SHIRE 0 QUEEN'S PARK 3

It was a chance for Shire to close the gap on leaders Livingston. But it ended up a night no-one associated with the club will want to remember.

Queen’s Park absolutely deserved their victory which was assured as soon as Michael Daly made the score 3-0 in just 28 minutes. From that point in Shire did well to prevent any further damage.

The fans were still trying to encourage the team until the very end but there was no doubt the 90 minutes of football they had witnessed was a shock to the system.

The illness which caused Simon Lynch and Paul Hay to miss the weekend match at Anan had spread further through the team. Although both Saturday absentees had recovered their lurgy had been contracted by Derek Ure and Dean Richardson.

Ryan Harding was also struck down with the bug but not so badly that he couldn’t take his place in the starting eleven.

Shire were also missing keeper Jamie Barclay who was on international duty with Scotland under-21’s. David Dunn was suspended after his red card at Annan on Saturday.

There was some good news with the return of Michael Bolochoweckyj after his one match ban. And the Shire centre half was just a fraction away from giving them the lead inside two minutes, but he just failed to connect with Jamie Stevenson’s in-swinging free-kick.

Several forward incursions into the Queen’s Park box looked promising for Shire but were halted in their tracks by the linesman’s offside flag.

But for all that it was Queen’s Park who took the lead after 13 minutes and it was a personal disaster for Shire keeper Sorley. He seemed to have a hold of Jack Henry’s cross but it slipped from his grasp and that allowed David Murray to turn the ball in at the far post.

The goal gave the visitors all the confidence they required and they weren’t slow to try and build on it. After 22 minutes Michael Daly his a shot from the edge of the box which had Sorley scrambling across his goal and he was lucky to see it go wide.

A minute later Murray had the measure of Craig Donaldson down the Shire right and after he whipped in a low cross which Sorley was slow to react to, Daly slid in to knock the ball home.

A rather shell-shocked Shire struggled to contain Queens after that and it was the visitors who created the better openings. They did manage to score a third goal after 28 minutes but didn’t have to work for it.

Sorley attempted a clearance from the edge of his own box but simply cracked his attempt of Daly. The visiting striker collected the loose ball and rolled it into the empty net.

Coach Jim McInally made a double substitution at the interval, taking off Harding and Hay, who had risen from their sickbeds to play, were replaced by Marc McKenzie and Scott Johnston. Afterwards, it was admitted neither man had been fit enough to play.

McKenzie manmaged to get into a promising position after 54 minutes but his shot from the edge of the box was saved by McGeown. That was the last action for the visiting kreeper who went off after 56 minutes after picking up an injury to be replaced by Peter Hamilton.

Queens thought they had made it 4-0 in 57 minutes but Paul Stewart’s shot from the edge of the box, although well-struck, was done so from an offside position.

Referee Nicholls booked three Shire players in quick succession as their frustrations started to show, but it was Johnston who provided any bright moments.

The former Forfar West End player made good progress down the right after the hour mark and shot from a tight angle but Hamilton made a decent save.

Five minutes later Daly was unlucky not to get his hat-trick but his looping header just cleared the bar.

Shire threw everything forward to try and retrieve a seemingly lost situation and Bolochoweckyj did come close late on with a header that shaved the top of the bar.

But the visitors were just as threatening in the closing stages and substitute Chris Hamilton twice tested Sorley with shots as the game reached its inevitable conclusion.

SHIRE : Sorley, Donaldson, Hay(McKenzie 46), Forrest, Bolochoweckyj, Harding(Johnston 46), Weaver, Stevenson, Lynch, McGuire, Rodgers(Brady 61).

QUEEN’S PARK : McGeown(P. Hamilton 55), McGinn, Douglas, Gallagher, Brough, Capuano, Stewart, Henry(Holms 69), Daly, Quinn, Murray(C. Hamilton 81).

REFEREE : S. Nicholls

ATTENDANCE : 297.