Spiders leave it late to notch a key draw
Ryan McGeever heads home at the death
Gus MacPherson praised his side’s spirit after they battled back at the death to rescue a point against playoff rivals Brechin.
The hosts dominated for much of the match but were hit with a sucker-punch on 83 minutes when Andy Jackson struck against the run of play.
Queen’s however, battled back to salvage a well-deserved point with Ryan McGeever heading home at the death.
MacPherson said: “It would have been a total injustice if we hadn’t have taken something from the game.
“We showed a lot of spirit to get something out of that.
“We got caught with a sucker punch but they reacted in the right manner and that’s pleasing.”
Six minutes in, Willie Muir produced a gem of a long kick-out to send Sean Burns scampering down the right. He released Conor McVey and his cross was taken off David Galt’s head. It was then fired back in and cleared for a corner, which ended in a McKernon header being tipped over by keeper Graeme Smith.
A moment’s hesitation at the back almost cost Queen’s after 24 minutes, but young Cameron Foy produced a great challenge to snuff out any problem and ensure the scoreline stayed blank.
After a quiet opening first half, it only took thirty-four seconds into the second period before Queen’s had a chance. A cross-come-shot from Galt was agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock, but with Smith scrambling, the ball missed the far post by the slimmest of margins.
Muir had to be at his best after 56 minutes. A lucky ricochet left Jackson clear and the Queen’s keeper dived bravely at the striker’s feet to block and was then up quickly enough to ensure Graham could only hit the side net with the follow-up.
Two minutes later and it was Queen’s on the attack, with first Anton Brady denied and then a big shout for a penalty denied as the midfielder seemed to be barged in the back.
Dario Zanatta drove down the right from the clearance and Galt’s flick just did not have enough on it to beat Smith. The keeper was back in action seconds later as he had to stretch every sinew to deny McVey a rare headed goal.
Despite all the pressure from the hosts, it was Brechin who went ahead.
Queen’s failed to clear a simple ball as it rebounded off Liam Watt to Jackson. There seemed no need for panic as the striker looked offside, but there was no flag from the assistant and Jackson buried the ball behind Muir.
McGeever did his best to get the Spiders back on terms but Smith leapt to clear his overhead kick with 90 seconds remaining.
The defender was not to be denied however, and from the resultant corner, put a header past the helpless Brechin keeper to make it 1-1.
Brechin boss Darren Dods said: “It does hurt when you lose a goal so late. It’s a hard one to take but we dust ourselves down and move on.”