Queens came out on top of this tough relegation battle with a confident second-half performance which casts the Binos adrift at the bottom of the First Division.
Queens had a chance early on when Graham almost diverted a Tosh shot past his own keeper and O'Connor just failed to connect from the rebound. Then afterwards came a bizarre incident when Harris clashed with Sitirling's Cramb and to the dismay of the large Queens following the referee pointed to the spot. Cramb had to be stretchered off and after the dust had settled Aitken scored from the penalty to put the Binos into the lead on 19 minutes.
It was now game on as Queens stormed back looking for an equaliser and the Strling keeper was kept busy. Queens were rewarded on 28 minutes when a ferocious free-kick from Tosh was fumbled by the home keeper and Dobbie following up flicked the ball into the net to great delight from the Queens support.
Queens now looked to have the upper hand as Burns and Paton started to carve open the Stirling defence trying to set up O'Connor and Dobbie. The home defence however held firm and there was no further scoring before half-time.
Half - Time: 1-1
Queens took a firm grip of the game in the second-half with both Burns and Gilmour starting to stretch the home defence. O'Connor was also causing havoc in the home defence but somehow goals would not come despite some good openings.
A goal finally came on 75 minutes and it was worth waiting for as Tosh latched on to a careless clearance from the Stirling defence and despatched a daisy-cutter into the net from just outside the penalty box. Queens were now in full flight and Gilmour shot over an open goal with the Stirling defence all at sea. The icing was put on the cake in the dying minutes when O'Neill scored from a penalty after Bingham had been flattened in the box.
In all a satisfying win for Queens but let's not get carried away as there are far better teams in the Division than Stirling who looked destined for Division 2 football next season. We are still not sharp enough in front of goal with O'Connor and Gilmour missing good chances which might have cost us. There is also room for improvement at the back where Aitken was given a torrid time during aerial challenges.
We have an even tougher challenge next week with our visit to East End Park where the hosts Dunfermline will be in no mood to offer us some Festive cheer.
Travel Club Man of the Match - Paul Burns - Another amazing performance from Burnsy who never gives up.
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