Queens victorious in epic semi

Aberdeen 3
Considine 35, 58; Nicholson 52
FOOTBALL at its most fantastical. And farcical. And fabulous. It has taken Queen of the South all of 89 years to reach their first Scottish Cup final, 32 years to beat a top-flight side.

But after the second half the First Division side served up, underpinned by some of the most slapstick defending witnessed at Hampden as 12 minutes produced five goals, their followers might consider all this waiting worth it.

Gordon Chisholm's side had their lead pegged back three times but they came roaring back as Sean O'Connor and substitute John Stewart, the match-winner who began his career at Aberdeen, tore a tissue-paper opposing backline to shreds. The almighty din that the Dumfries club's 11,000 devotees created at the end, as 70-year-old chairman David Rae cavorted on the pitch with his players, was more ear-piercing than many crowds three times their number have created at Hampden.

"To see the joy on the face of the chairman was just a delight. It is history in the making," Chisholm beamed afterwards. "It has taken 58 years for the club to reach a second Scottish Cup semi-final, and now we are coming back to Hampden next month. I don't think I will ever top this achievement, although if we won the final that would. Just to think that this club is one that has tended to be languishing at the foot of the First Division or in the Second Division and now we have come this far in our first season of full-time football."

Yet, full-time for Queens does not appear to cover contesting the Scottish Cup final. "I think most of my players are out of contract on May 15. That is the reality," Chisholm said. "They are all saying to me 'gaffer, can I have an extension' but we will be all right. We will have four weeks without a game before the final (the First Division concludes on April 26] and we will have to sit down and look at that."

Queens will be back at Hampden on May 24 where their cup final opponents will be the winner of next weekend's semi-final, with St Johnstone waiting to play the winner of today's Partick Thistle v Rangers quarter-final replay. If Rangers were to progress, the Dumfries team would be assured of a place in next season's UEFA Cup.

In a season wherein Aberdeen have been consistently inconsistent, yesterday it looked as if they had left their game head at Pittodrie. Yet, it is hardly untypical that when an unreliable top flight side burdened by expectation face First Division opponents able to play without fear, the latter will settle quicker. The 22nd minute opening goal was reward for Queens' greater purpose and poise. And, in being the product of a defensive lapse, it was a harbinger of what was to come.

Goalkeeper Derek Soutar should have done better than flap at a Ryan McCann free-kick. But when he didn't, Andy Aitken was able to touch the ball back for Steve Tosh to cooly smash a side-footed effort high into the net. Calderwood's side took an age to administer themselves a metaphorical boot up the back side. It wasn't until they started using their pace on the flanks that they began to create problems for the backline at Hampden yesterday that – get this – was supposed be vulnerable. Certainly, Andrew Considine was able to easily rise above Jim Thomson and power in a ball nodded across goal by Scott Severin for Aberdeen's 35th-minute equaliser.

That was supposed to be that. With Queens having to send on Stewart only minutes before half time, the result of losing the craft and potency of top scorer Stephen Dobbie to injury, the general consensus was that Queens' best hopes of an upset had passed, and that the big team would recover from their scare to close out a brave final bid from lesser opponents. It proved not so much a case that no-one told that to Chisholm's men, so much as no-one told those Aberdeen players charged with preventing their opponents scoring.

It was wonderfully enjoyable as the question was begged in the second period: 'Defences, who needs defences?' And the answer came back: 'The two teams patrolling the Hampden turf'. On 48 minutes, O'Connor drove down the right flank and squared it inside, where Paul Burns, despite the three red jerseys within his vicinity, could not be stopped firing a shot past the helpless Soutar. Within three minutes, the scores were tied. Chris Maguire crossed from the left and Lee Miller forced a smart save from keeper Jamie MacDonald, only for Barry Nicholson to drill in the follow up.

Amazingly, after what seemed only seconds, Queens regained the lead. Stewart hoisted a ball forward that Considine failed to cut out, allowing O'Connor to bring the ball down, cut inside Zander Diamond, and plant an effort low into the corner of the net. The response from Aberdeen was instant. A Miller flick on from Nicholson centre in from the right allowed Considine, in acres of space, to make amends for his defensive shortcomings by heading past MacDonald from 12 yards.

"It could have been 6-4 or 7-5 and must have been a great game to watch," Chisholm said afterwards. It transpired to be a 4-3 win for his side when, on the hour mark McCann sent in a cross that Thomson flicked on and Stewart buried at the back post.

Calderwood, who sacrificed full-backs Jackie McNamara and Alan Maybury as he sought to end the to-and-fro, suffered the agonies of Diamond twice having efforts that struck the woodwork within seconds of the 70-minute mark and also penalty claims, involving Sone Aluko and Maguire, rightly rejected by referee Kenny Clark.

Queens clung on at the death, four minutes of added time included, but when the final whistle sounded, they could only glory in how good it felt to be alive.

Taken from the Scotsman