Queens retained the Annan Tournament Brewers Cup after a rather disappointing Final against a stuffy Cleyholer side who led by a single goal for most of the match. Queens looked jaded after their 7-1 hammering of Ayr the previous day and struggled to find any sort of rhythm in the first half against a Stranraer side who were really up for it. The new defensive partnership of Aitken and Jones who was on trial,looked uneasy everytime the Cleyholers moved forward. Dobbie was not given the same space he enjoyed against Ayr and was eventually substituted. Queens had a couple of half chances before Gibson almost scored for Stranraer when a lob beat Grindlay in the Queens goal but the ball struck the bar and rebounded into safety. Gibson however had another go on 25 minutes and his well placed shot put the Cleyholers into a shock
lead. Queens tried everything to equalise but the Stranraer defence held out comfortably to take a deserved lead into the interval.
Half-Time: Queens 0 Stranraer 1
Queens changed things around a bit for the second-half with O'Neill and Burns coming on. There was a distinct improvement as Queens really took the game to the Cleyholers. Tosh and Bingham again were outstanding but the final touch in front of goal let them down. Just when it looked that Stranraer would snatch a famous victory a long ball caught out their defence on 75 minutes and the ball dropped nicely for O'Connor to lob over the advancing Stranraer keeper for a deserved equaliser much to the relief of the huge travelling Queens support.
It was disaster for Stranraer at the resultant penalty shoot-out as they missed their first penalty. O'Neill,Tosh,Bingham,Paton and O'Connor all converted their spot kicks to sink the gallant Cleyholers.
Queens although not playing particularly well,dominated the second half and perhaps just about deserved the win.
The two games against Ayr and Stranraer have been an excellent workout for Queens and the management must be reasonably happy as the squad prepares for the more important battles that lie ahead.
Queens starting line-up:
Grindlay,Paton,McQuilken,McFarlane,Jones,Aitken,Scally,Tosh,
O'Connor,Dobbie,Bingham.
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