Spartans travelled to Palmerston Park to take on Ramsdens Cup holder Queen Of The South on Saturday.

Both sides started brightly and it didn’t take long for Queens to start piling on the pressure and they were rewarded in the tenth minute when a corner was whipped in and wasn’t cleared and this allowed Stephen McKenna to head how from close range.

Jack Beacher then gave away a free kick on the edge of the box and the cross ball was left by the Spartans players and Derek Lyle nipped in and scored from close range.

McKenna got his second of the afternoon when Spartans again failed to deal with a cross and McKenna headed the ball into the net.

Spartans started the second half well and were beginning to take control of the game, however, they were dealt a sucker punch when a wild cross was whipped into the Spartans box and Kevin Holt out jumped the defence and his powerful header left the keeper with no chance.

After the game Spartans manager Dougie Samuel was upbeat and he said “We will take lots of positives from this game, it was a really hard match for us and I was disappointed that we lost three goals from crosses. We will be working hard over the next few weeks to ensure we are ready for the season starting on the 10th August”.