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The chances of victory where extremely slim for Billy Stark's Spiders, and most Spiders' fans were only expecting a decent performance from Queen's to prove they are no pushovers, but we went several steps further and ensured that Dons left Glasgow with the agony of cup defeat, fresh in their minds.
Dons legend Stark made five changes from the side that beat Dumbarton 1-0 at the weekend, knocks to David Crawford, Steve Reilly and Shaun Molloy ruled them out, while Richie Bowers and Tony Quinn were relegated to the bench. In came Robert Dunn, for his first start, Paul Ronald, Mark Ferry, Richard Sinclair and goalkeeper Mark Cairns.
So they lined up with Cairnsy in goals and a defence of Paton, Agostini, Sinclair and Dunlop. The midfielders were Stuart Kettlewell, Steven Canning and Mark Ferry. While the bold Billy lined up with Ronald, Dunn and Weatherston in attack.
The atmosphere was buzzing before kick off, as Spiders fans moved in to Firhill's wooden main stand, and Stuart Kettlewell had a chance within a minute of the start. Dragging a Robert Dunn wide of the mark from twenty five yards. Both sides plugged away and while Aberdeen had more of the ball, Queen's looked the more likely side to bag the opener. Davie Weatherston beat former Sunderland left back Dan Smith for pace after Paul Ronald's through ball, but his low cross into the middle wasn't attacked by the Spiders midfield.
20 minutes in Queen's striker Paul Ronald was cursing his luck when he looked to have been ruled harshly offside after brilliantly hooking Robert Dunn's lofted pass into the net over the stranded Soutar from twenty yards but that was evened out when Mackie lobbed Cairns seconds later and this time Dons seemed harshly treated by the official. The end of the half saw Spiders start to tire due to Aberdeen's proficient passing on the Firhill surface, but they had few scares to survive as the impeccable defensive line of Dunlop, Agostini, Sinky and Paton stood firm. Aberdeen striker Stephen Crawford created a decent chance for himself just prior to half time but he sent a volley from the edge of the box soaring over the bar and into the construction site behind the goal.
Dons keeper Derek Soutar was forced into an acrobatic save after Steven Canning's long range strike took a decieving deflection and he was forced to tip away for a corner, and from the resulting free kick Dons supporter David Weatherston sent a volley sailing over the crossbar at the back post, the half time whistle blew to great cheers from the Spiders faithful and boos from the Dons "Red Army" after a stunning first half shift from Queen's.
HALF TIME: Queen's Park 0 - 0 Aberdeen
Severely tanned Dons boss Jimmy Calderwood was clearly raging at his flops first half performance and introduced young forwards John Stewart and Kyle McAulay replacing Gary Dempsey and Brian Winter. The half was tense, but Aberdeen rarely produced clearcut chances, Queen's were pinned back but as they reverted to 4-4-2, the two banks of four stood firm and cleared everything. Even Davie Weatherston was in on the action, after Dunlop was skinned by Crawford he mopped up the danger in the left back position.
As Queen's started to believe a cup shock could be on the cards, veteran striker Paul Ronald made way for one of Partick Thistle's "Firhill faithful" Alan Trouten. For the 37 year old Ronaldo to put in a shift like his for so long was fantastic and the on form hitman deserved his standing ovation. As Robert Dunn went down with cramp, you felt Aberdeen would soon score as Queen's tired, it didn't happen, and we stood firm. Weatherston was replaced after eighty minutes by the hero of the first round Richie Bowers, after ripping his boyhood team's full back's to shreds with a swashbuckling performance.
We repelled everything and somehow survived but that was to take it's toll. The bloodied and bandaged Mick Dunlop, Stuart Kettlewell, Stephen Canning and Richard Sinclair were all struggling with only one sub remaining. It was sponsors man of the match Sinclair that left the field, to be replaced by gnarled veteran Jonny Whelan. He was just as good, and despite being under pressure from Darren Mackie he cleared the impressive John Stewart's dangerous cross.
We kept going and nearly got our just rewards with minutes left of extra times first half. Dons centre backs Considine and Scotland star Russell Anderson were beaten by Richie Bowers stunning turn, 25 yards out. He cracked a stunning shot towards the top corner and as Spiders fans started to celebrate, Dons keeper Soutar flew across goal to make a stunning one handed save.
The second half was another defensive masterclass and Alan Trouten was also brilliantly denied by Soutar, and after surviving a late Dons onslaught with some inspired defending and stunning passing we took them to penalties.
We had already won, headlines dubbing Dons "Dismal" were already in the printers and we were already the real heroes, but, it would have been absolutely gut wrenching if we lost out now. We already scored a vital victory, the coin toss, which meant the penalties were to be taken in Spiders end of the ground. Steve Canning stepped up first for Queen's and fired high to Soutar's right with a cool finish and up stepped Darren Mackie for Aberdeen. His penalty was shocking, despite being professional he looked nervous, and blazed it out of the ground and probably onto Maryhill Road. Mark Ferry then scored to give Queen's a 2-0 advantage and put one foot into the third round. Barry Nicholson struck for Dons low to Mark Cairns right and next up was Robert Dunn. The little midfielder, showed heart of a lion in the middle of the game despite struggling with cramp. He scored though, despite Soutar getting a strong hand to the ball.
Up next was youngster John Stewart for Dons and he scored before Queen's Park goalkeeper Mark Cairns decided to step up himself. A man who scored a winning penalty in a cup final a few years ago for Alloa, he done it again, slamming the ball with stunning power past Soutar for 4-2. Up next was Stevie Crawford for Dons, and he scored setting up the chance for Alan Trouten to become a Queen's Park hero.
He stepped up, and as the coolest man in the stadium, he rolled the ball past Soutar to record a famous victory. Bedlam in the wooden stand and on the park. It was unbelivable as Spiders had dumped their SPL opponents out the cup. Mick Dunlop and Billy Stark took part in radio interviews as they contemplated the stunning victory, Queen's had done it, Dons put to the sword. The draw is on Thursday morning, and all thoughts will be on that but who cares who we land in the 3rd Round, the players earned their glory for the next few days after recording one of Spiders best ever wins.
The fourteen heroes, plus their manager and coaching staff eventually left the field after taking the acclaim from the fans, they will go down in Spiders history as the team that dumped the Dons. Now, bring on some more big guns in the third round and the Dirty Rovers on Saturday.
Mon The Queen's!!!!!!!!!!!
QUEEN'S PARK: Mark Cairns, Paul Paton, Mick Dunlop, Damiano Agostini, Richard Sinclair (Jonny Whelan), Steven Canning, Stuart Kettlewell, David Weatherston (Richard Bowers), Paul Ronald (Alan Trouten), Robert Dunn, Mark Ferry
SUBS NOT USED: David Crawford (gk), Tony Quinn
PENALTY GOALSCORERS: Stephen Canning, Mark Ferry, Robert Dunn, Mark Cairns, Alan Trouten
REFEREE: Stephen Finnie
ATTENDANCE: 1,588
MAN OF THE MATCH: Damiano Agostini, After a stunning team performance it's hard to pick, but D pips his team-mates with a brilliant defensive showing. Kept chances for Mackie and Crawford to a bare minimum and cleared the danger every time.