Spiders boss gutted side were KO’d by late sucker punch
Last-gasp goal a real sickener for MacPherson
Queen’s Park manager Gus MacPherson branded his side naïve after they conceded a late stoppage time goal at home to Berwick Rangers.
Following Annan’s 3- 2 defeat to Clyde, the Spiders failed in their bid to top the League Two table before New Year’s Day.
Darren Lavery’s goal was enough to give Berwick all three points on a very wet afternoon at Hampden Park.
Four points now separate the top five teams in League Two but the result ended an unbeaten run of five games for the Spiders.
It also concluded an impressive clean sheet record as, before the match, Queen’s had not conceded in the league for 444 minutes.
However, MacPherson insisted that he couldn’t criticise his players too much and that going top of the table wasn’t essential at this time in the season.
He said: “At this stage it [ going top] doesn’t matter.
“It’s more important that you look after your own performances individually and collectively. It was just that last couple of minutes we let ourselves down.
“It was a real sucker punch and a real counter attack. “There was a little bit of naivety. “But that’s what these guys are all about. They’re at this level of football to learn and you learn harsh lessons when you make mistakes.
“But we can’t criticise too much because of the conditions and everything else that went with the game.”
Gus admitted that the late goal was a hard one to take and added: “It was a very sore one to lose at that stage in the game and a poor goal.
“We went and changed it quite dramatically, pushing players forward trying to get the goal but we’re at home so the onus is on us. “It’s concentration, that’s all it is. “But when the game is like that, the worst you should be taking is a clean sheet and we’ve been punished very severely at the end.
“We’re at the end of the table that we want to be at but we are very respectful to everybody in the division.
“I’d be interested to see the possession stats in terms of being in control of the game and then getting punished at the end.”
The conditions played a part in making life difficult for both teams and MacPherson sympathised with his players.
He added: “They were very difficult. You could see players struggling in terms of their standing foot, when they were going to kick the ball.
“We try and pass the ball, we always try to do that. But to be fair to Berwick, they are trying to do that as well and you could see the conditions had an adverse effect on the performance.”
Queen’s now face a stern test away to promotion rivals Clyde this weekend with a single point separating the teams.