The Dumfries side failed to register a single shot on target in the first 45 minutes. At the other end, Airdrie were only marginally more productive, Stephen McKeown thinking he had given the home side the lead on the half-hour mark but being judged to have used his arm. Stuart Taylor then wasted a free header from Graeme Holmes’ dipping free-kick.
Airdrie looked the more purposeful after the interval with Holmes hitting the woodwork from 20 yards and Steven McDougall’s follow-up skidding just wide. Their opener was then gifted by Jim Thomson when the ball bounced off his shin into the path of Brian McPhee, who sprinted through and slotted past Colin Scott.
Airdrie deserved their lead but Queens drew level in the 75th minute. John O’Neil converted the penalty he won after he was clumsily bundled over by Kevin Christie.
The visitors’ second came in the 84th minute, Murray Henderson guiding the ball over the line after Thomson’s header across goal. But Willie McLaren, who was booked just a minute after coming on the pitch, made amends for Airdrie in the 90th minute when his floating free-kick was headed home by fellow substitute Garry Tierney.
STAR MAN: Graeme Holmes (Airdrie Utd)
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Player ratings. Airdrie Utd: Robertson 5, Smyth 6, Lovering 6 (McLaren 81min, 6), McGowan 6 (Tierney 79min, 6), Christie 6, Holmes 7, McDougal 6, McKeown 6 (Watson 71min, 5), Prunty 6, McPhee 6, Taylor 6
QoS: Scott 6, Paton 6, Scally 6 (Gibson 62min, 6), McKenzie 6, Henderson 6, J Thomson 5, Burns 6, Weir 5 (A Thomson 76min, 5), O’Connor 6, O’Neil 6, Callaghan 5 (Henry 55min, 6)
Scorers: Airdrie Utd: McPhee 65, Tierney 89 QoS: O’Neil 75, Henderson 84 Booked: Scally 35, O’Neil 64, McLaren 82
Referee: C Allan
Attendance: 1,298