Gerry honoured by the Queens

May 11 2008 By Kenny Macdonald

STRANRAER stopper Gerry McLauchlan signed off with the Blues in a play-off defeat but already has his sights on another final.

The impressive defender has joined Queen of the South and is looking forward to their Scottish Cup clash with Rangers.

But he still hopes his Blues team-mates can sneak into the Second Division if SPL side Gretna are forced to close down.

Gerry said: "If Gretna fold then the talk is the two of us are going up but we'd rather get there on our own merits.

"The boys and the committee have given me stick for signing for the local rivals but it's just a bit of banter.

"I'm looking forward to playing with Queens next season. The boys at Stranraer have been great with me and I've enjoyed my season here."

And McLauchlan believes on any other day the battling Blues would be celebrating.

He said: "We were unlucky. We had a few chances but Arbroath defended well.

"I hit the bar with a first-half header and thought it was in. I threw myself at it only to see the ball hit the woodwork.

"If we'd taken it to extra time we would have won because they didn't have the threat up front that we did."

French striker Gregory Tade gave Stranraer a narrow 1-0 victory but goals in midweek from Robbie Raeside and Barry Sellars ensured a 2-1 aggregate win for Arbroath.

Gutted Stair Park boss Derek Ferguson was left frustrated with the result but insists his men had given their all.

And the ex-Rangers man believes the play-off process needs changed.

He said: "We dominated from start to finish and if we'd got another goal we could have got two or three or even five the way it was going.

"Even before they went down to 10 men we were dominating.

"I've said before I don't agree with the play-offs especially as we finished second but we've done ourselves proud."