By Lewis Laird
Queen’s Park extended their lead at the top of League Two to 10 points with a 1-0 win over Stirling Albion, Celtic loanee Luca Connell inspiring the Spiders to victory.
An own goal around the half-hour mark was enough for the Spiders to take home all three points and keep up their unbeaten run in the league after 13 games, Connell winning his third Man of the Match award since arriving on loan from Celtic with an outstanding display.
The Celtic loanee shone again. (Photo By Brendan Moran/Sportsfile via Getty Images)
It took a bit of time for the home side to settle into their new home at the Falkirk Stadium after playing their last match at Hampden Park two games ago but they were able to open the scoring just past the half-hour mark.
Another brilliantly-delivered set-piece by Celtic loanee Connell made its way to the middle of the box, finding the head of Lee Kilday, who attempted to put his header on target. After coming off a few bodies, it appeared that the final touch came off Albion defender Kyle Banner to put Queen’s 1-0 up.
Albion really should have been back on level terms around the hour-mark. A cross into the box from the right-hand side made it all the way through to Jack Leitch, who looked to have a free header, unmarked. However, the Stirling star made a mess of the chance and completely missed the ball.
The former Motherwell man missed a glorious chance. (Photo by Jeff Holmes/Getty Images)
Queen’s Park’s David Galt was next to come close to scoring. As Jai Quitongo beat his man on the left-side of the box, the winger rolled the ball across to Galt who looked certain to score, but a brilliant save denied him. In the end one goal was enough to win the game for the Spiders and here are three things we learned.
Running away with it
It has been a brilliant season for Queen’s Park so far, remaining unbeaten in the league up until this point. With this victory they now extend their gap at the top and the League Two title is now a case of when rather than if for Ray McKinnon’s side.
Clean sheet
Since the return to football after lower league shutdown, McKinnon’s men haven’t conceded a single goal and that trend continued against Stirling Albion. To win a league like League Two, it is important that you build the foundations to give yourself the best opportunity to do so and that is exactly what Queen’s have managed.
Stirling Albion look to play-off contention
Albion may have been beaten but they can certainly take heart in what was a good performance. With the league leaders extending their gap at the top, it looks like they will need to settle for a promotion play-off spot. But with a strong end to the season, they should go into that with confidence.
NTOF now offers a YouTube channel featuring exclusive interviews, post-match discussion, in-depth debate, and much more – LIKE and SUBSCRIBE and don’t miss any of our videos.