Queen of the South assistant Sandy Clark believes their 3-0 hammering of Ayr United was the best performance of the season for the Doonhamers.

The home side were dominant from start to finish whilst the visitors were stunned by the onslaught of chances created by Queens.

Clark said: “I’m delighted as this was our best result of the season so far. It was really pleasing to score three goals; it could’ve been more and a clean sheet is even more pleasing.

“Every single player in the team did their job well. We have been playing well recently but not getting the results.”

It was a frantic start at Palmerston and the hosts really should have been ahead inside three minutes when Calvin Mcgrory rifled a long-range effort that crashed against the bar.

Queens went ahead three minutes later when Euan East fired a first-time volley from 12 yards into the bottom corner.

Ayr looked rattled and were even aggrieved when referee David Munro ruled out a Tomi Adeloye strike. The forward appeared to be onside and was furious with the man in the middle’s decision.

Queens were next to question the ref when Innes Cameron thought his close-range header crossed the line but Munro wasn’t interested.

Cameron did get on the scoresheet on the half hour mark when he nodded past a rooted Aidan Mcadams.

Queens were in dreamland two minutes after restart when Ruari Paton slipped in Josh Todd, who slotted under the keeper.

And the Doonhamers really should’ve added to their tally on the hour but Cameron somehow curled a delicious shot wide of the right-hand post.

It was an awful afternoon for the Honest Men. Cameron Salkeld nearly brightened up their day, only for his long-range shot to bounce off the bar.

A frustrated Ayr boss Jim Duffy said: “We weren’t good enough from start to finish. There is no disguising that Queens were the better team and had more appetite for the game. I thought they deserved to win.”