Defeat To QOS

COWDENBEATH 0 QUEEN OF THE SOUTH 2

It proved to be an unhappy 57th birthday for Jimmy Nicholl as we ended 2013 with a third successive home defeat which leaves us six points behind 8th place Dumbarton at the half way stage in the Championship.

After being without the services of defender David Cowan who was injured last week against Raith Rovers Nicholl was dealt a further double injury blow within the first 30 minutes of the game firstly losing Greg Stewart after just 4 minutes with a hamstring injury and then Dean Brett with an injured heel.

With the driving wind the match was never going to be a classic with our best chance of the opening 45 minutes coming in 7 minutes when Kane Hemmings saw a powerful shot parried by Zander Clark.

As the half time interval loomed it looked like it was going to be even at the break but keeper Grant Adam failed to grasp an angled shot from Iain Russell and the ball fell to Paul Burns who slotted home an unlikely opener for the Doonhamers.

The second half saw Hemming have a few chances to get us back on level terms but it was the visitors who increased their lead with 64 minutes gone when John Armstrong was dispossessed following a throw in and Derek Lyle and  Iain Russell combined to beat Adam with the later rolling the ball into the empty net.

As the game drew to a close we almost pulled a goal back but Milne's shot was blocked by Clark and Adamson's follow up was blocked by McKenna.

Next up is our opening game of 2014 at Alloa on Thursday as we look to bounce back and hopefully extend our unbeaten away run.