Despite Tuesday night’s KDM Evolution Trophy exit on penalty kicks, Spiders midfielder Ricky Waugh said he and his Queen’s Park team-mates were proud at how they bounced back with an improved performance against Raith in the second match between the sides in one week.
The quarter-final followed hot on the heels of a disappointing 4-1 reverse at Stark’s Park in the William Hill Championship just four days earlier.
But Waugh, who started the cup tie after finishing the league game, praised the character that the team showed and how hard they worked throughout the game.
He told QPTV: “We’re a bit disappointed, but proud of the way we bounced back from just the weekend there in terms of our performance.
“Everybody on the pitch was fighting for eachother, showed a bit of character and obviously the gaffer made a few changes, giving the younger boys a chance.
“We’re disappointed to go out on penalties, we had that same story last week [in Stranraer] and it’s not easy. But, again, we’ll get back to league business and we need to just dust ourselves down and go again.”
Ricky also reflected on his time out on loan last season, and how well he linked up with fellow youngster, Jamie Bradley in the centre of the park.
“We’ve got a good linkup there, we bounce off eachother quite well.
“You want to play against the best, that’s the only way you’re going to get better. League Two isn’t an easy league, it’s a bit like the Championship. It’s competitive and it’s physical.
“Going up the two leagues is quite big, it was a big learning curve for me last year. I was learning from experienced players and again this season – I just need to come in and show what I can do.”
Ricky is now hoping to build on the reaction from the players midweek in the busy weeks to come, starting with Saturday’s match against Arbroath.
“It’s a big couple of weeks coming up, but as we proved tonight, when everyone’s at it we can compete against anybody.
“We competed against Raith for 90 minutes and created good chances, we just need to have that ruthlessness against Arbroath and hopefully we’ll come away with the three points.”
by Leah Johnston
