Queen of the South endured a poor season but they won their relegation play-off against Raith Rovers with ease (3-1 agg). From the outset it was clear that their fortunes rested with the form of veteran striker, Stephen Dobbie. He began the season on fire and scoring hat-tricks for fun with Queens having genuine hopes of reaching the promotion play-offs. However, when injury struck in January Queens’ form dived. They could only muster two wins in the final 15 matches of the season and finished in 9th place. Dobbie returned for the play-off and Queens survived.
Stephen Dobbie scored 24 goals in 33 league appearances and 43 in all competitions – a new record for Queen of the South. Josh Todd was their next highest scorer with only six goals, indicating where an obvious problem lay. Once Dobbie was injured, Queens had nothing to fall back on. Queens finished with the worst away form in the Championship and taking only 16 points from 18 matches. Manager, Gary Naismith, was sacked at the end of the regular season with former manager, Allan Johnston, taking charge successfully for the play-off.
It was a season of contrasting form from Queen of the South. The first half was solid with some highly creditable results. The second half was miserable as Dobbie was injured and Naismith lost faith in some of his senior players. Allan Johnston has lifted their spirits again, but Queens are always going to struggle to remain full-time on small crowds. Stephen Dobbie will be there next season, but Queens can’t pin their hopes on the fitness and form of a 36 year old striker without some additional depth in their squad.
