SECOND HELPING FOR CAL
Davidson feared his Spiders were toast until Liam strike QUEEN’S PK .... 2 AIRDRIE .... 0
It was a case of mission accomplished for Callum Davidson as Queen’s Park finally staved off the threat of relegation with a nervy but deserved win.
ruari Paton’s 22nd goal of the season gave the Spiders a half-time lead against play-off bound Airdrieonians.
And they overcame some shaky periods after the break before Liam McLeish scored to save the club from the relegation play-off spot.
Queen’s were a rudderless ship when Davidson replaced robin Veldman in January but he has steered them back on course.
He said: “I was a bit nervous in the second half because I knew Inverness were winning. We missed a couple of chances to get the second goal and I started to wonder if it would be one of those nights. “But young Liam came on and got his goal so we could enjoy it in the end. I’m really pleased.
“It was a big task when I first came into the club but we have managed to mix a bit of experience with youth to make sure we stayed up. I can enjoy my summer now.”
Queen’s made a nervy start and Airdrie were first to threaten when skipper Adam Frizzell played a neat one-two with Calum Gallagher to cut open the home defence.
Fortunately for Davidson, keeper Calum Ferrie was alert to the danger to smother the ball at Frizzell’s feet.
That sparked the Spiders into action and when Cillian Sheridan pulled the ball back across the six-yard box Paton just couldn’t connect cleanly enough.
Sheridan tried his luck with a shot in 16 minutes but his effort flew narrowly over.
It was a good spell for Queen’s and Paton struck 10 minutes later. Sheridan pounced on some slack play by Airdrie and slipped a pass to his strike pal who curled a right-foot shot around robbie Hemfrey.
He thought he’d doubled the lead three minutes into the second half but his shot was diverted wide by a Cammy Ballantyne block. It was Hemfrey’s turn to deny Paton next when the keeper made a brave save at the striker’s feet.
With news coming through that Inverness were leading Morton, the tension heightened and Frizzell came close to a leveller.
There was a blow for Queen’s when skipper Dom Thomas was forced to limp off. They started to back off and sit deep and Airdrie were further lifted by a quadruple change from rhys McCabe.
The home fans had their hearts in their mouths when Ferrie could only parry a shot from Lewis McGregor into Josh o’Connor’s path but the keeper reacted well to complete a double save.
The nerves were finally eased seven minutes later when substitute McLeish made sure of safety.
receiving a pass from Jack Turner he steadied himself and rifled a superb right-foot shot past Hemfrey.
Airdrie assistant Callum Fordyce said: “We took the opportunity to rest some players to give minutes to others ahead of the play-offs.
“We are going to need the full squad for those games.
“We never like to lose any game but we know what the bigger picture is.”