BY ALAN TEMPLE – @CCP_Sport
Queen’s Park ace Ryan McGeever reckons their Hampden horrorshow against Annan could be just the wake-up call the Spiders needed as a fraught League Two title race enters the final straight.
Gus McPherson’s men succumbed to a miserable 3-1 home defeat on Tuesday night, conceding three goals in the space of 18 first-half minutes against the Galabank men.
It is only the third time this season that the Glasgow amateurs have shipped three goals in a league game.
While McGeever insists the capitulation was unacceptable, he believes their first defeat in six matches will fire them up for the run-in as they look to eat into the six-point deficit to leaders East Fife.
He said: “The result against Annan was a huge disappointment, but we only have ourselves to blame. We had a really poor 45 minutes and Annan took full advantage. We improved in the second half, but it’s easy to play when you are 3-0 down.
“It wasn’t good enough but it is not like our season is over. We still have a lot to play for; we are in the top four and, until it’s mathematically impossible, we will be fighting for the title.
“In a strange way, that defeat is maybe exactly what we needed. We have been going into games full of confidence and convinced that we will come out with the win – that was a wake-up call that we need to maintain our standards.
“We know we can beat any team in this division – we have won 2-0 and 3-0 against East Fife, who are top – but we need to do a lot better than we did in midweek.”
League Two has emerged as the most competitive division in the SPFL, with just seven points separating the top five and a revolving cast of leaders during a roller-coaster campaign.
Consistency
And, as Cheltenham week continues, McGeever believes Queen’s Park could be the ‘dark horses’ who come up on the rails to take the glory.
The former Falkirk starlet continued: “I think it is simply a case of the first team to gain some consistency will win this league. You think one side will run away with it, then they will lose to a side near the bottom. Then that happens to another team.
“It has been like that all season and nobody seems able to piece together a winning run to really take control.
“We are probably the dark horses in the run-in now, but we want to be the team that gets that consistency and we’ll see where that takes us.”
