March 29 2023 Match Summary | Queen’s Park Reserves (A)
Kilmarnock’s unbeaten run in the cinch SPFL Reserve League ended with a 3-0 defeat to Queen’s Park at Lochinch Sports Pavilion on Tuesday 29th March 2023.
A young Killie side consisting of numerous under-18 squad members played the final period of the match with 10-men on a wet day in Glasgow’s Southside.
Paul Sheerin set out his team in a positive 4-4-1-1 formation, fronted by Bobby Wales who was supported by Steven Warnock, while Kian Leslie and Aaron Brown assisted from either wing. Kirk McKnight – who was named Killie captain for the afternoon – slotted in at right-back, with Jon Craig occupying the opposite touchline. Singh and a trialist started in the middle of the park, in front of Sean Clark and Andrew Miller who sat at the heart of defence.
Killie kicked off proceedings but it was the hosts who quickly got their foot on the ball and began to dictate play. A confident start from the Spiders resulted in Aidan Glavin being the first ‘keeper called into action when an enticing ball was driven over the six-yard box before being calmly claimed by the Killie No.1.
The visitors grew into the game and carved the first clear shooting opportunity with just over 10 minutes on the clock. Neat footwork from Bobby Wales saw him skip past a defender before firing the ball into the arms of the Queen’s ‘keeper from 25 yards out.
Steven Warnock was next to try his luck, driving the ball across the goal and narrowly missing the far post when shooting from the corner of the penalty box. Warnock continued to hone in on the Queen’s goal, again narrowly missing the target as he struck a dead ball over the bar from the edge of the area.
After a handful of half-chances, Queen’s Park converted the first real opportunity of the game to take the lead as the 30-minute mark approached. After a period of pinball inside the Killie box, Liam McLeish slotted the ball past Glavin from close range to open the scoring.
An excellent recovery challenge from the sliding Kirk McKnight denied a clear shot at goal following a Queen’s counter-attack from a Killie free-kick, but the home side did manage to break through the Ayrshire team’s defence again before the half-time whistle. A corner was swung deep into the box and met by a powerful header from Lewis Reid who nodded in at the back post.
It was Queen’s Park who took a two-goal advantage into the break after clinically converting two of the few chances witnessed in the opening 45’.
Aidan Glavin was first to play his part again as play restarted. The young keeper was quick off his line to take the ball off the toe of an on-rushing Queen’s attacker who burst towards goal.
At the opposite end, Steven Warnock drew the home side’s keeper into his best save of the game after 50 minutes. A fine through ball from a trialist picked out the tricky attacker who fired across goal and was denied by a full-stretch goalkeeper who parried away a powerful shot.
It was the keepers who continued to catch the eye. Aidan Glavin made a series of impressive stops as we moved into the final quarter of the match: first making an important touch to knock the ball onto his post after a shot was poked towards goal, before clawing the ball away from the underside of his bar to deny a deflected strike a couple of minutes later.
Killie began to make changes with 20 minutes to play, but it was a forced removal that put the game out of sight. Kirk McKnight was shown a second yellow card after making a challenge with 15 minutes to play. The resulting free kick was headed onto the post as the Spiders continued to search for a third goal. That third and final goal came a minute before the final whistle when Timam Scott curled the ball into the top corner from the edge of the box.
Next up for Kilmarnock Reserves is a league fixture against Hibernian at The BBSP Stadium, Rugby Park on Tuesday 4th April.
Kilmarnock starting XI: Glavin, McKnight, Craig (Mersey 55’), Singh, Clark, Miller, Leslie, *Trialist (Quigg), Wales (Mulvanny 75’), Warnock (Smith 75’), Brown (Craik)
