Match Report

Queens Park scuppered any lingering hopes Annan may have had of making the play offs with a polished performance against a jaded looking Annan team who were comprehensively beaten by the slick moving spiders who are still in with a chance of lifting the title after Albion Rovers slipped up against Elgin City.

Annan were back to full strength and the team was set up as a 3-4-3 formation but it was Queens Park who controlled the proceedings in the opening half taking the game to Annan and it was a fair reflection on the half as Queens strolled to a 2 goal interval lead although Annan will no doubt look back on the manner in which they conceded the goals .

The opening 20 minutes were dominated by Queens Park taking the game to Annan but despite their territorial advantage Annan restricted the scoring opportunities to a shot by John Carter in the 5th minute which hit the side netting. Annan forced their first corner in the 15th minute from which MacKay scooped the ball over the bar from the edge of the 6 yard box.

The home team continued to push forward with Paul Woods catching the eye with penetrating runs and in the 24th minute Wood worked his way into a promising position only to finish with a weak shot from the edge of the box into the arms of Mitchell. Ciaran McElroy tried his luck with a 30 yard effort which went into the arms of Mitchell. At the other end MacKay did well when he cut in along the bye line to create danger but the final ball was disappointing.

Swinglehurst averted a dangerous situation when his timely challenge on John Carter in the 33rd minute prevented the striker from opening the scoring. The opening goal arrived in the 36th minute and it was disappointing goal for Annan to concede on two fronts when first of all Sloan conceded a free kick on the corner of the 18 yard box and from the resulting free kick Sean Burns whipped shot over the top of Mitchell into the top right hand corner.

The spiders first half lead was more than merited and they confirmed that with a well worked second goal on the stroke of half time. McElroy and Slattery combined to set up Shaun Rooney who side footed the ball from the edge of the box that beat Mitchell to the keepers right hand side.

It came as no surprise that Annan changed their set up at half time with Weatherson replacing McStay and within 10 minutes of the restart Annan lost both Stuart McColm and Andrew Mitchell to injury. Scoring opportunites were few and far between but in the closing minutes Muir pulled off 2 good saves in as many minutes when he denied Wetherson who fished with a fine shot from an Ogen pass and then he pushed Todd’s effort round the post in the dying minutes.

There was not a lot of positives that Annan could take from the match, the away day blues continues to be a problem and a mystery. Manager Jim Chapman faces an anxious end to the season as his team struggle to put any consistency into their performances.

QUEENS PARK : William Muir, Gavin Mitchell, Sean Burns, Vinnie Berry, Anthony Quinn, Bryan Wharton ,Paul Woods, Pat Slattery, John Carter(Ross McPherson 82min), Shaun Rooney ( Shaun Fraser 88min), Ciaran McElroy . SUBS NOT USED: David McGregor, Conor McVey, Jordan Moore, Blair Lochhead GK

ANNAN ATHLETIC: Alex Mitchell, Steven Black, Steven Swinglehurst, Martin McNiff, Peter Watson, Steven Sloan, Andrew Mitchell ( Steven Logan 65 min), Ryan McStay (Peter Weatherson 45), Josh Todd, Stuart McColm (Ogen 58), Kenny MacKay. SUBS NOT USED: Chris Dickinson, Rabin Omar, Jordan Brown, Jordan Hart GK

REFEREE: David Munro Assistants Andy Milne and Gavin Harris

Attendance 462