WHAT A TOMBACK
Skipper caps recovery to snatch point
Ian Campbell hailed battling Arbroath’s f ightback that earned a point – but insisted they should have taken all three.
Two goals in six minutes from Connor Shields put Queens in charge early in the second half.
But Scott Stewart and Thomas O’Brien hit back for the visitors.
Arbroath No.2 Campbell said: “I thought we shot ourselves in the foot when Queens got two well-taken goals – but that’s been the story of the season for us.
“We play well but make mistakes. But thereafter I thought we were tremendous and showed a good fighting spirit.
“When we went up the park we always looked dangerous and should have taken more than a draw out of the game.
“We showed that we are still a force to be reckoned with.”
Ref Steven Reid waved away ear ly Arbroath penalty appeals when James Craigen was sent flying by Gregor Buchanan.
Then at the other end an Ayo Obileye header looked to hit Red Lichties defender Colin Hamilton on the arm but Reid said no to the spotkick pleas again.
Queens snatched the lead just 11 seconds into the second half .
Aidan Fitzpatrick burst down the left and his low cross gave Shields the easiest of tasks to tap home from a couple of yards.
Shields scored a belter in 52 minutes to double the lead. Fitzpatrick was again the archi tect w ith a delicious ball down the left, with Shields charging into the box before rif ling an explosive near- post shot into the roof of the net.
Fitzpatrick raced clear on the left moments later but his low curling shot from 12 yards was blocked by keeper Derek Gaston. Arbroath sub Stewart pulled a goal back in 63 minutes after pouncing on indecision by Rhys McCabe and James Maxwell to drill a shot from the edge of the box on the right just inside the left-hand post.
And two minutes later Bobby Linn’s corner fell to skipper O’Brien, who powered home a closerange header for a shock equaliser.
Sub Stephen Dobbie screwed a 10- yard shot across goal as Queens pushed for a dramatic winner in the last minute.
Palmerston chief Allan Johnston said: “It was awfully frustrating,
“When you are 2-0 up you should see the game out but we lost sloppy goals.
“Connor is on fire just now, he is a nightmare for defenders to play against with his pace and energy.”