No Cupset for Doonhamers

By: Ian Rose | May 24th, 2008

Queen of the South’s impressive run in the Scottish Cup ended today, with a 3-2 loss in the final to Rangers at Hampden. They had every opportunity to keep Rangers to a single trophy on the season, coming back from a 2-0 halftime deficit to bring things all even by the 53rd minute. But it was to be Rangers’ day, as the Glasgow side’s 32nd Scottish Cup victory provided a little salve on the wounds of a lost league championship, just two days after Celtic wrapped up their third straight SPL title.

The Doonhamers can hold their heads high today, for a number of reasons. First, of course, they did reach the final, and they did so by beating a number of very good sides. Their semifinal with Aberdeen, which they won 4-3 on a 60th minute John Stewart strike, was a modern classic, and one of the more exciting matches I saw this season. Before that, they shut out Dundee, Greenock Morton, Linlithgow Rose and Peterhead, going all the way to the semifinals before conceding their first tournament goal. And unlike many recent cup underdogs, their impressive cup run came alongside an equally positive run of form in the league. After a terrible start that saw them struggling for survival early in the First Division campaign, things looked dark for the Doonhamers. But, as it says in the Bible (as Queen fans are so fond of reminding us) “The queen of the South shall rise up”, and rise up they did, finishing a very respectable fourth.

Good on the Doonhamers, who have played some of the most attractive football in Scotland this season. It took a late Kris Boyd strike to kill off their cup hopes today, but even so, they will be headed to Europe next season for the first time. They will enter at the second preliminary round, and even though I strongly disagree with the policy that puts a cup loser into Europe (especially from outside of the top flight), I hope they can make a run. Heads up, Doonhamers, you’re representing Scotland now.