The match summary provides information about a Scottish football league match between Queen of the South and Hamilton Accies. Queen of the South won the match 5-1. The summary analyzes Queen of the South's tactics, including their rigid 4-5-1 formation, tendency to play the ball wide, and issues with defending transitions. It also notes Hamilton Accies' use of fouls to disrupt Queen of the South's counterattacks.

1. Match Report
Competition – S.F.L. Division 1
Venue – Palmerston, Dumfries
Fixture – Queen of the South v Hamilton Accies
Date – 2/1/12
Max Rogers

2. Match Overview
2nd January 2012 Palmerston, Dumfires S.F.L. Division One
Queen of the South Hamilton Accies
15:00
1 5 7. Douglas Imrie 2
(0) (2)
15 7. Douglas Imrie
Half time 7. Stephen Simmons Y 16 Half time
1. Lee Robinson 5. Mark Campbell 26 1. Scott Christie
2. Craig Reid 15. Chris Higgins
27 Y 3. Martin Canning 2. Lee Kilday
3. Mark Campbell 3. Martin Canning
s
4. Ryan McGuffie 4. Mark McLaughlin
5. Alan Reid 5. Steven Hendrie
6. Stephen McKenna 6. Simon Mensing
7. Stephen Simmons 7. Alex Neil
8. Scott McLaughlin 45’ 8. Douglas Imrie
9. Nicky Clark 9. James McAlister
10. Daniel Carmichael 10. Andy Ryan
11. Kevin Smith 11. Gordon Smith
12. Roderick McKenzie 12. Blair Currie
13. Chris Higgins 13. Ziggy Gordon
14. Kevin Holt 14. Paul Currie
15. Tom Brighton
69 Y 11. Gordon Smith 15. Jordan Kirkpatrick
16. Gavin Reilly
6. Stephen McKenna 73 70 Y 4. Mark McLaughlin 16. Greig Spence
16. Gavin Reilly 71 Y 7. Douglas Imrie
Y Yellow Card R 4. Mark McLaughlin
6. Ryan McGuffie 82
R Red Card
84 10. Andy Ryan
Substitution 13. Ziggy Gordon
5. Stephen Hendrie
Goal
90’ 14. Paul Currie
11. Gordon Smith
16. Greig Spence
Max Rogers

3. System of Play
4-5-1 / 4-2-3-1 / 4-4-1-1
Queen of the South used a very rigid system, although it could be interpreted in different
ways, in which the players had clearly defined roles and weren’t willing to break from this
and use their creativity.
Changes to the System: 4-4-2
After Hamilton where reduced to ten men Queens switched to 4-4-2 with Reilly joining
Smith upfront. Clark moved infield whilst McLaughlin moved to the right wing.
Max Rogers

4. Goalkeeper – Lee Robinson
Distributed long goal kicks to the wingers, most often to the right hand side of the pitch.
Fumbled a few shots which could have led to goals. Right footed.
Right Back – Craig Reid
Started the game as an attacking full back but started dropping deeper as the game went
on. Crossed from deep areas but poor delivery meant the threat was low. Hamilton’s
defenders showed him onto his left foot which he wasn’t comfortable doing. Possesses
quite a long throw. Right footed.
Left Back – Alan Reid
The weakest defender in the team who can be caught ball watching at times. His lack of
height means that he is easily beaten in the air and being right footed means that playing
this position isn’t natural to him. Gave the opposing winger too much time to control the
ball and settle. Didn’t seem to have an understanding with the left winger.
Centre Back – Ryan McGuffie
Responsible for starting most of the attacks from the back although his passing is quite
poor. A lack of pace and concentration saw him and his fellow centre back exposed when
the ball was played over the top and in behind.
Centre Back – Mark Campbell
Substituted after 26 minutes summed up his performance. Extremely poor positioning and
reactions lead to the first goal. Like McGuffie, when put under pressure he panics which
causes him to make mistakes and lacks pace. Right footed.
Right Midfield – Nicky Clark
The main target from goal kicks due to his aerial ability. Although his play was limited due to
tight marking he showed some flexibility by moving into a central midfield position when
the formation changed to 4-4-2. Right footed.
Central Midfield – Stephen McKenna
Showed very little creativity and willingness to get on the ball and dictate the tempo. His
role was to shield the back four although, at times he wandered from this position. Right
footed.
Central Midfield - Stephen Simmons
Like McKenna he played as a holding midfielder with the same tactical responsibility to
shield the back four and play the ball wide when he got it. Right footed.
Max Rogers

5. Left Midfield – Danny Carmichael
The young winger possesses a lot of pace however his size means that he can be easily
pushed of the ball. Crossed the ball only twice with his left foot as his preferred move was to
cut back inside onto his stronger right foot. Delivery was poor throughout the game. Right
footed.
Attacking Midfield – Scott McLaughlin
Extremely poor game and was never involved in any of the play. Felt he always had to man
mark the deepest Hamilton midfielder rather than the other way around. Right footed.
Striker – Kevin Smith
Made to feed of scraps throughout the game as his lack of height meant that every long
pass played to him was won by the Hamilton defender. Showed good technique to control
the ball below head height and bring others into play. Always looked to play the ball wide to
the winger. Right footed.
Substitutes
Centre Back – Chris Higgins
Replaced Mark Campbell in the first half and looked more composed on the ball. Brought a
more patient approach to the attacking build-up. Right footed.
Striker – Gavin Reilly
Brought on towards the end of the game when Hamilton had ten men. Didn’t really get
involved at all.
Max Rogers

6. General Play
Attacking
 Main attacking objective was to get the ball out wide as soon as possible before
delivering high crosses into the box which is occupied by a lot of players.
 If the ball was played through the middle in the defensive third, as soon as the play
crossed the half way line it was played wide. This left a lot of space in the middle of
the pitch and meant the extra man they had in midfield was useless.
 When they won possession of the ball in their defensive third they utilized a quick
counter attack down the flanks. Hamilton nullified this by using ‘clever fouls’ to
break up the attack as they crossed the half way line.
Defending
 Defensively they lack organisation and cohesion. When the ball is played around
their 18 yard box players get drawn towards the ball far too easily which results in
huge spaces appearing.
 Due to their rapid counter attack the most attack minded midfielders – Carmichael,
McLaughlin and Clark – have a poor defensive transition and at times looked unable
to return to their defensive positions. This meant that Hamilton were able to counter
the Queens counter attack down the flanks.
Set Pieces
 Queens scored their goal from a set play. During the second half the delivery from
these situations was very good, only poor runs by the attacking players meant they
couldn’t connect with the ball.
Max Rogers

7. Origin of Attacks
First Half
Second Half
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8. Attacking Patterns
CM passes into the channel between CB From goal kicks, the ST would move wider
and FB for WG to run onto. and play the ball ‘round the corner’ for
WG.
Even when the ST had space to turn and Patient build-up wasn’t favoured by QOS.
dribble after receiving a pass from CB, he When they did the move was played
continued to turn and play the ball wide. through the defenders. No CM looked to
receive the ball deep.
Max Rogers

9. No variation in the crossing, all were floated On the left hand side the crosses were
high into the box. QOS did commit a lot of mainly inswinging but again poor delivery
players into the box however. meant the threat was limited.
Max Rogers

10. Restarts
From the first restart QOS tried to put Another variation saw them play the ball
immediate pressure on the Hamilton RB back to the CB who played a long pass up to
with a long ball. the ST.
Max Rogers