much to the surprise of the Gibson's coach driver who had us back in Dumfries 2 and half hours later.