Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Those tarts certainly are full of jam...

Playlist
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Proposed 2014 Album
Grand Funk - Shinin' On
Brian Eno - Here Come the Warm Jets
Jellyfish - Bellybutton
Genesis - The Platinum Collection

A listen today to some of the early work on the next CBQ album, due next year...

This evening, it was off to Tynecastle for one of the most romantic sounding football fixtures which might occur anywhere in the world...

Heart of Midlothian versus Queen of the South....


Funnily enough, the two teams met in the same competition, the Scottish League Cup, at Palmerston exactly 65 years ago today (Hearts won 3-2)

I wasn't allowed to wear my hat...


...as I was sitting in the Hearts end with brother in law Bobby, nephew Ollie's ticket having been upgraded to adult...

I did my best to behave...


It was a great game which, really, Queens deserved to win in normal time....

Hearts scored first, thanks to a mix up in the Queens defence letting young McHattie through on goal...

But Queens pressed back and, just six minutes later, McGuffie headed what looked to be a sure fire goal, only to have it scooped out by ex-Queens goalie McDonald...

But McGuffie was the first to follow up and smacked it home from six yards through a crowd of players, silencing the home crowd...

They had their hearts in their mouths again ten minutes from half time when Queens' Derek Lyle was as surprised as everyone else to find the ball deflected to him just eight yards out...

With plenty of space and with just McDonald to beat - he blootered his shot over the bar...


1-1 at half time...

A few minutes into the second half Hearts were awarded a rather soft penalty, when their forward seemed to have pushed the ball too far in front of him and fell under the challenge of two Queens defenders, neither of whom were booked for their challenges...

Hammill slotted it home...

2-1...

11 minutes later, Queens were back level with a well worked goal...

After a swift breakaway move from Queens which outpaced the retreating Hearts, Lyle partly atoned for his earlier miss by sending over a low pinpoint cross for Paton to lash in from close range...

Now Hearts were on the back foot and the game looked like Queens' for the taking...

Indeed, with just three minutes left, McShane should've finished Hearts off but, instead, produced another close range miss that would return to haunt the Doonhamers...

Full time 2-2... 


In extra time, Hearts scored after just three minutes in a well worked move from a corner, with skipper Wilson guiding Hammill's pass into the net... 

3-2...

Then the time wasting at every opportunity by Hearts kicked in - very disappointing...

But Queens refused to give up and continued to press for a third equaliser...

Justice prevailed with just four minutes remaining when the ball fell to their captain, Higgins, in the box...

He smashed the ball into the net without a second thought - if only Lyle could have done that earlier...

3-3...

And so, penalties...


Hearts took first and scored...

Queens equalised...

Then, Hammill stepped up and, despite his having already scored from the spot in normal time, this time the Queens keeper touched his drive over the bar...

Another golden opportunity...

But disaster as Queens' second man's shot came back off that self same bar into his own arms...

Almost inevitably, Hearts scored again, 2-1...

Then McDonald, who knows many of the Queens players from his time there, pulled off a fine save, diving low to his left...

And Hearts once again found the net, 3-1...

There were few celebrations as Queens next kick sent McDonald the wrong way...

3-2 with one kick left each - Hearts had to miss this one...

But it wasn't to be Queens' night...

3-3 with Hearts edging it scoring four out of five penalties while Queens scored two from four...


Although I'd texted Anne during the first half saying I fully expected a very lucky Hearts win, facing that reality was a sore one...

Queens thanked their travelling support - fully three times as large as those I've seen here on a Saturday from the likes of St Mirren, Motherwell or Dundee Utd...


At the end of the day, although I was "as sick as a parrot", "it's only a game"...

It was good though to overhear many Hearts fans on the way out agreeing with my thoughts that Queens were the better side...

The match stats say it all really...


...apart from the result...

Oh well, not to worry, that's football...

Highlight of the day : Queens v Hearts...

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