Having not met for 12 years, the third game between the teams in the space of 45 days began slowly but when the first attempt on goal arrived it came Queens` way with Stephen Dobbie driving a low shot just wide of the far post, and it was Dobbie again who after being found by Jordan Marshall saw his shot deflected into the arms of Montrose `keeper Fleming.
Unfortunately those two early opportunities for Queens was as good as it got, and for the next phase of the game we started to hit far too many long balls in the general direction of Lyndon Dykes, who was well marshalled by a combination of both Dillon, and Allan. We did almost capitalise on one such long ball when Alan Martin`s long clearance found Dykes on the right wing, but after getting the better of the full back, Dykes` low cross into the 6-yard box was bundled clear ahead of the onrushing Lyle.
On 24 minutes and following a free-kick on the right, we took the lead for the first time in the tie. Connor Murray`s set-piece delivery was cleared to the edge of the 6-yard box and from a narrow angle Stephen Dobbie smashed the ball home on the volley with the power of the shot being too much for the `keeper to deal with.
We came very close to adding to the lead minutes later when John Rankin gained possession midway inside the Montrose half and moving forward unchallenged he drove a right foot effort only inches wide of the far post with the `keeper glad to see it miss the target. We were enjoying our best spell at this point and Murray`s neat pass set up Dobbie, although after cutting inside from the right he was only able to shoot straight at the `keeper. Another long clearance this time from Darren Brownlie found Dykes and after excellent control he was able to work himself a shooting opportunity but disappointingly his good approach play was let down by a rather wild finish.The visitors had been neat and tidy with their passing but their final ball was not troubling Queens, but just 2 minutes before the interval that all changed when they drew level. A neat passing move that started down the left was switched to the right and a delightful cross that took out three Queens defenders was met by Webster who headed back across goal and over Martin to the joy of the small group of travelling Montrose fans.
Queens almost replied instantly with a second goal when Dobbie slipped the ball through to Dykes, and although he was able to round the `keeper, the narrowing angle was against him and this allowed Dillon to cover the near post and turn his shot away which made sure that the scores remained level at the break.
HALF-TIME QUEENS 1-1 MONTROSE
Boosted by their goal just before the interval, the visitors started the second period on the front foot and scorer of their goal, Webster, had a half chance to add to his tally, but his effort wasn`t the best.
At the other end Dobbie was also guilty of missing a presentable opportunity when with the Montrose defence appealing for offside, he latched on to Martin`s clearance only to lift a tame effort straight into the arms of `keeper Fleming. Another decent chance came the way of Queens when Rankin picked out the run of Lyle, but clean through on goal his shot lacked power and was easily gathered by the `keeper.
Our first change of the game saw James McFadden replace Connor Murray, and the substitute was instantly involved in assisting with what turned out to be the game`s winning goal. A long throw taken by McFadden on the left was cleared out to the edge of the penalty area where it fell nicely for Derek Lyle to swivel and on the half turn hit an unstoppable drive that flew past Fleming. That was the third good quality goal of what really was a very scrappy affair, and at least unlike Saturday`s clash, the crowd of 794 had at least seen some decent finishing.
The only yellow card of the game was shown to Montrose defender Ballantyne as he hauled Shaun Rooney to the ground, and when Dobbie, Dykes, and Marshall combined to win a corner, McFadden`s flighted cross from a short set-piece routine very nearly picked out Lyle at the far post. Callum Tapping replaced Derek Lyle for the final few minutes and as the clock ticked towards full time, Montrose went all out to try to rescue the game and Webster fired over the bar when perhaps he could have done better. In the dying moments with `keeper Fleming sent forward to add his presence, a long ball into the box flicked off the heads of several players as they all jumped looking for a positive touch, but fortunately for us there was not enough power on the ball to beat Martin who was able to save comfortably.
The final whistle sounded moments later much to the relief of all in blue, but a mention must go to the visiting team whose spirited performances over the two games will surely give them the belief that they can mount a promotion push from their own league after more than matching their higher league opponents for large parts of both games.