QoS 4-3 Aberdeen: Queens reign at Hampden and set sights on Europe

IT SEEMS entirely fitting that the most lyrically-named football club in the country should make at least one appearance in the most theatrical production of the season, the Scottish Cup final. After 89 years of fluffed auditions, Queen of the South are there at last, and with a performance that could properly be described as dazzling.

Their co-stars on the Hampden stage on 24 May will not be determined until Sunday, when the other semi-final is played – if Rangers overcome St Johnstone then Queens will be in the Uefa Cup – but everyone connected with the Dumfries club will surely spend at least a few days revelling solely in the memory of how they overcame Aberdeen.

Having won their previous four ties without conceding a goal, who could have imagined that the First Division side would lose three to the first Premier League club they would meet and still emerge triumphant?

Probably not even Gordon Chisholm, the manager who has astutely overseen their procession to the final, negotiating obstacles that also included Linlithgow Rose (4-0) and Dundee (2-0) at home and Peterhead (5-0) and Morton (2-0) away.

Chisholm had brought his brightly-coloured assortment of experience and youth – from 36-year-old central defender Jim Thomson to 20-year-old Bob Harris immediately to his left at full-back – to Hampden "thinking we had a chance" because it was the squad's first year as full-timers and because "we've played some good stuff over the past few months".

Watching his players take the lead and concede equalisers three times before substitute John Stewart's decisive strike, Chisholm, not unnaturally, went through an ordeal of uncertainty. "I just thought we kept blowing it," he said. "To have been in front so often and to be pulled back so quickly was a nightmare.

"At those times, it must have been great for the neutrals, but it wasn't for me. Some of our lads had never been to Hampden – and I mean literally, not even for a visit – and I just hoped they wouldn't freeze. I told them not to leave the place with regrets, but I must say I didn't think we got to grips with the game properly in the first half.

"Even though it was 1-1 at half-time, I told them that they already had regrets about the first half and to make sure they didn't in the second. Well, they did that all right, didn't they?"

The Queens manager wondered how the referee, Kenny Clark arrived at four minutes of stoppage time at the end, since there had been no injuries requiring treatment. The truth is, if the added time had been based purely on that which was used up on goal celebrations, they would have had to play a third 45 minutes.

Chisholm and, doubtless, every other Queens fan in the stadium, experienced a certain apprehension when Stephen Dobbie, the team's leading goalscorer, was lost to injury just before the break. His replacement, Stewart, could hardly have made a more telling contribution.

The former Aberdeen player started and finished that surreal sequence which decided the outcome of the match. Jimmy Calderwood, the Aberdeen manager, raged against the deficiencies of his defenders afterwards and his black mood would not have been helped by the realisation that two Pittodrie alumni had scored the first and last goals for the opposition.

Several members of the Queens squad may have been seeing Hampden for the first time, but Steve Tosh and the great stadium are old friends, the veteran midfielder – he will be 35 in two weeks' time – having achieved the extraordinary distinction of playing there for those unlikeliest of cup finalists, Gretna and Livingston.

Having previously been let go by Calderwood, Tosh will have wallowed in the cool finish, slotting the ball high into the net following a free kick from Ryan McCann on the right, which gave Queens the lead for the first time. It would be wiped out by the header from Andrew Considine that gave the Aberdeen defender the first of his two goals.

Stewart began his intrusion by running 60 yards down the left on a pass from Harris before delivering the cross that allowed Paul Burns to restore the advantage and would, soon after, play the precise pass out of defence that gave Tosh the opportunity to play in Sean O'Connor for the third.

Finally, Stewart himself would hit a fierce drive past Derek Soutar, from a touch on by Thomson, for the winner.

These strikes would be accompanied by another headed goal from Considine and one from Barry Nicholson, the latter driving the loose ball past Jamie MacDonald after Lee Miller's header had bounced off the goalkeeper and straight to the feet of Nicholson, a native of Dumfries.

Calderwood, his players and every Aberdeen fan in the ground would realise they were on their way out of the cup when Zander Diamond sent a header against the crossbar and then drove the rebound off a post, all in the blink of an eye. Football truly is a funny game, but this was one of those occasions when more than half of the audience wasn't laughing.

Man of the match: John Stewart (QoS)

Even if the Queen of the South substitute played only a little more than half of the match, he actually accomplished enough in the bizarre 12-minute spell soon after half-time – setting up two goals and scoring the winner against his former side – to merit the nomination.

Joining Houliston family will see O'Connor become Doonhamer royalty

DUNCAN SMITH
AT HAMPDEN

SEAN O'Connor's name is often preceded by the words "fans' favourite", and a week after the Scottish Cup final he will marry into Queens royalty.

