A bumper Palmerston crowd saw newly crowned Second Division champions Queen of the South overcome an organised Brechin City by 2-1.
It was the teams` second meeting within a week and after the stellar performance midweek as Queens ran riot in a 6-0 demolition the Doonhamers faithful were expecting a similar showing. However, Brechin City were keen to avoid a repeat scoreline and came to Dumfries with a gameplan to contain Queens.
The gameplan worked for much of the first half with the home side struggling to find a way through the organised Brechin defence before Mark Durnan broke the deadlock with 16 minutes on the clock. The game continued with Queens controlling possession and Brechin defending doggedly until substitute Derek Lyle doubled the home side’s lead with a well-struck volley after 72 minutes.
The away side were handed a lifeline just seconds later though as Andy Jackson went down under a Durnan challenge inside the area and Alan Trouten stepped up to halve the deficit. Queens had to finish the game with nine men as first Stephen McKenna and then Willie Gibson were forced off through injury with Allan Johnston having used all three substitutions.
Johnston said: “Obviously their game plan was to come and frustrate us after such a good performance on Wednesday. It`s difficult to break down teams when they sit with five at the back and four across the middle.
“It was great to get the win, they made it difficult for us but we have the cup final and a few records to break so the last thing we can get is complacent, we’ve got to keep on getting results.”
Derek Lyle scored what turned out to be the winning goal and was keen to come off the bench to fight for his place in next week`s Ramsdens Cup final.
Lyle said: “It was just one of those games. I think with us being so clinical midweek and winning 6-0 I knew they were going to come and sit in so I knew it wasn’t going to be the same game as Wednesday. It was a wee bit flat at times.
“I was happy with the goal, obviously I`m disappointed not to be playing with the cup final next week. You want to be sharp so I was disappointed not to start but just happy to get on and get a goal.”
Late injuries to midfielders Stephen McKenna and Willie Gibson will worry Queens fans ahead of next week`s final against Partick Thistle at Almondvale but Johnston was keen to stress that they were taken off as a precautionary measure.
“We just put on the last sub [Kevin Smith] to give him a bit of match time so he can be available for the final and Stephen McKenna got a knock about two seconds later. His leg has tightened up a wee bit but it`s just a dead leg so he should be fine. It looks like Willie Gibson has hurt his hamstring so we`ll just have to wait over the next couple of days and see how that settles down.”