In a delayed kick off due to traffic problems Queens welcomed Motherwell to Palmerston as they rounded off the league phase of the KDM Evolution Trophy fixtures. For the 6th and final game manager Peter Murphy made four changes to the starting eleven from Saturday. Lawton Green replaced Ross Stewart in goal. Kai Kennedy also dropped to the bench, while Taylor Charters and Benji Luissint both sat this one out. Niall Rogerson, Ben Johnstone and Kian Leslie were the other players who came into the side.
In heavy rain and windy conditions, it wasnt a night for entertaining football. Queens did win an early corner that Jack Stott floated into the box for Kurtis Guthrie. The big striker got his head on it but headed wide. Six minutes later, Stott played the ball in from the right, the ball was dipping but not enough and landed on the roof of the net.
It was a fairly tame first quarter of the match and with nothing between the two sides neither keeper had anything to do. Guthrie and Liam Smith did link up as they made their way into the box but the offside flag went up. In the closing stages of the first half, Johnstone cleared from Aaron Thomson before Reece Lyon found himself inside the six-yard area but as he tried to beat Colbi McQuarrie, he hooked the ball wide of the upright.
The first half hadnt been an exciting watch and with the final chance of the opening 45minutes, as Smith attacked, the ball broke to Freddie ODonoghue but as he took a touch his final shot was weak.
HALF TIME: Queens 0 Motherwell 0
Both sides made changes at the interval and it was one of the subs for the visitors who made the breakthrough. Just four minutes after the restart, Blane Watson opened the scoring with a low drive that beat Green.
However, the lead only lasted eight minutes as Smith was on the line to bundle the ball home. It was a bit of a scramble and it was hard to see if it had actually crossed the line but the goal stood and Queens were back on level terms.
Midway through the second half, as Queens pushed forward, Stott played in a corner and Lyons close-range header was cleared. But just sixty seconds later, Lyon was again close to goal and this time his header did beat McQuarrie and after falling behind, the hosts were now ahead.
Zander Mackenzie wasnt too far away from extending the lead with a long-range effort and Stott fired in a free-kick that the keeper punched clear.
Now in command of the game, Queens continued to put Well under pressure and as ODonoghue found Lyon out to his right-hand side, McQuarrie made a save as the goal-scorer looked for a second. It was a decent stop but as the ball fell to Euan Ross, he marked his return from injury with a goal as he fired home the rebound.
As the clock ticked down, Green collected a free-kick and at the other end McQuarrie made a save to deny Billy Gray.
It was job done for Queens in the end and a night that saw them end the game with youngsters Gray, 17-year old Kylan Hunter and 16-year old Ben Morton on the park.
FULL TIME: Queens 3 Motherwell 1