Queen’s Park goalkeeper Neil Parry will face Rangers for a fourth time this Sunday and he is hoping that a solid performance from him and his team will be the platform for a promotion push from the Spiders.
A 1-0 defeat from Elgin City last weekend denied the chance of the Hampden side extending Rangers’ wait for the title for a longer period and a 2-2 draw with Stirling Albion in midweek means that there is a 21 point gap between the sides this weekend.
Parry looked back at the Elgin game and he said: “It was a strange game as I was called into action really early on after just 30 seconds to make quite a decent save from Craig Gunn. We know that we should have defended better straight from the kick off but after that we did okay and I did not have much to do in the first half.”
“We never took our chances and that came back to bite us in the second.”
The Moray men left with the points after a penalty converted by Stuart Leslie and Parry remains unconvinced by the award saying: “I did not think it was a penalty as Jamie Brough won the ball and it looked like the player kicked through Jamie. But the ref gave it and there is not much you can do about it.”
“My record at penalties is pretty decent and I always fancy my chances but their player was cute and waited until I had picked a side before shooting home in the opposite direction.”
Parry did his best to rescue the situation as he explained: “I went up for a corner right at the end of the game and I caused a bit of panic in their box. I thought I was going to get the chance of scoring but their keeper got a strong hand to the ball and pushed it away well.”
There was then a moment of panic at the other end as Parry explained: “I had to rush over 100 yards back to goal to make sure it was covered and it looked like my team-mate Peter Bradley was going to send a pass back there without checking if I was in goal.”
“He seemed to change his mind right at the end and cleared it well.”
The 27-year-old has become a favourite of Hampden fans and he has enjoyed his time with Gardner Speirs’ squad as he said: “This is my second season at Queen’s Park after coming in from Arthurlie Juniors. It is a real step up in things like facilities and the type of football played.”
“I was with the old Airdrieonians as a youngster and then I spent a season with Stenhousemuir. They did not have a reserve team and I was the second choice goalkeeper so I went Junior to get game time.”
The move worked as the Barrhead club have a fine reputation for producing SFL players with Parry adding: “I enjoyed playing junior and a couple of boys that were at Arthurlie are here as well – Michael Keenan and Tony McParland. When you look at Stranraer they have three former Arthurlie boys playing for them in Craig Malcolm, Sean Winter and Frank McKeown.
“Chris Dallas has also recently joined Albion Rovers and he scored the winning goal for them against Stenhousemuir last weekend after just 13 seconds and then scored against Forfar in midweek as well.”
Parry added: “There is lots of talent in the juniors and two of the best players here David Anderson and Jamie Longworth have come from that level as well.”
The Spiders have sat in second place behind Rangers since the beginning of January, and Parry has enjoyed the campaign so far as he explained: “It has been a good season and it has been a different season. Playing at a packed Ibrox and a fairly packed Hampden has made it a very different experience that is for sure.”
“It has been good for all the players in the Third Division and I am sure everyone has loved the exposure and the chance to play against players who have been at a higher level including an international level.”
Parry added: “We have been unfortunate that we have not even scored against Rangers let alone taken points off of them and we will be doing our best to change that. We have put in good performances against Rangers certainly in the first game at Ibrox and the first game at Hampden but things just did not happen for us and we lost them both.”
“The game at our place was really cruel as we played really well and then lost an injury time goal. Jamie got sent off and we had to dig in a bit more than we would have normally but all the boys played well that day. They got a break with the late goal when the shot from Fraser Aird sneaked through a host of bodies and into the far corner of the net.”
“It was great that everyone was complimentary about Queen’s Park and the way we try to play football. I also got the Man of the Match for the game at Hampden which was good but it did not make up for losing.”
There was an unexpected bonus for Parry in facing the Ibrox side as he explained: “I am looking forward to facing Rangers again and it is quite funny what happened after the first Live TV game as people recognised me in the street and I think my twitter followers trebled.”
As well as the increased exposure Parry has been enjoying he is also settling down after becoming a father for the second time with baby Max arriving just in time for his dad to don his goalkeeper gloves against Clyde recently.
Parry said: “I had just become a dad for the second time to Max. He was born on the Friday night just before the Clyde game at Broadwood. I was there on the Saturday morning with Gillian and our daughter Sophie before dashing off to play the game.”
“We were two goals down but we turned it around and to win 3-2 made that result made the 24 hours even more special. I rushed back to the Hospital in Wishaw.”
As for Sunday’s meeting Parry said: “This game will not have the edge to it that it could have had as Rangers have won the League now. Everyone has known that they would win it for a while anyway so now it is a matter of us securing a Play-Off spot hopefully by finishing second and improving our Play-Off record.
“Rangers may be champions but we have a lot to play for. We are in a good position but we cannot take anything for granted as six or seven sides are going for a Play-Off place.”
Four seasons, eight games and no wins at the end of season push is a record everyone at Queen’s Park wants to improve with Parry saying: “We are not sure what the problem is with the Play-Offs. Last season we played really well to finish in second place and then did really poorly against a Stranraer side that we had beaten four times. We want to get into the Play-Offs this season and go all the way now.
“Making it to the Play-Offs is tough enough but you also want to be going into them with confidence. Playing with confidence can make all the difference and you want to go into them on the top of your game.”
“We have to get second place and then keep an edge to our play.”
Parry summed up the rest of the season by saying: “The plan is simple, get a good result against Rangers, get some more twitter followers, get into the Play-Offs and once we get there win promotion.”
“That was the aim when we started out this season and it remains the aim now.”
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