In a contest between two of League One’s title-hopefuls, Cove Rangers and Queen’s Park left little out on the field.
Six goals and a sending off ensured the paying public were treated to an exhibition of enthralling from two of the division’s premier outfits.
Cove should have been well clear after a dominant first half. Rory McAllister had put them in front and Mitch Megginson, Jamie Masson and Morgyn Neill had all gone close.
Two goals in five minutes turned the game on its head, with Bob McHugh and Louis Longridge finding the net from Queens’ rare forays forward.
Megginson restored parity and a Stuart Morrison own-goal turned the game in Cove’s favour again, before Simon Murray saw red.
But in the closing stages Cove were undone by a set-piece again, as Michael Doyle headed in to ensure the Spiders took a share of the spoils.
“It was a really good game with lots of attacking football,” said Cove manager Paul Hartley. “It was really open and I thought we were terrific in the first half.
“We should have scored more goals and then just switched off for a couple of key moments before half-time. We regrouped and managed to get the equaliser and the third goal.
“They went down to 10 men and then we didn’t do our jobs (for their third goal). But some of our stuff was outstanding.
“It was a great advert for League One. I do believe this league will come down to the last game of the season because of the quality of the teams.”
A feature of Cove’s play in the first-half in particular was their ability to win the ball high up the park, with their front four effective in forcing Queens into mistakes.
McAllister found the net early after Megginson laid it off to him but after Cove failed to clear a corner, McHugh levelled.
McHugh turned provider for the second after his shot crashed off the post and Longridge converted the rebound.
Momentum turned in the hosts favour when Murray was sent off for clattering into Harry Milne, with Megginson’s header shortly after levelling the game.
Morrison then inadvertently turned Blair Yule’s looping cross into his own net with McAllister lurking, only for Doyle to head in to make it 3-3.
“They knew they were in a game,” added Hartley. “We know we’re strong here and have got a lot of quality in the team. We showed it.
“We were excellent in that first period, with how we controlled the ball and moved it.
“If you switch off or don’t do the basics well you can get punished though. They didn’t have many attacks in the first period and we controlled the final third.
“We wanted to go with a high-press and be aggressive in our play and we worked on it during the week. We managed to do that but sometimes you can’t do that for the full game.”
There may be a little concern over the fitness of Connor Scully and Shay Logan, both of whom had to come off in the second half.
“The two full-backs picked up knocks and we had to rejig again,” said Hartley. “It was a hard-fought game and there were a lot of tackles flying in.”