After last weeks call off due to Storm Bram, Dunfermline were back at Palmerston this evening for our re-scheduled KDM Evolution Trophy cup tie. Utilizing the squad manager Peter Murphy made five changes to the side that started against Alloa at the weekend. Liam Smith was back in the side along with Mikey Hewitt who made his return to the team having been missing since October with a broken arm. There were also starts for Ben Johnstone, Niall Rogerson and Kian Leslie. Zander Mackenzie wasnt in the squad at the request of his parent club and Matty Douglas, Benji Luissint, Brennan Dickenson and Kai Kennedy all dropped to the bench for this one.
It was strong start from the home side and Kurtis Guthrie opened the scoring after just six minutes when he got on the end of Smiths cross from the left to head the ball past Deniz Mehmet from inside the six-yard area. Reece Lyon wasnt far away from adding a second but he headed wide after Jack Stott played a free-kick into the edge of the box.
Queens continued to attack and were two up after eleven minutes when Smith played in Stott who kept it low to fire the ball across the keeper into the bottom corner.
The Pars were stunned and as they made a flurry forward, Kieran Ngwenya tried to lift the ball over Ross Stewart but cleared the crossbar instead.
Stott looked lively and was through the middle before playing the ball wide to Hewitt, as the defender returned the ball back to Stott who had continued his run he fired over.
Midway through the half Stott was again at the heart of a good Queens move, with young Leslie involved too, they found Guthrie at the edge of the box and as he brought it back out to make space for himself, he curled the ball just wide.
As the half progressed, Dunfermline started to come into the game and Ngwenya looked dangerous on the left, as he won a corner, Josh Cooper played it short to Rory Macleod but his low effort was stopped. They did pull one back with four minutes of the first half remaining when the ball was played in and held up well before being laid back to Macleod who volleyed past Stewart.
It was a better finish to the first half by the visitors and as goal-scorer Macleod crossed, Keith Bray sent a diving header wide.
But the final chance before the interval fell to the host and Mehmet pulled off a great save when he got a hand on it to push away a wonderful 20-yard volley from Stott that was dipping under the bar.
HALF TIME: Queens 2 Dunfermline 1
Seven minutes after the restart Bray was tripped by Taylor Charters but Cooper was well off target when he took the free-kick. Two minutes later, Guthrie was pushed inside the box by Ewan Otoo and referee, Jamie Wilkie pointed to the spot. After a delay for treatment to the striker, Stott stepped up to take the penalty but hit it down the middle and Mehmet saved.
It gave the Pars a lift and Ngwenya blasted over before Jack Hannah cleared when Bray delivered a good ball into the box. But against the run of play Queens hit back and substitute, Freddie ODonoghue restored the advantage as he kept a cool head and placed the ball low past Mehmet.
Three minutes later, Luissint rattled a shot off the base of the post but Dickenson was on hand to fire home the rebound to give Queens a four-one lead with fifteen minutes remaining.
An open game kept on giving and just two minutes later Barney Stewart pulled one back as he headed past Stewart. And as they pushed forward again, Hannah made a well-timed tackle inside the box to clear. But four minutes after his first, Stewart scored his second of the night as he slid in to knock the ball home.
In the closing stages, the big striker thought he had pulled his side level when he headed the ball into the net but the flag was up for offside. The Championship side didnt give up and in added on time, Lucas Fyfe hit a left foot shot from distance just wide and setup a chance for Bray at the back-post but with a free header he missed the target.
Things got spicy and Tashan Oakley-Booth got involved in a tussle with ODonoghue and was lucky to escape with only a yellow card as he raised his hands to the youngster.
An entertaining cup tie ended and having survived the Dunfermline come back, Queens made it through to the last 16 where theyll face Raith Rovers at Starks Park in the first week of the new year.
FULL TIME: Queens 4 Dunfermline 3