The popular striker will tie the knot with Jennifer Houliston, grand-daughter of Queen of the South's greatest ever player, the late international inside forward Billy, on 30 May, six days after the biggest day in the club's history, when they return to Hampden for the showpiece match of the season.

Signed from Dundee United in 2002 for £10,000, Wolverhampton-born O'Connor was an instant hit with the Palmerston faithful and after a welcome return from a short stint with Morecambe in 2006, he has now made more than 100 appearances for Queens.

Renowned as a physical attacker with a good eye for goal, O'Connor proved on Saturday that he can mix it with the best as he gave the Aberdeen defence a torrid 90 minutes, culminating with the goal that put Queens ahead for the third time.

After that strike, which saw him tie Zander Diamond in knots before smashing home with his left foot, there were a couple of twists and turns left in an incredible match, but by the end O'Connor was able to look forward to a magical month of May.

"The stag do is on hold but that's okay," beamed O'Connor after the match. "Jennifer's dad, Keith (Billy Houliston's son], is a director at the club – which probably helps me get a game – but he couldn't be here today because he's not too well at the moment. He was watching on TV and I'm looking forward to phoning him."

O'Connor was in no doubt that the win over the Dons was the highlight of a career which has included spells in the English Northern League with Hednesford and the Irish League with Portadown. He said: "Just playing on Saturday was by far the highlight of my career, but to score and to win in a match as incredible as that just makes it almost unbelievable. Now if Rangers get through to the final we'll be in Europe. I'm lost for words."

The big striker was an injury doubt with a neck problem going into the match but showed no ill effects as he led the line brilliantly, taking on extra responsibility when prolific strike partner Stephen Dobbie limped off in the first half. That was one of many blows Queens took on the chin on Saturday – three times they were pegged back by the SPL side soon after taking the lead – and O'Connor suggested that the credit for this admirable indefatigability must go to the manager.

He said: "Gordon Chisholm has instilled great team spirit. That's what this club runs on. And he's added on top of that all his knowledge of the game. He's one of, if not the best, coach I've ever worked with."

Humiliation sinks in for 'defensively awful' Dons

IAN RODGERS
AT HAMPDEN

ABERDEEN defender Andrew Considine concedes the lack of consistency at the back so evident during Saturday's defeat to Queen of the South stems from the lack of a regular centre-half combination throughout the season. Jimmy Calderwood lost the services of defensive mainstay Russell Anderson, who joined Sunderland after ten years at Pittodrie, last summer.

The dearth of central defensive cohesion manifested itself at the worst possible moment with First Division Queens enjoying a seemingly limitless run at goalkeeper Derek Soutar.

Considine, however, admits the unwanted rotation policy has not helped, with the highs of Uefa Cup displays against Copenhagen and Bayern Munich running in tandem with embarrassing domestic capitulations in both cup semi-finals this year. "It has definitely caused inconsistency," said Considine. "Obviously because people haven't been playing well or (have been injured] it hasn't helped the side at all."

The 21-year-old also believes nerves and the experience of being defeated 4-1 by Dundee United in the CIS Insurance Cup semi-final in February played their part within the team on Saturday. "We didn't start the game too well," said Considine. "There were a lot of nervous people out there and once they scored, we thought 'Oh, here we go, a bit of Queen's Park' (who knocked Aberdeen out of the CIS cup in 2006]".

"I don't know (why some players were nervous]," he added. "It is probably that a lot of people have not played at Hampden. I was nervous in the first five or ten minutes."

Selection policy was far from the mind of an angry Calderwood after his side threw away the chance of playing in a first Scottish Cup final since 2000 – and the possibility of qualifying for the Uefa Cup. "It was a massive, massive disappointment, one of the worst moments of my career and I hope my players are feeling the same," he said. "Queens were better than us and defensively we were awful, as we have been all season. If defeat was down to an individual mistake you can handle it. But losing four goals at this level is a joke and to do it in a semi-final again is no good."

While the absence of Anderson this season has proved to be a thorn in the side of Aberdeen, the potential loss of midfielder Barry Nicholson this summer could prove to be an even greater handicap next year. The Dumfries-born player was one of the few Aberdeen players to emerge with credit from Saturday's game, although he insists the defeat will not hasten his exit from the club in the summer.

"Not at all," said Nicholson. "The decision has to be made whether I want a fresh challenge or not."

Nicholson, however, believes a lack of defensive nous across the team had cost the Pittodrie side during Saturday's game against Queens. "It is going to take time for the boys and myself to get over that – it is a hard one to take," he said. "It was a great chance for us to get to a major cup final and we have let ourselves and the fans down."