Queens maintained their third place position in the Championship after drawing against Hibs at Easter Road.

In a very cagey affair with very few chances, Queens dealt with sustained pressure from a team who sit one place behind the Doonhamers.

Despite Queens beating the Edinburgh side earlier this season, it was never going to be an easy task for Fowler`s men as Hibs hadn`t lost a game in 90 minutes since that defeat.

Buoyed by a convincing 3-0 win against Dumbarton last weekend, the gaffer decided to make only one change - with Russell in for Kiltie - in an attempt to stretch Queens unbeaten run to five games.

Hibs, on the other hand, returned to league action at Easter Road for the first time since their derby day draw with Hearts but they were without goalscoring hero Dominique Malonga who was called up to the Conga squad. Alan Stubbs` side sat three points behind the Doonhamers before kick-off and they started the game off at a ferocious pace as Cummings looked lively early on. 

The Hibees frontman headed over from ten yards out as well as hitting a piledriver from 30 yards which forced Clark in to his first save of the match.

Queens had to wait until just before the half hour mark for their first chance of the game as Lyle shot narrowly past the post. Holt skilfully weaved his way past three green shirts and squared it to Lyle on the edge of the box who sent the ball flying just past the top corner. 

Holt charges in down the left

At the other end, Clark was called in to action once again as Cummings drilled a shot from twenty yards out. The striker was causing problems all day for the back four and Clark had to pull out all the stops to deny Hibs the opener.

However, the `keeper had Kerr to thank as he cleared Hanlon`s header off the line as the pressure started to mount on the visitors. Once again, an audacious effort from distance caused problems as Clark pulled off a super save to deny Harris. The winger lifted his head and struck the ball sweetly but the Queens stopper was equal to the task. 

Super stop from Clark

For all their possession and long-range efforts, however, Hibs couldn`t break Queens resolve in the first 45 as it was 0-0 going in at the break.

The second half failed to kick in to life as both sides offered very little going forward. The Easter Road crowd were getting restless as their side failed to find the target in the opening 35 minutes of the second period. However, the Palmerston faithful who made the trip up the road didn`t have much to shout about either as neither side registered a shot on target in that time.

Baird in a bear hug

Hibs should have taken the lead with ten minutes to go as Heffernan blasted a glorious chance over the bar. The striker replaced Cummings earlier in the half and he should have handed the hosts all three points yet he skied his effort over.

However, Queens held on and made it five games unbeaten to hang on to third place ahead of next Saturday`s home game against Raith Rovers.

Happy fans at the end