Queen of the South 1-2 Ross County

Published on Saturday 4 April 2009 19:53

AT 42 years of age, he lasted just over an hour but in that time Craig Brewster just about guaranteed his team's First Division survival, setting up the opener with a sublime pass before finding the net with a candidate for goal of the season, proving there is no substitute for a good footballing brain.

The Doonhamers were so unlucky not to be in front in the fourth minute after Jim Thomson beat keeper Joe Malin to Barry Wilson's well-placed free kick and only a last-gasp clearance on the line from Scott Boyd kept County level.

Within a minute play had swung to the other end and Brewster showed his intelligence by sending his side's top scorer Sean Higgin's clean through and the striker made no mistake, sliding the ball beyond Lee Robinson for the opener.

Brewster then produced a real bolt out of the blue on 20 minutes, an unstoppable 25-yard shot that screamed into the top corner.

The home support were unhappy and Gordon Chisholm clearly gave his players a severe ticking off at the break as his players were a few minutes early in appearing for the second period. Within a minute of the restart, top scorer Dobbie gave his side a lifeline, turning on the edge of the box and placing a beautiful shot into the corner for his 17th of the season.

Relegation-threatened Queens were desperate to salvage a point in the closing stages, but Martyn Lancaster was denied by a Malin fingertip save before Barry Wilson miscued wide on 89 minutes.