Queen of the South will meet Partick Thistle in the final of the Challenge Cup after seeing off Arbroath in a hard-fought semi-final at Palmerston.

Derek Young`s deflected shot gave Queens an early lead before Alex Keddie levelled the scoring in the second half.  Both teams battled on into extra-time before Ryan McGuffie scored with just two minutes remaining.

Manager Allan Johnston was pleased with the way his players never gave up hope of winning the game after spurning a number of opportunities.

"It was a good game, both teams were trying to get the win but I think over the piece we deserved to win with the amount of chances we created.  

"The boys have a bit of belief to keep going.  You saw that in the previous round and they just keep going right to the end.

"Since we played them last time they had won three and drawn two so we were under no illusions how hard it was going to be and it showed today.

"To lose a goal from a set-piece was disappointing.  We just couldn`t get the second goal, we were creating the chances but we needed just a bit more quality.  Sometimes that happens but the boys kept going and we`re delighted to be in the final."

Ryan McGuffie scored the winning penalty at Ibrox in the previous round and once again was the hero today as he found the top corner with just minutes remaining in extra-time.

"I`m just relieved to get through.  It was a hard, hard game and it could have gone either way.  They had a couple of chances but we had probably the better, clear cut chances.  It ended up a battle and we ended up winning it.

On his goal: "I seem to have scored a couple of important ones.  It was a brilliant feeling.  Nicky Clark held the ball up and I created a wee bit of space.  He`s laid the ball of perfect and I had two options, either to blast it but I decided just to caress it into the top corner.

"I`ve always been a Queens fan and I love playing for Queens.  I`m from Dumfries and it means a bit more to me.  It`s brilliant playing for your home club, being skipper and scoring the winner.  It doesn`t get much better, does it?"