Queen's lined up in a 4-4-2 formation. Dunlop, Reilly, McGinty & Clark made up the defence, Trouten, Quinn, Ketlewell & Ferry started in midfield while Proctor & Weatherston played up front.
Cowden's whipped crosses early on were causing the Queen's defence problems and their perseverarance paid off after eighteen minutes when Andy Jackson nodded home.
Queen's looked frail but both Kevin Proctor & David Weatherston squandered good chances before the half hour mark.
Cowden were still causing The Spiders problems and David Crawford had to be at his best to stop Paatelainen twice.
Queen's created some chances near the end of the half, but Mark Ferry & Mick Dunlop could not force saves out of Davie Hay.
Queen's struggled in a non-eventful second forty five and Cowden doubled their lead with ten minutes remaining, Markus Paatelainen rising above Stephen Reilly to nod home.
Cowden could have had a third near the end, Paatelainen rattling the post. Next up is Elgin, and a dramatic improvement is needed.
QUEEN'S PARK: Crawford, Clark (Weir), Dunlop, Reilly, McGinty, Trouten, Kettlewell, Quinn (Whelan), Weatherston, Proctor (Molloy), Ferry
REFEREE: James Downie
ATTENDANCE: 391