Friends re-united on opposite sides

Sep 7 2008 Gordon Waddell

Qos V Morton Today, Kick-Off 3.00pm

CRAIG BARR can't wait for a 10-man Gretna reunion at Palmerston today and he's determined to come out on top in their game within a game.

Queen of the South and Morton can wage a private five-a-side war with ex-players and management from the defunct Raydale side littering the park and the dugout.

Barr will have Stevie Tosh, Jamie McQuilken, Andy Aitken and Neil Macfarlane in his side while Davie Irons and Derek Collins will send Ryan McGuffie, Erik Paartalu and Allan Jenkins into battle.

And the 21-year-old centre-half said: "It's going to be weird as a short time ago we were on the same side.

"It will be the first time I've seen Davie and Derek since they left. I have a lot to thank them for.

"They stuck with me at Gretna and I'm grateful. But the bottom line is we all have a job to do now and mine is to help put his side out of this cup."

The two face each other in back to back cup and league matches in the space of six days this week.

And despite the Division One title being first on Queens boss Gordon Chisholm's hitlist, Barr reckons they've already proven what a cup run can do for a side.

He said: "I arrived in the summer and the rest of the lads were buzzing.

That's what a cup run can do for you.

"The league is our priority but winning every game gives you confidence to attack the next one."

Meanwhile, Morton boss Irons (right) had the petrol and matches ready after his side took him from heaven to hell in the space of four days.

Now he's hoping a result this afternoon can see their season catch fire instead.

The Greenock gaffer plunged from the high of their CIS Cup win over Hibs to a 5-0 humiliation against Airdrie that left him on the edge of reason last Saturday night.

Now with Queens looming twice in six days he's ordered his men to grab an ALBA Cup lift that can spark a league season without a victory.

Irons said: "I got home on the Saturday night and I felt like dousing myself with every can of paraffin, kerosene and petrol I could clap my hands on.

"My wife had to keep the matches well away from me.

"There's no explaining the feeling of going from a triumph like the Hibs game to what it felt like after the Airdrie match.

"We talked about the game on the Sunday morning.

"Hopefully we'll see a positive reaction.

"We've scored 10 goals in the CIS Cup, now we have the Challenge Cup and it would be nice to keep that run going."