The big battle for play-offs heats up
Spiders are now in a two-horse race for survival
Queen’s Park boss Gus MacPherson admits their only way of staying in the division will be through the relegation play-offs.
The gutted Spiders gaffer watched his side battle back from 2-0 down to draw level with East Fife on the hour mark.
But League One’s bottom club saw any hopes of taking something from the match snatched away when substitute Pat Slattery headed home the winner after 74 minutes.
MacPherson reckons the result, coupled with Forfar’s dramatic late victory over fellow relegation battlers Albion Rovers, means Queen’s are in a two-horse race for survival.
He told the Reformer: “Obviously we are disappointed, like so many games this season, especially at home, we are creating plenty of chances. But we find ourselves 2-0 behind.
“We played some good stuff and the players showed terrific character to get back into the game. We started the second half well and got that equaliser only for us to lose a soft goal.
“That is a frustration we have, we find ourselves 2-0 down and considering the circumstances we are in, you are thinking ‘what’s going to happen?’ But credit to the players, you cannot question their character. “The players were frustrated, as is everyone else. But you cannot question the effort that was there. “I think one of the key moments was the East Fife substitutions. When you bring someone with the experience of Kevin Smith off the bench, it just settled them down when they needed it and that was one of the key parts of the game.” Queens couldn’t have got off to a worse start when they conceded after only eight minutes. An attempted cross by Aaron Dunsmore deflected into the path of Connor McManus on the edge of the box whose firsttime effort flew low into the bottom corner. Seven minutes later and they were 2-0 down. A low cut-back towards the edge of the box found Dunsmore who rifled into the net via a deflection. Queen’s Park struggled to get into the game but did pull one back just before half-time after Aidan Keena converted from Thomas Orr’s parried effort with header. The home side continued their fight back in the second half as they piled on the pressure on East Fife and got their reward when David Galt slotted home the equaliser.
But despite their hard work Queen’s Park came away with nothing after Slattery stepped off the bench to head in the winner.
Ahead of this weekend’s trip to Raith Rovers, MacPherson said: “The objective is to finish above Albion Rovers but I think they will be saying the same thing about us.
“Forfar’s victory over Albion Rovers probably gives them enough to stay in the league.
“What we are expecting from our opponents (Raith) is a very tough game, nobody expects anything from us against a team who are still going for the title.
“So it’s up to us to perform and be well organised.”