It was back on the road this weekend as we headed to Alloa Athletic in league one.  With Taylor Charters picking up an injury against Ross County, he sat this one out and there was a start for Benji Luissint in the one change to the starting eleven.

With the hosts sitting two places and two points above us in the table, everyone was aware of him important the game was and as Zander Mackenzie got things underway, Liam Smith won the first corner after four minutes but the deliver was too close to Ross Stewart and he collected easily.

Two minutes later, Calum Waters played a good ball into the box but Niall Rogerson headed away. The resulting corner was played in but cleared. The clearance was only as far as Grant Marchant outside the box and he had time and space but fired well over.

A short time later, as the ball was knocked back to Joe McGrath at the edge of the area his right foot effort was much closer as it just cleared the bar. 

The game had been fairly even but Queens took the lead thirteen minutes in when Mackenzie played a short free-kick to Jack Stott and as his delivery was knocked away, the Gaffer headed the ball down for Connor Young who was at the edge of the 18-yard line and kept his left foot shot low to beat Stewart and place the ball into the bottom corner.

Minutes later Zander Hutton did well to get the ball into the front post for Young, but he couldn’t make enough space to get a decent shot away. 

Midway through the half, Waters free-kick was attacked by Matty Aitken but his header was well saved as Deniz Mehmet got down to collect. As the game moved back to the other end of the park, Stott played the ball forward for Smith, his cross was dangerous but knocked out for a corner. Mackenzie dropped the delivery into the six-yard box but Joe Ellison booted the ball away.

On the half hour mark, Marchant played a decent free-kick in but McGrath couldn’t get his head on the end of it. In the closing stages of the first half, Alloa were starting to put more pressure on Queens but as the visitors hit on the counter, Young set up a chance for Smith who forced a save from Stewart.

Kyle Glasgow then hit a free-kick from about 40-yards for the hosts but Mehmet watched it all the way and collected down the middle.

Five minutes before the break, Smith laid the ball off for Nicky Clark but his right foot shot flew just over the bar.  And as the Wasps hit back, Max Cameron carried a threat down the left and his cross into the box was headed away by Stott.

HALF TIME: Alloa Athletic 0 Queens 1

As the players emerged for the second half, Storm Boelo was making its mark and the rain intensified. It didn’t however turn the game into a farse like it could’ve and Hutton raced down the wing but his cross come shot cleared the bar. 

Five minutes later, Mackenzie made a good run down the channel and delivered into the box but it was cleared as Young looked to take a shot.  It was Queens who had made a more positive start and Caleb Goldie played the ball in from the right but it was just behind Young.

On the hour mark, Mackenzie played a well weighted ball for Clark who in turn played a good through ball for Young but Ellison made the challenge and denied him the chance to shoot.

A minute later, the home side made a claim for a penalty when Cameron went down inside the box but ref Mark Daly was having none of it and played on. It was an indication that the home side were on their way back into the game and Glasgow used his pace to cut inside but Shaun Want made a good block.

As they pushed again Mehmet punched the ball out for a corner and as it was played in Mackenzie got on the end of it and raced away. He had Smith up in support but as he played the ball through for the winger, he was judged to have made the run too early and the offside flag went up.

Owen Foster then crossed from the left but Aitken couldn’t get his head on the end of it. The striker did have the ball in the net a couple of minutes later but the flag was up and it didn’t count. 

The rain was now torrential and it couldn’t have been pleasant playing in it but after a string of substitutions and bookings, Aitken got on the end of a long ball only for Goldie to clear.  The momentum was certainly with the home side but Queens were defending well and Hutton made a good challenge on Glasgow out on the wing to stop him from crossing the ball.

They maintained the pressure and with ninety-two minutes on the clock, Mehmet pulled off a terrific save to deny Luke Rankin.

It had been a bit of a niggly game and deep into added on time, Alloa were reduced to ten men when former Queens stopper, Stewart wasn’t happy that Cole Coughlin chased down a back-pass and when he got to his feet, he took the youngster out with a shoulder charge earning himself a red card.

The game had barely restarted when the final whistle went and Queens’ hard work paid off as they claimed three valuable points and moved up the league one table.

FULL TIME: Alloa Athletic 0 Queens 1

Teams:

Alloa Athletic: Stewart, Taggart, Waters (K Donnelly 82), McGrath (Green 94), Marchant, Glasgow, Scougall, Ellison (Rankin 68), Cameron (Forbes 82), Foster & Aitken.  Subs not used: L Donnelly, McCafferry, Walker, Tanner & Hannah.

Queens: Mehmet, Goldie, Stott, Smith (Gray 93), Mackenzie, Young (Coughlin 83), Clark (Davis 90), Want, Rogerson, Luissint (Ellis 83) & Hutton.  Subs not used: Petry, Dair, Kelly & McColm.

Ref: Mark Daly

Crowd: 435