After three games on the road, it was back to Palmerston for our league one game against East Kilbride.  Manager, Nicky Clark made one change to the side that started against Arbroath in the cup on Tuesday. Niall Rogerson who had sat that one out with an ankle injury returned to the starting eleven at the expense of Cole Coughlin who dropped to the bench.

With Kilby sitting fourth, five points ahead of us, it was a chance to move to within touching distance of the play-off places. And Queens got off to a flyer, they took a grip of the game from kick-off and were a goal up after just five minutes.  Liam Smith started the move with a good run, the visitors managed to get the ball away but it fell nicely for Zander Mackenzie on the right and as he made his way into the area, he looked like he would take the shoot but opted to square the ball across for the unmarked Connor Young who swept the ball into the net.

Queens were clearly up for it and three minutes later, Mackenzie played a terrific pass for Young but inside the six-yard area he was put under pressure and steered away from goal and he couldn’t get a shot away.

It was all the home side and as Young forced a corner, Mackenzie took it and found Shaun Want inside the box. The captain’s header was cleared but as the ball was still very much in play, the move ended with Benji Luissint shooting but no end result.

Smith was causing all sorts of problems and Jamie Hamilton was first in the book for pulling him back as he made a break with Rhys Armstrong quickly following him into the referee’s book for tripping the winger as he got past again.

Midway through the half, Young got the better of Darragh O’Connor and as he robbed the former Queens’ defender of the ball, he made his way into the area when Marcus Gill came off his line to close him down. Young managed to get the ball past the keeper but by the time he rounded him himself, O’Connor was back to recover and clear.

Sixty seconds later, Smith hit a brilliant left foot effort from outside the box that just cleared the bar.

The visitors had barely been in the game but just before the half hour mark they levelled. Totally against the run of play, they won a corner and as the ball was played in Hamilton did well from the position he was in to send a header past Deniz Mehmet.

It was a sucker punch given the way the hosts had been playing and as they looked to hit back, Luissint did well to hold off the challenge to play the ball out to Young on his right, the striker had a really tight angle but still had a go, only for Gill to get down to collected at his front post.

In the closing stages of the first half, Craig McGuffie had a header that Mehmet collected before Zander Hutton played the ball through for Young but the offside flag went up. 

It had been a half that Queens dominated and should’ve been out of sight but found themselves level at the break.

HALF-TIME: Queens 1 East Kilbride 1

Queens made a positive start to the second half and Hutton pushed forward before Smith played the ball in for Young who tried to beat the keeper at the near post but hit the side netting instead. As East Kilbride broke, Sean Fagan looked to be offside but the flag stayed down and he hit the outside of the post.

The hosts continued their pressure and as Mackenzie played in a corner, Rogerson headed over. 

Dominant in the first half, Queens let their guests have more of the ball in the second half and as Alex Smith found space, he dragged a left foot shot low and wide.  And as Owen Moffat forced a corner, Cammy Elliot got on the end of McGuffie’s delivery but his header was saved by Mehmet.

On the hour mark, Smith burst through the middle and while inside the box he was challenged by Hamilton but he stayed on his feet to have the shot only for the keeper to block and knock it out for a corner.  Again, Rogerson got on the end of the cross from Mackenzie but he couldn’t steer it into the net.

Midway through the half, Taylor Charters was off with his pass-back and Mehmet had to react to get there ahead of Calum McKenzie.  It was a bit more end to end this half and as Young made his way through, Gill came out to block with his feet.

Luissint then hit a low right foot shot from outside the box but the keeper got down well to save. 

Then with fifteen minutes remaining the game turned when for the second game in a row, Queens had a controversial penalty given against them.  As Want missed the challenge on McKenzie he made his way into the box, Mehmet appeared to get there to palm the ball away before the attacker ran into him. After a delay, Dan McFarlane who recently made headlines due to a penalty call he made in the Championship pointed to the spot.  As Mehmet dived to his right, Elliot placed the ball low into the opposite corner and from being well in control of the game, Queens were now behind.

The controversy didn’t stop though as three minutes later, Queens felt they should’ve had a penalty of their own. As Luissint made his way to the right-hand side of the box, he had Hutton to his left that he could’ve squared the ball to, but as he continued towards the by-line, he looked to be wiped out but this time, McFarlane waved play-on, earning him the rath of the home support.

As time ticked down, Charters’ header from Mackenzie’s free-kick was knocked out for a corner that was then cleared. Then from nothing, Coughlin who had replaced Caleb Goldie managed to create an opening as he tried to chip the ball over the keeper but he couldn’t get enough on it.  And in added on time the usually deadly American couldn’t connect with the ball at the back-post to bundle it over the line after Hutton and Mackenzie had combined to get the ball across.

It was a sore one for Queens as they put so much into the game and got no reward.

FULL-TIME: Queens 1 East Kilbride 2

Teams:

Queens: Mehmet, Goldie (Coughlin 80), Charters, Hannah (Stott 80), Smith, Mackenzie, Young, Want, Rogerson, Luissint & Hutton.  Subs not used: Petry, Clark, Dair, Ellis, Davi, Gray & McColm.

East Kilbride: Gill, Hamilton (Steele 63), Fagan, Elliot, McGuffie (McKenzie 63), Smith (McGratton 63), Robertson, O’Connor, Armstrong, Moffat (Calder 77) & Colbert (Balde 53).  Subs not used: Kelly, Maguire, East & Dargie.

Ref: Dan McFarlane.