Allan Johnston named an unchanged starting XI from last Friday?s 1-1 draw with Dundee, continuing with Dan Pybus on the right and Michael Paton through the middle. New signing Abdul Osman was amongst the subs, replacing youngster Ross Irving on the bench.

It was Ian McCalls first match at Firhill since re-joining the Jags, and the 2,651 strong home support were full of a hope for a second consecutive victory.

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Show Racism the Red Card Day

The visitors almost got off to the perfect start inside the opening minute. After Stephen Dobbie easily turned away from Sean McGinty and played in Dan Pybus, the young Geordie tried his luck from a tight angle, but Scott Fox made a strong save down to his left.

Indeed, the opening 10 minutes were pretty much dominated by the Doonhamers as they camped themselves in Thistle?s half. A pair of set-pieces didn?t cause Scott Fox any problems in the Jags goal as the home team grew back into the game. Joe Cardle received the ball at feet inside the Queens box, but he wasn?t able to make his shot count, his tame effort rolling well wide of the goal.

Just a minute later Stephen Dobbie was played in-behind the home defence, but after cutting onto his favoured right-foot, his driven shot hit the side-netting.

Halfway through the opening period Dobbie had another effort on goal, this time a curling shot that flew agonisingly wide of his far post.

Mercer shoots from outside the box

Mercer watches as his effort heads towards the top corner

Fox denies what would have been a superb strike from Mercer

If there was ever such a thing as an ?enjoyable nil-nil?, then this was it. A counter-attack spearheaded by Faissal El Bakhtaoui was stopped in its tracks by a foul from Stuart Bannigan, who picked up the games first ? and only ? booking.

HT: Partick 0-0 QoS

An entertaining first-half, that Queens certainly would?ve enjoyed more than their opposition.

The second-half began like the first-half, with a glorious Queens chance. Dobbie?s pass was met by Holt, who played a delightful ball along the six-yard box, but no one was there to meet it for Queens.

The Jags were committing more men into the box after the break, with Shea Gordon going close with a couple of headers. Experienced striker Kenny Miller had a free-header from the penalty spot saved comfortably by Robby McCrorie. After an hour, Queens were forced to make the games first change, with the injured Dan Pybus being replaced by Connor Murray. The young winger made an instant impact, winning a corner with his first touches.

And from El Bakhtaoui?s delicious ball in, the towering Darren Brownlie was on hand to power a header past Scott Fox. It was nothing less than the Queens centre-half deserved following a string of imperious performances at the back. It was his first goal since October 2017, after being injured for the opening months of last season.

Brownlie meets the ball and heads home

Bronwlie is congratulated on his winning goal

Dario Zanatta almost equalised for the hosts immediately after Queens scored. After receiving the ball to feet, he swivelled and struck a dangerous effort that went narrowly wide of the goal.

A trio of Thistle corners were dealt with by the away side professionally, before El Bakhtaoui drew a foul to alleviate the pressure temporarily.

After 69 minutes, the Jags went extremely close to scoring an equaliser. Gordon wriggled his way one-on-one with McCrorie, but the ?keeper got a strong hand to the ball before a shot was taken. The rebound fell directly to Miller, however after losing his balance he was unable to trouble any of the Queens players defending the goal.

Abdul Osman came on for his Queens debut replacing the impressive Jack Hamilton after 70 minutes in an attempt to shore up the defence.

New signing Osman made his debut at one of his former clubs

Lee Kilday was, perhaps surprisingly, the next man to spearhead an attack from Queens, running the length of the pitch before playing in Dobbie, however Scott Fox was on-hand to make another brilliant save.

Darren Lyon was the final Queens substitute to be used, replacing Michael Paton. Lyon, who played RB last week against Dundee, came on to play in attacking-midfield.

Despite the final 15 minutes being almost exclusively played in the Queens half, the Doonhamers held on terrifically to get an important win.

FT: Partick 0-1 QoS

A massive win, and a fully deserved one at that. Each and every player put in a real shift today, and reaped the rewards. Another clean sheet means that Queens now boast the best defensive record in the Championship, and the fourth best in Scotland.

A special thank you to the magnificent 259 Queens fans that travelled to Maryhill and made themselves heard for the full 90 minutes.