Watt A Day

Queen's Park v Fleetwood Town
Friendly
Saturday 11th July 2009, kick-off 3pm
National Centre Inverclyde, Largs

As the support act of Crawley Town and Albion Rovers departed Queen's Park and Conference North side Fleetwood Town continued to 'warm-up' on the same sloped pitch. If the term warm-up was to be taken literally there would be no need for it, unfortunately for the players it wasn't as the temperatures continued to rise. The Fishermen's gaffer Micky Mellon opted to begin his clubs pre-season preparations in the country of his birth, whilst Spiders head coach Gardner Speirs had taken his side away for weekend training to the seaside of Largs. With the glorious weather some fans made the most of it and came prepared with their own carry out.

Straight from kick-off Fleetwood surged forward and forced Queen's 'keeper Zander Cowie into a brilliant save. The match soon settled and a bit of amusement when the ball got stuck in a tree, the ball was technically still on the field of play (wonder what the official ruling is on that, play on?), but the referee awarded a throw-in. The Fishermen were forced into an early change of 'keeper and sixteen year old Kieran O'Boyle was thrown into the action. It was his poor kick that resulted in the opening goal as Spiders striker Ian Watt pounced to control and then round the helpless 'keeper before rolling the ball over the line.

At half-time a few changes were made and Queen's went to a 3-5-2 formation for the second period. With about an hour on the clock Fleetwood equalised against the run of play as a cross to the back post was nodded in by Lee Dodgson. Queen's responded well as Barry Douglas fired in a free-kick which was met by James Brough who headed in to restore the lead.

Hesitation in the Fleetwood defence allowed Spiders livewire Ian Watt nip in to net his second goal of the afternoon. The young substitute 'keeper continued with his horrible afternoon by gifting another goal away, this time presenting Michael Daly with an open goal. Eventually the ball fell out of the tree late into the second-half (perhaps Fleetwood would've just preferred they played on with the ball stuck up there).

The match finished 4-1 to Queen's and apart from getting sun burn it was good viewing. One of the Fleetwood staff gave me a badge of their club crest after the match which has left me with a nice opinion of their club who also played in a sporting manner, I wish them all the best for next season. They now travel back to England for some more friendlies as their pre-season continues. Next up for Queen's Park is a closed-door friendly against Clyde at Lesser Hampden on Monday evening.

Photos from the match can be found on the Fleetwood Town website and the Un-official Queen's Park site. Also a report from the Blackpool Gazette.

Result: Queen's Park 4-1 Fleetwood Town

Line-ups
Queen's Park: Cowie, Ure (Walker), Douglas (Trialist) Sinclair (Trialist), Brough, Dunlop (Capuano), Hamilton (Henry), Tiernan, Watt, Daly, Harkins (Trialist).
Fleetwood Town: Hurst (O'Boyle), Wolliscroft (Beeley), McNulty, Mercer (Taylor), Elderton, Trialist (Dodgson), McGuire (Trialist), Connors, Mullan (Trialist), Rogan (Bell), Wilde (Trialist).

Goalscorer(s)
Queen's Park: Ian Watt (2), James Brough and Michael Daly
Fleetwood Town: Lee Dodgson

Attendance: unknown