It was all change at Palmerston this afternoon as Gordon Chisholm went for a fresh look to the side.  Cammy Bell took the No.1 jersey from an injured Bryn Halliwell.  The back four had a very youthful look to it with Craig Reid at right back, Jamie Adams and Craig Barr in the centre and Bob Harris on the left.  In midfield it was more familiar with Burns, Macfarlane, Tosh and Arbuckle whilst upfront the dynamic duo of Stephen Dobbie and Sean O'Connor were reunited.  The bench saw Jim Thomson, Jamie McQuilken, Stewart Kean, Scott Robertson and a trialist goalkeeper.

With a superb crowd of over 3200, the match kicked off with Queens playing towards the Terregles Street end and for the first ten minutes it was non-stop chances for Queens as they could have notched three or four in those same number of minutes.  The Partick defence was all at sea and looked sure to lose a goal as the pace or Arbuckle, the strength of O'Connor and the guile of Dobbie proved too much for Ian McCall's Maryhill men.  Jamie Adams could and maybe should have opened the scoring as he followed up am effort blocked by Tuffey, the big man though somehow managed to head over the bar when it looked easier to score.  Steve Tosh was next to try his luck as he blasted just over the bar from the edge of the box.  Gary Arbuckle once more took Simon Storey apart as he waltzed past the right back and sent in a cross that Steve Tosh managed to head past an empty goal.  Sean O'Connor then came close with a header that was blocked as Stephen Dobbie found space with some superb skill.

Jamie Adams was in the heart of the defence today

At the other end Cammy Bell found himself in no-mans land after coming for a ball and not quite getting there, however the best that a Partick player could do was to hit the base of the post and Craig Reid cleared comfortably.

In the twenty fifth minute another Arbuckle cross was sent in to the back post, Paul Burns was there and looked to have a clear goalscoring opportunity until Partick defender Marc Twaddle manhandled him to the ground.  Stevie Tosh despatched the resultant penalty into the bottom left hand corner of the goal.

Tosh slips the penalty past Tuffey

With Queens on top it was only a matter of time until the second goal went in and it was conjured up out of nothing in the thirty sixth minute by the magic feet of Stephen Dobbie.  The Dobbster won the ball on the edge of the box and, keeping the ball close to his feet, made his way into the box then from a very tight angle fired an unstoppable shot past Jonathan Tuffey in the Partick goal.

It looked as though Queens could score more and Sean O'Connor was unlucky not to score as he ended up just short of connecting with a Stephen Dobbie cross.  However it wasn't all Queens and a moment of hesitance in the new look Queens defence saw Jamie Adams leave the ball for Cammy Bell but with a Partick forward bearing down there was no way that the debutant 'keeper could get to the ball.  However the Partick forward delayed long enough for Cammy to produce a super save and deny the Jags a barely deserved counter on he stroke of half time.

The second half started with some woeful finishing from Steven Lennon as the Partick front man blasted well over the bar from the right hand side of the box.  It was immediately up the other end and only a last minute toe from Ian Maxwell in the Partick defence denied Sean O'Connor a strike at goal.

Queens then seemed to sit a bit too deep and Partick pressured the home defence for a few minutes.  Cammy Bell was challenged at a corner and while most people expected a free kick for Queens play continued with a Partick forward firing toward goal and Bob Harris clearing off the line.  Fifteen  minutes into the half and Cammy Bell made the save of the game as Simon Donnelly shot at an open goal and the young 'keeper from Annan was alert enough to dive into the path of the shot to block the effort when everyone expected it to nestle in the back of the net.  Thistle were pressing the home side back and looking like they would score at any moment.  It was difficult enough defending their forwards but when Sean O'Connor headed onto his own post and bar from a Thistle corner it seemed as though a goal was inevitable.

Cammy makes a super save from Simon Donnelly

Gordon Chisholm decided to calm things down and introduced Jim Thomson to settle the back line.  Craig Reid went off, Craig Barr moved across to right back and JT took up his rightful position in the centre of the defence.  The next change saw Stephen Dobbie swapped for the fresh and willing legs of Stewart Kean to test the cumbersome Partick defence.

The changes did help to settle things down and a Bob Harris free kick was unlucky not to provide Stewart Kean with a goal as the striker just failed to latch onto a Jim Thomson header back across goal at the far post.

Keano just couldn't make it onto the end of JT's headed effort

Cries from the Thistle support for a penalty were rightly waved away by referee Nicholls with ten minutes to go as Jim Thomson won the ball and played the defence out of trouble.  The up at the other end Tuffey didn't look too secure as first he dropped a cross through his legs then tried to blast the clearance up the park only to see it met by Sean O'Connor who managed to deflect it close but not close enough to the goals.

Thistle weren't finished though as Cammy Bell had to look lively to get off his line on a one-on-one and block and effort.  Just after that Steve Tosh produced a rare feat as he cleared the Portland Road terracing roof with a shot - it didn't even hit the roof as it sailed over.  The final change for Queens was Arbuckle off for McQuilken on and despite almost six minutes of added time Partick never looked like scoring and Queens recorded a 2-0 victory.

All in all it was a solid 4-4-2 formation with a youthful and pacey defence.  Queens deserved the victory and could have scored more, Partick looked a good footballing side and could have scored a few goals too.  If it had finished 4-3 then no one could have argued about that either.

Colin Johnstone