Match Report

Annan responded to their defeat at the hands of East Fife with a confident convincing victory over fellow play off hopefuls Queen Park to keep Annan’s chances of reaching the play off places on track.

It was a perfect evening for football played on the newly laid National Stadium. Annan made changes with the now fully fit Swinglehurst and Black joined by Watson in a back three and Jordan Hart was reinstated back between the sticks.

Annan opened the scoring in the 15th minute after Cuddihy and Todd combined on the edge of the box with McKernon conceding a free kick 24 yards out and once again Annan had Peter Weatherson to thank when he bent the ball round the wall and out of the reach of keeper William Muir. It was the strikers third successive goal from free kicks in the last 3 games.

Annan continued to push forward and in the 25th minute they once again caught Queens Park, Lewis Guy brought Flynn into play down the left and he sold Ryan McGeever a dummy before finishing with good shot which Muir could only parry out and once again it was the alert Weatherson who drilled the ball low into the net form 12 yards.

Annan keeper Jordan Hart pulled off an important save in the 31st minute to deny Chris Duggan. Annan’s first half was crowned in the 38th minute when Todd and Flynn combined wide on the left and Flynn side footed the keeper to finish with a low strike into the net from the edge of the box. Annan were now in familiar territory with a three goal interval advantage over another play off rival.

Queens Park made three changes at the start of the second half in an effort to get back into the match with Carter, Wharton and McLeish all being introduced at the expense of Woods, Bradley and Gibson. The spiders pressed forward without making an impact on the resolute Annan defence and the Annan boss made changes with Omar and Morton replacing Guy and Flynn in the 63rd minute as Annan crowded their defence in an effort to frustrate the Queens Park attack who were finding it increasingly difficult to create a clear scoring opportunity despite having plenty of possesion.

As the game approached the final minutes Weatherson was replaced by Sloan. Todd had a good opportunity when he homed in on goal in the 90th minute but the finish over the bar did not test Muir. Queens Park finally made the breakthrough in the fourth minute of added on time when Burns and Duggan’s efforts were saved by Hart with Carter finally scoring from close range.

QUEENS PARK :William Muir, Scott Hooper, Vinnie Berry, Ryan McGeever, Scott Gibson (Brian Wharton ht ), David Galt, Jamie McKeron, Chris Duggan, Paul Woods (John Carter ht), Joe Bradley ( Craig McLeish ht ). SUBS NOT USED: Sam George, Gavin Mitchell, Ryan Hynes, William Mortimer.

Queens Park goals- Carter (90+4)

ANNAN ATHLETIC: Jordan Hart, Ben Jago, Steven Black,Steven Swinglehurst, Martin McNiff, Peter Watson, Barry Cuddihy, Mathew Flynn ( Rabin Omar 63 min) , Peter Weatherson ( Steven Sloan 86 min), Josh Todd ,Lewis Guy (Jordan Morton 63 min). SUBS NOT USED: Blair Currie, Kevin Nicoll, Ryan McStay, Liam Park.

Annan Goals- Weatherson (15) (27) Flynn (33)

REFEREE: Grant Irvine Attendance 339