Queen's back with a bang to batter The Blues

Putting a week of off-field shenanigans to one side, Queen's Park returned to the hallowed turf of Hampden Park on Saturday for one last time as they comfortably put Stranraer to the sword, winning 3-0 in what was a one sided 90 minutes at The National Stadium. 

The unrest within the support relating to the stadium (and the club's inability to effectively communicate with its supporters through official channels) was forgotten for 90 excellent minutes as everyone's favourite hard working professionals sent the Blues down the M77 empty handed.

Rampaging right back (and Twitter superstar) Michael Doyle gave us the lead with a looping header midway through the first half before fellow defender Lee Kilday powered The Spiders into a two goal advantage prior to the half time interval. A second half penalty from 'Bingo' Bob McHugh sealed the deal for the home side and put the icing on what was an impressive victory. 

The pre-match news delivered by Club President David Hunter (finally located following his apparent three month hiatus from the role) that we would be playing the remainder of this season's home games at Broadwood Stadium went down like a lead balloon with the support, and this was the kind of performance we needed from Ray McKinnon's men to lift spirits and shift focus back to the great strides we are making on the pitch. 

Of particular delight for the Queen's Park faithful would have been the performances in central midfield by Republic of Ireland youth internationals Canice Carroll and Luca Connell. Carroll (picked as 'best signing' in our previous 'Season so Far' feature) has already endeared himself to everyone at Queen's with his all-action displays and this was more of the same from the Spiders number 28. 

Carroll was everywhere during the first 45 minutes and by constantly winning the ball high into the Stranraer half, he repeatedly stopped the visitors from forcing any sustained pressure onto our back-line. The Blues barely had a kick in our half of the pitch during the first period, and this was in no small part down to the excellent shield that Carroll provides to the defence by covering swathes of grass and engaging opposition midfielders directly. 

The visitors struggled to deal with his display and Carroll was fouled on numerous occasions by a visibly frustrated opposition. They just couldn't handle his consistency, and it ended up being one hit too many for the Irishman as he was forced off with an injury midway through the second half. Hopefully, its nothing too serious for the midfielder, as he would be a big miss for a Spiders side who lack an obvious replacement within their ranks. 

For all Carroll's hard work in the heart of the Queen's midfield it was his countryman and partner in crime Luca Connell who grabbed the headlines following a superb debut performance. Connell, added on loan from Celtic only a day previous, added a spark and a drive to a Spiders engine room which has been criticised by supporters for its unambitious nature at times this season.

Connell was a highly rated youth prospect when he joined Celtic from English side Bolton Wanderers back in the summer of 2019, but for whatever reason the silky midfielder has yet to trouble even the fringes of the Bhoys first team (this despite a season of strife for the deposed Scottish Champions). His addition by Queen's gaffer Ray McKinnon was greeted as a coup when announced, and it was easy to work out why very early into Saturday afternoon's fixture. 

Supremely comfortable on the ball and able to find pockets of space between the lines of the visitors, Connell looked at home straight away in the black and white jersey and it was no surprise that he was voted as Man of the Match on the back of a terrific display. His pin point left foot delivery from a first half free kick (expertly dispatched into the back of the net by Lee Kilday) effectively illustrated his quality, and this ability to get the dead balls right could be vital for a side who tend to win a high number of attacking free kicks and corners.

To round off a memorable week for the Liverpool born 19-year old, Connell was rewarded with a call up to the Republic of Ireland under-21 squad for Friday's international against Wales. This will likely rule the youngster out of our trip to Brechin on Saturday and it will be interesting to see how Queen's manager Ray McKinnon intends to replace him. Our two obvious central midfield options (Darren Lyon and Grant Gillespie) are very different players to Connell and one wonders if he may be tempted to move David Galt or Louis Longridge into a more central role in order to replicate the flair and vision that Connell brought to the side against Stranraer. 

All in all, this was a good team performance from McKinnon's men and we also bore witness to excellent individual displays from the tireless Simon Murray (the forward looking somewhere near full fitness), skipper Galt (booking for a comical dive aside) and right back Doyle - who has been a model of consistency with his performances so far this season.

It is hard to see Super Ray veering too far from the eleven chosen on Saturday for the upcoming trip to Glebe Park (injury permitting), but there may be a couple of individuals looking over their shoulders at the impressive strength in depth both on the bench and in the stands.

Ross MacLean, preferred to Jai Quitongo and Longridge from the start, was quiet on the right of a four man midfield and inconsistency has been a hallmark of his performances throughout the campaign. Quitongo in particular, impressive before the enforced break in play caused by COVID-19, may well fancy his chances of wrestling that shirt from MacLean in the coming weeks.

Central striker Bob McHugh is another one who may have a fight on his hands to retain his place in the manager's first XI. The experienced ex-Falkirk man hasn't had the impact he would have liked since his high profile capture in the summer, and has only managed 3 goals from open play in 15 starts. McHugh never looked likely to change that statistic on Saturday, failing to create any clear chances as far too many touches went astray in promising positions. 

McHugh was replaced immediately following his successful penalty kick by the returning Salim Kouder-Aissa, and unless he can start finding the net on a more consistent basis it is not outwith the realms of possibility that this may also be the case in the starting team sooner rather than later.

When all is said and done, after a three month break in play (and the well publicised confusion relating to off field issues) it really was a great feeling to see the Queen's back on the field of play on Saturday afternoon. Of course football is not the same without the fans, and like everyone I know I am missing it terribly, but watching on dodgy streams is the next best thing, and I cannot wait to do it all again on Saturday as Queen's do battle with perennial strugglers Brechin City at The Glebe!