The second division leaders caused a bit of a stir at Ibrox in the last round and yesterday they were at it again, progressing to meet Partick Thistle in April's showpiece with a goal in the final minutes of extra time.
The Dumfries side have traded on wins this season -– their only defeat so far came against Dundee United in the Scottish Communities League Cup – but the apprehension which flowed through their success over Arbroath yesterday will have allowed the result to feel more profitable. A shot at a trophy also provided a silver lining to an occasionally unsettled afternoon.
It had all started brightly enough. Derek Young sent a shot towards goal after just nine minutes which spun off Colin Hamilton and nestled in the net. That Queens had already thumped six goals past Arbroath in a league match earlier this season, an early goal will have caused angst to spread throughout the visiting support.
It was not long before they were starting to feel a little better; Lee Robinson was forced to make a wonderful diving save to prevent Scott Robertson from levelling the scores, while Abroath also had a claim for a penalty ignored after Lee Currie went down in the box.
The momentum of the match had started to shift and it was not long before it manifest in a goal for the visitors. Just 13 minutes after the break, Alex Keddie – who won the Challenge Cup with Ross County back in 2006 – headed in an equaliser from Currie's corner.
The two sides traded blows for the remainder of regulation time – Danny Carmichael thundered a shot over the crossbar for Queens while Currie continued to probe for Arbroath – but neither side could seal their progress. It took a Ryan McGuffie shot after 117 minutes to force Queens into the final.
It would prove a bittersweet moment for the defender, his celebrations tempered somewhat by an earlier booking which will rule him out against Partick.
"It is a strange feeling because it doesn't get any better than to captain your hometown team and score the winner in a semi-final," said McGuffie, who converted the winning penalty against Rangers in the quarter-finals. "But I am gutted at the same time because the booking means I will miss the final. I knew right away I was out the final."
