After the long journey to Inverness, it was back on the road again this week for our game away at Kelty Hearts. Having picked up a point in the north manager Peter Murphy stuck with the same starting eleven for the game at New Central Park.
The hosts sit bottom of the table but with Hamilton Accies in their sights they still had plenty to play for. They made the better start to the game and Ross Stewart was called upon just two minutes in when he tipped the ball over from Innes Murray.
Five minutes later Murray was again causing problems when he raced down the left to cross into the area but Queens managed to clear for a corner. As the ball came back in Stewart got a strong hand to it to punch clear.
The frontman was certainly up for it and as he held the line to stay onside he raced away but a good challenge from Jack Hannah forced the ball behind. As the corner was played into the six-yard box, Jack Brydon headed the ball down towards the bottom corner but Stewart was on hand to make the save.
Kelty had all the chances in the opening ten minutes but as things settled down neither side caused any real threat in front of goal. As they plodded away Queens were forced to make a couple of substitutions due to injury in the space of five minutes, firstly Kurtis Guthrie who had taken a knock in last weeks game took another one this week and had to be replaced by Jordan Allan. While, he left the field, Stewart was receiving treatment for a hamstring pull, the keeper did get back to his feet but it was clear he couldnt continue when he was unable to make a clearance properly and Lawton Green came on in his place.
The rest of the half was scrappy and littered with bookings and stoppages as Queens picked up yet another injury when Reece Lyon went down with a groin problem. In the closing minutes, the visitors were lucky when a mix up between Taylor Charters and Hannah allowed Lewis Moore to pounce, Hannah recovered to make amends with a good challenge to clear. And with the final chance of the first half, Green made a great save when Murray hit a right foot shot from outside the box.
HALF TIME: Kelty Hearts 0 Queens 0
After a poor first half, Queens stepped it up after the break and former Queens defender Brydon kicked away Kai Kennedys free-kick as it landed inside the box. They maintained the pressure and as Zander Mackenzie lifted a speculative ball over the top, it took a bounce and fell nicely for Allan who was unmarked and smashed a right foot shot past Kyle Gourlay to give Queens the lead after fifty-one minutes.
They were looking positive and Kennedy and Smith linked up well before playing in Nicky Clark. He had nowhere to go so laid the ball back to Benji Luissint 25-yards out, he caught it with his right foot and kept it low but Gourlay got down to push it away.
The home side started to come back into the game and as Ross Cunningham played a free-kick into the box, Sam Fisher knocked it just wide. A minute later as they made a clearance from a Queens attack a long ball forward by Murray was chased down by Craig Clay as he made his way through, Hannah made a pull on his shoulder and referee Josh Hay flashed a straight red card leaving Queens to see out the final twenty minutes of the game with ten men. Cunningham fired the resulting free-kick over the bar.
Queens looked for a second but as Kennedys ball into the box was knocked on by Brennan Dickenson, it was out of range for Clark. And as the extra man started to show the hosts put the visitors under more pressure. Dickenson was in the right place to clear from Murray before he headed away a Fisher chance.
With just seven minutes remaining, they did pull level when Clay was on his own on the right wing and played a straight ball across to Fisher who hit a terrific right foot strike from outside the box past Green into the top corner.
Back at the other end of the park, Kennedy played the ball in from the right but as Mackenzie was stretching, he couldnt connect to force the ball home at the post.
The final chance of the match fell to Kelty but Green made a good save to push Murrays close-range effort over the bar.
It was another point on the road but with wins for Alloa and Montrose the dropped points put a dent in Queens promotion hopes.
FULL TIME: Kelty Hearts 1 Queens 1