Queen’s Park travelled to Stirling for their third and final game of the week.

Having shown a dominant and ruthless display against Kilmarnock 4 days prior, the Spiders were determined to keep their winning momentum going to climb up the table.

Craig Joyce named an unchanged starting XI from the mid-week thriller against Kilmarnock. This saw Yasmin Boyce and Rachael O’Neill make their 20th and 10th appearances for the club, respectively.

The game started relatively quiet with Queen’s Park enjoying most of possession. The ball was mainly kept in the Stirling half, although the Spiders failed to create any real chances. A few long-range efforts came from Abby Callaghan and Ellie Kane, but nothing that troubled Jodie Baker between the sticks for the students.

The first real chance for Queen’s came on the 20-minute mark. A nice passage of play between Callaghan, Kane and Cairney around the opposition box allowed Kane to get to the by-line and fire the ball across the face of goal for the awaiting Carla Todd.

Unfortunately for the Spiders, the Stirling keeper was able to keep the ball out the net with a great save. Cairney was first to react but her effort rebounded off the post.

The Spiders then had a good chance to go into half-time with a one goal advantage. Leah Daly’s effort from the edge of the box was blocked by the arm of a Stirling defender and a freekick was awarded. Daly stepped up and struck the ball towards goal, only to be matched by a great save from Stirling’s Baker.

Half-Time: Stirling University 0-0 Queen’s Park

The second half couldn’t have started worse for the Spiders as Stirling University went 1-0 up after three minutes. A long clearance from Rebecca Hellgreen found Shana MacPhail who headed the ball over Gibney in goals and then knocked the ball into an empty net.

Nine minutes later, the students got their second goal of the game. Emma Fairgrieve picked up the ball in the middle of the park and played it wide to Carrie McGorm, who’s cross was met by the head of MacPhail as she guided the ball into the back of the net.

The Spiders kept pushing to get something from the game as they retained possession for large spells and had some good passages of play, much like the first half.

Around the 75th minute, Queen’s were convinced they were back in the game. A Boyce freekick was floated deep into the box and met by Callaghan to fire goalward. The ball appeared to have gone over the line, but a valiant effort by Baker in goal meant the game remained 2-0.

Full-Time: Stirling University 2-0 Queen’s Park

Stirling University: Jodie Baker, Amy Davidson (Ann Taylor, 62′), Jennifer Cunningham, Rebecca Hellgreen, Megan Hope (Penelope Kidd, 62′), Emily Gray, Emma Fairgrieve, Carrie McGorm, Mariluz Sanchez (Ceit McQueen, 85′), Elise Salmond (Eleanor Jones, 62′), Shauna MacPhail. Subs not used: Chloe McAllister, Penelope Kidd.

Queen’s Park: Chloe Gibney, Eleanor Smith, Yasmin Boyce, Ciara Bonner, Taylor Davis (Sophie Bayless, 60’), Rachael O’Neill, Ellie Kane, Leah Daly (Abbi McDonald, 77’), Nicole Cairney, Abby Callaghan, Carla Todd (Caitlin McKee, 60’). Subs not used: Lauren Ray, Hannah Fulton, Sarah MacLeod, Chloe Docherty.