Airdrieonians 1 Queen’s Park 1

Head Coach Callum Davidson made one change to the team that hit Arbroath for six on Tuesday with Cillian ‘The Sheriff’ Sheridan moving to the bench and Jack Turner starting.

Thomas kicked off with referee Willie Collum blowing his whistle again just 15 seconds later after a foul on Ruari Paton however no danger threatened from the early set piece.

Both sides made lightning breaks in the first couple of minutes however with three minutes player Danny Wilson sent a delightful pass to the right wing which picked out the advancing Louis Longridge with his first-time cross cut-out just as Turner looked to head home.

On five minutes QP had Calum Ferrie to thank for denying the hosts the lead when the shot-stopper rose high to push over a Nikolay Todorov header from a Charlie Telfer cross in fantastic fashion.

Ferrie was involved again six minutes later as he clawed the ball away from the head of Gabby McGill who had darted clear with an offside flag ending the chase for the loose ball.

Queen’s raced to the other end on 13 minutes and Thomas found Longridge again in an advanced position with Paton getting on the end of his cross this time only for his header to land on the roof of the net.

From the resultant goal kick The Spiders took the lead as when Airdrie tried to play out Paton robbed Telfer of possession at the edge of the box, and that allowed THOMAS to dart towards Josh Rae’s goal and crack a thunderous shot into the net.

The Diamonds looked to hit back quickly and Ferrie was perfectly placed to deal with an Adam Frizzell effort.

It was almost 2-0 on 21 minutes when Jack Thomson released the effervescent Longridge on the right with a precise pass and the wing-back’s driven cross was flicked goalward by Paton only for the ball to strike the post.

Queen’s came close again midway through the opening half when Thomson let fly from 30 yards and his low shot just missed the target by an inch.

Airdrie forced Ferrie into another save on 31 minutes when a falling Liam McStravick helped tee up Frizzell 18 yards out however his shot was held at the second attempt.

Longridge won a personal duel with McStravick on the half-way line with a chip and collect over the Airdrie man’s head however his forward pass to Paton was just too long.

As the first half entered its final minute Tommy Robson rose bravely to head clear at the back post just as Todorov looked to head home with his clearance setting up a counter-attack that ended when Turner delayed in passing.

Half-time – Airdrieonians 0 Queen’s Park 1

Airdrie created the first chance after the restart when Todorov nodded down to Frizzell with Ferrie moving to his right to save his 16-yard effort.

On 50 minutes Robson nipped in with perfect timing to clear at the expense of a corner that found Todorov with Ferrie’s goal not troubled by the striker’s header.

As Airdrie looked to keep pressure on the visiting defence Wilson did likewise shortly afterwards with his clearance picked up by McGill who fired wide of goal.

Davidson’s side made their first advance of the second half on 55 minutes when a fine flowing move involving Thomas and Sean Welsh gave Josh Scott the chance to cut in from the left and fire for goal with Rae getting down low to save.

Home substitute Mason Hancock made an instant impact as he raced forward on 63 minutes for 40 yards before sending a shot swerving out  of the reach of Ferrie from 20 yards to tie the score at 1-1.

Sheridan and Ben McPherson were introduced on 68 minutes with Thomson dropping into defence with Queen’s missing a great chance 6 minutes later when Paton failed to nod home after being picked out by a Scott chipped cross.

Eleven minutes from time Sheridan nodded a high ball down to Paton who sent a first-time shot into the arms of Rae.

Two minutes later the woodwork denied Queen’s for a second time when Wilson rose to meet a Stuart McKinstry corner and glanced a header past Rae only to see it hit the inside of the post.

Both sides pushed for a winner however Wilson was magnificent in marshalling his defensive troops and Queen’s secured a more than deserved point.

Queen’s Park – Calum Ferrie, Alex Bannon (Ben McPherson 68), Danny Wilson, Tommy Robson, Louis Longridge (Cillian Sheridan 68), Josh Scott (Cameron Bruce 90+1), Sean Welsh, Jack Turner (Stuart McKinstry 52), Dom Thomas (Mackenzie Carse 90+1), Ruari Paton.
Unused substitutes – Jack Wills (G/k), Will Tizzard, Liam McLeish, Zach Mauchin.

Airdrieonians – Josh Rae, Cammy Ballantyne (Mason Hancock 60), Dean McMaster, Craig Watson, Callum Fordyce, Charlie Telfer (Arron Lyall 60), Adam Frizzell, Liam McStravick (Chris Donnell 60), Kanayo Megwa, Nikolay Todorov, Gabby McGill (Calum Gallagher 68).
Unused substitutes – David Hutton, Aaron Taylor-Sinclair, Rhys McCabe, Josh O’Connor, Gavin Gallagher.

Referee – Willie Collum