Links Park, Montrose was the destination for our latest game in league one. Mikey Hewitt and Benji Luissint hadnt recovered from the injuries they picked up against Alloa and were replaced in the starting line-up by Zander Mackenzie and Jack Stott.
After losing to the Wasps manager Peter Murphy was looking for a bounce back from his side but it got off to the worst possible start. With just three minutes played Queens had given away a corner and as the ball was floated in Matty Douglas was bullied off the ball by Andrew Steeves who rose to head the ball past Ross Stewart into the net.
The hosts who had lost their game in midweek looked hungry and as Blair Lyons chased the ball down, Jack Hannah shielded it enough for Stewart to come off his line to collect at the feet of the attacker.
Queens had been struggling to get a foot hold in the game but in an attack, Kurtis Guthrie was wide with his glancing header. And as the ball was played up field, Lyons played a great ball through for Taylor Sutherland who held of the challenge from Douglas inside the box and as the Queens captain slipped, Sutherland fired a right foot shot past Stewart to double the home sides lead.
Two goals down inside the first fifteen minutes, Queens had it all to do and as Taylor Charters played a good ball into the box, Guthrie attacked but it was cleared. The clearance was only as far as Liam Smith and as he shot Harrison Sharp got down to his left to save.
Midway through the first half, Reece Lyon made a charge forward and picked out Kai Kennedy to his left, the winger floated the ball into the back-post and found Guthrie but while the big striker ended up in the net the ball was over the bar. Within minutes Kennedy crossed the ball in again, but this time the flag went up.
Brennan Dickenson then passed up a golden opportunity when he collected a poor clearance by Sharp at the edge of the box but he took too long to have a shot and ended up dragging the ball wide of the upright.
From a Queens attack, Montrose hit on the counter and the lively Sutherland was in and had two attempts at goal but both were blocked by Hannah.
It was a frustrating first half as after the terrible start to the game, the visitors had a lot of the ball but didnt carry any real threat, Smith did cross from the right but Guthrie was stretching as he tried to get his head on the end of the delivery. Minutes later, Smith crossed again and this time, Dickenson went for the header but couldnt connect properly.
With the final chance of the first half, Dickenson tried to find Guthrie but the ball was cleared for a corner. As Kennedy played it in, Douglas headed over.
HALF TIME: Montrose 2 Queens 0
At half time, Niall Rogerson replaced Charters and Queens changed shape. It took them a bit of time to settle and three minutes in Terry Masson aimed for the top corner but fired his shot over. As they got to grips with the new formation, Queens started to get forward more and Dickenson wasnt far away with a header that just cleared the crossbar. Dickenson then won his side a corner that Kennedy delivered only for Steeves to head clear.
On the hour mark, Mackenzie tried to curl a right foot effort from inside the box into the top corner but couldnt get enough curl on it and it flew wide instead. As they pushed to get back into the game Dickenson hit the side netting with a strong left foot effort before Stott had a shot deflected into the arms of Sharp by Sean Dillon.
Montrose looked good on the counter and as Sutherland set up Lyons, he looked odds on to score but he hit his shot straight at the keeper.
As the ball was played up the park, Queens eventually made a breakthrough and as Mackenzie crossed from the right, Hannahs header at the back-post was blocked by Sharp. With the ball still in play it broke to Kennedy just inside the box and as he fired towards goal, it had the keeper beaten but a deflection off Guthrie made sure it ended up in the back of the net.
Back in the game Queens pushed and just five minutes later as Guthrie was bundled over at the edge of the box by Steeves, Kennedy placed the ball on the penalty spot and hit a right foot shot that beat the keeper at his left-hand side.
From two goals down, Queens were back level and could push on looking for the win, Jordan Allan who had come on from Smith hit a volley high over the bar and the keeper made two good saves to deny Kennedy who had cut inside to shoot and then Dickenson who hit a powerful shot from distance.
But the hosts were also looking for another and with just five minutes left as the ball fell to substitute, Craig Brown outside the box, he fired a left foot shot past Stewart into the top corner, it was a terrific strike and gave the keeper no chance.
Queens werent done and were millimeters from rescuing a point when four minutes into added on time, Kennedy crossed from the left and Guthrie got his head on it but could do nothing as it came back off the crossbar.
FULL TIME: Montrose 3 Queens 2