If the Queens fans who made the long trip to Montrose off the back of last week`s 5-0 capitulation to Hamilton Accies were expecting a reaction from their team then they certainly got one! Queens chose the moment 7 days after their worst display of the season to turn in probably their best and put one of this season`s promotion chasers to the sword before the half time interval with a display of excellent football.

Manager Marvin Bartley, made 4 changes to the side that had faced Hamilton last weekend. Daniel Church returned for Oscar MacIntyre at left back whilst Captain Harry Cochrane returned from injury at the expense of Josh Todd. In a formation switch, Lewis Gibson and Alex Ferguson replaced Harvey Walker and the injured Craig McGuffie as we lined up in a 4-2-3-1, with Cochrane and Paul McKay anchoring midfield, allowing Ferguson more license to support the attack, and Gibson and Connelly wide of Reilly up top.

Despite the wet and windy conditions, Queens started like a train, clearly determined to make up for last week and, after Graham Webster picked up a very early yellow card for a shocker of a challenge on Paul McKay, they were ahead inside 4 minutes. A lovely passing move up the pitch featuring a switch from right to left side saw Lee Connelly collect the ball on the edge of the box and make himself a yard of space before curling a beauty of a shot into the bottom right corner of the net. It was the wee man`s first league goal of the season and set the tone for an outstanding individual performance from him.

There was no resting on the laurels of the early lead as Queens continued to dominate the game, forcing six successive corners around the 10th minute as Montrose tried desperately not to buckle. A second was not too long delayed though and again an excellent footballing goal. Daniel Church`s ball up the left side was perfectly weighted to get Lee Connelly in possession out wide and he caught the defence off guard by firing in a wicked early cross which found the unmarked Alex Ferguson on the edge of the six yard box to knock a diving header past Cammy Gill for what was also his first league goal of the season.

It was one way traffic at this stage and Gill produced a good save to prevent Ferguson doubling his tally before Kyle McClelland fired narrowly over from range. Just after the half hour Alex Ferguson was fouled on the edge of the box by Sean Dillon and Connelly again took aim. His free kick was superbly flighted and left Cammy Gill grasping air but struck the underside of the bar and stayed out. However, the first player to react was again Ferguson who nipped in to nod home his second headed goal of the game.

We weren`t done though and the best was yet to come as with a couple of minutes to go that man Lee Connelly took possession of a loose ball around 30 yards from goal and it sat up perfectly to be hit on the half volley. The ball took off like a rocket and buried itself in the top left corner of the net before Gill could even get close to it!

With the game effectively over by half time, the second half was a far more mundane affair. The home side made three changes at the break and had a succession of second half bookings as they set about making sure it at least got no worse for them. Queens meantime were far more concerned with making sure they didn`t lose anything, playing into a strong swirling wind and rain than needing to push forward. Kieran McKechnie replaced Gibson midway through the half and then, with ten minutes left, Walker and Hutchinson replaced Connelly and Reilly. There was still nothing to report though and, in the 2nd minute of injury time, Ben Johnstone and Lewis Currie replaced Cochrane and Ferguson. It may only had led to a couple of minutes on the pitch but nice to see another local youth product in Lewis Currie getting his first team debut, even if in an unfamiliar holding midfield role!

Sadly though the clean sheet was not preserved. In the 94th minute Efe Ambrose fouled young Montrose sub Ben Hermiston about 25 yards out. Craig Brown swirled in a cross which was missed by two players in the middle and drifted directly in at the back post as everyone waited for the touch in the six yard box! A scrappy end to an otherwise perfect performance but I doubt too many wouldn`t have taken a 4-1 win at kick off.