WIND BLOWS IN QUEENS FAVOUR AT BAYVIEW

Queens edged rather uncomforatbly into the next round of the Tennents Scottish Cup at the expense of East Fife at wind swept New Bayview. For most Queens fans who had made the trip North it was their first glance of Bayview and must have been impressed with the facilities but the atmosphere unfortunately resembles that of a dentist's waiting room. The sizeable Queens support made plenty of noise but little was heard of the locals who seemed resigned to defeat. The first half can only be described as dreadful as both teams struggled to achieve anything. Queens looked the more composed but created nothing up front as they kicked towrds the beach end. In fact the ball boys were the busiest trying to find the ball as it was being hoofed out of the ground into the nearby disused Methil Power Station which dominates the background of this quite unique football venue. Kenny Deuchar had a chance to shock the Doonhamers but Dodds saved well. O'Connor tried hard to make some sort of opening for Queens but was frequently crowded out as the Dooinhamers looked clueless as how to break down the stubborn home defence. Most fans were heading for the pie stall long before the whistle to sample what was on offer. As Queens trooped off the wind from the beach end suddenly freshened in their favour which must have given them some heart for the second half.

Half-Time East Fife 0 Queens 0

Queens started off the second half in determined mood and started to dominate and at last chances were being created and missed although the Fifers were still a threat. The elusive opening goal just would not come however for Queens and JC brought on new boy Mc Mullen who began to cause havoc down the left with his surging runs. O'Connor had bad luck when his shot slipped past the post as Queens turned the screw but the fans were becoming a bit impatient as thoughts of a replay looked on. On 75 minutes Queens deservedly took the lead when O'Connor latched on to a superb Mc Colligan cross to send a diving header past his namesake in the home goal. With the strong wind at their backs Queens laid seige on the Fifers goal for the remaining 15 minutes and Burke blasted over a great opportunity but Queens were quite happy with the win and can now look forward to clashing with Motherwell in the next round. Queens will be happy to get through this awkward fixture but to be frank this was a less than impressive perfromance. We didn't look sharp enough up front and created very little in front of goal. Still we are through but on this performance Queens will have to improve somewhat if they are to trouble Motherwell in the next round.