Queen Of The South In Shock

[Beefy]

Queen Of The South 4 Aberdeen 3

Queen of the South reached their first ever Scottish Cup final by winning a seven-goal thriller against Aberdeen.

Steve Tosh slammed home the opener for Queens, while a header from Andrew Considine levelled before half-time.

Paul Burns finished from close range only for Aberdeen's Barry Nicholson to follow suit, while Sean O'Connor fired the Doonhamers back in front.

Considine bagged his second header of the day but John Stewart responded by lashing in the winner on 60 minutes.

The First Division side will meet either the winner of next weekend's semi-final, with St Johnstone waiting to play the winner of the Partick Thistle v Rangers replay.

If Rangers were to progress, the Dumfries team would be assured of a place in next season's Uefa Cup.


And some of Europe's finest may be quaking in their boots after an amazing display from Gordon Chisholm's men at Hampden.

Queen of the South made a bright start and less than three minutes had passed when Soutar battered an attempted clearance against O'Connor, only for the ball to rebound behind for a goal kick.


It was no surprise when the Doonhamers claimed the lead on 22 minutes.

Soutar failed to punch clear Ryan McCann's deep free-kick into the and the ball broke to Andy Aitken, who slipped it back to Tosh.

The former Aberdeen midfielder carefully side-footed his shot from 16 yards high into the top corner.

Queens had the ball in the net again but Burns had strayed two yards offside before gathering Dobbie's pass.

Palmerston goalkeeper Jamie MacDonald was called on for the first time as he gathered a header from Lee Miller.

But the Scotland Under-21 international was soon picking the ball out of the net after Considine levelled matters on 36 minutes.

The Dons defender rose above Jim Thomson to guide a header inside the post after Scott Severin had nodded Nicholson's free-kick back into the six yard box.

Chisholm's team were dealt another blow three minutes from the interval when top-scorer Stephen Dobbie limped off to be replaced by another ex-Aberdeen player, Stewart.

However, match-winner Stewart played a key role in Queens' second goal just four minutes into the second half.

Burns gathered a pass from Stewart at the back post and, with the goal at his mercy, sent an awkward shot against Severin, but the midfielder got another opportunity and managed to slam the loose ball home.

MacDonald made a fingertip save to deny Chris Maguire and Burns squandered a golden chance when he sent a shot over the top from eight yards as the game raged from end to end.

Parity was restored when Nicholson was on had to finish after MacDonald had done well to keep out Miller's header from a Maguire cross.

Fans of the Dons barely had time to celebrate before they were behind again.

Considine misjudged a long upfield punt and O'Connor did well to slip the ball past Diamond before slotting a neat shot beyond Soutar from 18 yards.

This time the supporters from Dumfries had their joy cut short with Considine making up for his blunder with a second goal.

Nicholson's cross from the right was helped on by Miller and the young defender found himself alone at the back post with the easiest of tasks to head home.

A breathtaking sequence of five goals inside 11 minutes was complete when Queens scored an almost identical goal to the one they had just lost, Stewart picking up a header from Thomson and powering a shot past Soutar.

The Dons swarmed forward for the remainder of the game and Zander Diamond was incredibly unlucky to hit the bar with a header then the post with a shot from the rebound.



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Queen of the South: MacDonald, McCann (Paton 90), Thomson, Aitken, Harris, Burns, Tosh, MacFarlane, McQuilken, O'Connor, Dobbie (Stewart 42). Subs Not Used: Grindlay, O'Neill, Gilmour.

Booked: McCann.

Goals: Tosh 22, Burns 49, O'Connor 56, Stewart 60.

Aberdeen: Soutar, Maybury (Young 80), Diamond, Considine, McNamara (Mackie 62), Nicholson, Severin, Foster, Aluko, Maguire, Miller. Subs Not Used: Langfield, Duff, Touzani.

Goals: Considine 36, Nicholson 53, Considine 59.

Att: 24,008

Ref: K Clark