QUEEN of the South showed no trace of a Hampden hangover last night to claim three precious points in their bid to finish fourth in the First Division.
The Scottish Cup finalists made three changes from the history-making line-up that defeated
Aberdeen 4-3 on Saturday but were still too strong for their visitors and secured the victory which took them above Dunfermline and back into fourth.
Stephen Dobbie's Lazarus-like recovery from his injury on Saturday saw him in two minutes swoop on to a Marc Twaddle miscue to test Jon Tuffey. The keeper could only parry his stinger, but Simon Storey hooked clear.
Thistle had the ball in the net in almost their first attack after eight minutes but the offside flag was up against Mark Roberts even before he shot. Queens and Dobbie again came close after 25 minutes, the striker wheeling onto a half-blocked Stevie Tosh 20-yarder, but Tuffey pushed his shot aside for a corner.
The remainder of the first half was big on a midfield endeavour, though sorely lacking goalmouth incident aside from a fine Willie Kinniburgh challenge on Dobbie as the striker moved on to an inch-perfect Tosh through ball.
Queens resumed in the second half with John Stewart replacing his fellow Hampden goalscorer Sean O'Connor but it was Dobbie who posed the first threat of the second half with an angled drive, kicked away by the wrong-footed Tuffey in the opening minute.
Dobbie and Stewart combined to break the deadlock in 57 minutes, when the former Rangers and Hibs striker found space down the left and his cross was forced home at the near post by the ex-Aberdeen man. However, the goal sparked fierce protests from the Thistle defenders, who claimed Stewart had punched the ball into the net.
Thistle were even more incensed after Queens doubled their lead in 74 minutes, Bob Harris firing home through a ruck of defenders from 15 yards. The Jags felt that Dobbie's challenge on Simon Donnelly in the build-up while retrieving possession for Queens should have been penalised. But the goal stood and the Dumfries side recorded their first win over the Maryhill men this season.
Queen of the South: Grindlay, Reid, Thomson, Lauchlan, Harris, McCann (O'Neill, 75), Tosh, MacFarlane, McQuilken (Gilmour, 58), O'Connor (Stewart, 46), Dobbie. Subs not used: S Robertson, MacDonald.
Partick Thistle: Tuffey, Storey, J Robertson, Kinniburgh, Twaddle, Donnelly, Rowson, McKeown (Chaplain, 61), McKinlay (Murray, 46), Gray (Keegan, 67), Roberts. Subs not used: McStay, Hinchcliffe.
Referee: E Smith. Attendance: 1,702
The full article contains 449 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
