Queen of the South v Clyde

Recap

Queen of the South fans will have awoken this morning quite relieved that their side is in the second round, following a thrilling match last night at Palmerston.

Captain Eddie Malone returned from his league suspension in place of Kevin Bradley, with Roddy Hunter joining Bradley on the bench. There was still no Craig McKeown or Steven Masterton leaving Clyde’s squad looking decidedly stretched.

After a confident start from the Bully Wee, during which Paul McHale came close with a powerful strike, Queens scored against the run of play as a looping ball into the box eventually saw O’Neill to slot home into an empty net.

Clyde continued to play their quick, passing game and earned several more corners as they looked to test Barry John Corr. However it was the homeside who scored a second when Paton returned the ball into the middle for an unmarked Murray Henderson to head home.

After a penalty claim Clyde found themselves 3-0 down, a slack Malone pass caught Neil McGregor flat-footed and Weir easily strolled through before slotting past Cherrie.

Clyde fought back with several more efforts on goal. First, Dougie Imrie saw a long range strike clatter off of the post and then Stephen O’Donnell’s free kick curved just past Corr’s post. Then, a lifeline, as a carbon copy free kick by O’Donnell was spilled by Corr, leaving Imrie with a simply task to slot home into an empty net.

Remarkably the scoring for the half wasn’t finished, as in stoppage time, Queen’s struck a fourth , as a shot from Scott McKenzie was deflected into the path of O’Neill, who struck the ball into the corner of the net.

Clyde responded in the second half as they came out all guns blazing at the start of the second half. After a great deal of pressure Clyde were rewarded with a penalty and O’Donnell kept up his good penalty scoring record by slotting home into the corner of the net to give Clyde another lifeline.

O’Donnell was inspiring Clyde at this point and his powerful drive from just outside the box raised further hopes that Clyde could complete an unlikely comeback. Sadly it was not to be Clyde’s night.

Still, there were several plus points. Arbuckle and Imrie showed signs of forming a partnership up front, and the midfield trio of O’Donnell, Bryson and McHale was full of running and good passing. The defence looked much more comfortable with Higgins in the middle to deal with O’Connor and McGregor is working his way back to fitness. Plus there is still McKeown, Masterton and presumably two or three new players to come.

In all truth, I think we’re all going to have to wait until the end of the transfer window before setting potential targets for the season.