THE record books for Queen's Park prior to last night's second division play-off semi-final, first leg did not offer much in the way of confidence.
They didn't look too clever afterwards, either.
This was the Hampden club's fifth foray into the knockout stages of the season on the bounce under Gardner Speirs, with a success rate as profitable as a British Eurovision entry back catalogue. It was less than a surprise, then, that at the ninth time of asking for a play-off tie win, they once again hit a bum note when it really mattered.
Speirs has watched on for much of this season as his side have purred away without much trouble under the shadow of city rivals Rangers.
Despite finishing 24 points behind their neighbours, Queen's always looked likely to be among those in the upper echelons of the third division. This will have made last night's defeat, courtesy of a penalty in stoppage time, that much harder to swallow.
Against a Peterhead team who looked far the more likely to break the monotony at the national stadium, the hosts lacked creativity throughout this contest.
Apart from a handful of set pieces, Tony McParland's free-kick from range that skiffed the bar in the first half the only chance of note, Speirs' men resorted to lumping long ball after long ball, or wandering down the flanks in a vain hope something would happen. It didn't.
"I think we had really good spells of possesion in the second half but we didn't have any penetration," said the Queen's Park manager. "Before the game, I wouldn't have taken a draw. As it was going, I still felt we could win, but sometimes you get a slap in the face like that. We won't have to lift the boys, though, their spirits are good and they are capable of lifting it."
While the 92nd-minute winner was far from expected, it was less than surprising that it was Peterhead that managed to pop up and snatch it.
After a series of brief threats that were peppered throughout the match from Rory McAllister, the main protagonist for Jim McInally's side, it was his replacement, Andrew Rodgers, who eventually made the difference.
Queen's failed to clear a high ball into the box, with Blair Spittal's nerves getting the better of him as his rash challenge brought the substitute crashing to the turf. Rodgers dusted himself down before firing the award high to Neil Parry's right.
Over the piece, it was perhaps more than Peterhead deserved, but McInally wasn't for caring. "I thought it was two nervy teams, to be honest.Both teams would have settled for nothing each, but we got a wee bit of fortune at the end," said the Balmoor manager, whose side have now won their last nine matches.
"Queen's Park will need to come out and play, and when they do that, they can be a dangerous team. Gardner will have them coming at us."
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