Queen of the South 0 Airdrie United 0

Last updated : 05 March 2005 By Footymad Previewer

Both teams had to settle for a point in a scrappy game in which chances were few.

Both managers, in fact, welcomed the point which widens the gap between them and second bottom Partick Thistle.

Of the few chances the best fell to Queens in the opening stages. The first went to Steve Bowey who was put through by Derek Lyle, but he allowed defenders to scramble the ball to safety.

The Queens skipper had another chance seconds later, this time when he was put through by Eric Paton with Lyle dummying the ball to let it run, but a defender took the ball off Bowey's toe just as he was about to shoot.

Airdrie began to take control, and Owen Coyle had a shot which just cleared the bar before Jerome Vareille blasted in a shot which just went wide.

It took 35 minutes to see the first corner and it was by Airdrie, but the ball was cleared upfield and this time Queens forced a corner.

The Dumfries men had to undergo a spell of intense pressure during the second half and were lucky when Coyle got in a shot which seemed on target but was blocked by Gary Wood.

The Dumfries team's best effort in the later stages came from defender Jim Thomson when he shot through a ruck of players but saw the keeper drive full length to pull the ball down.