Airdrie came out on top of a stop-start battle with Queen of the South, with Gavin Gallagher and Matty Yates grabbing the goals in a 2-0 Diamonds win.

Head coach John Rankin went with the same side which won 3-2 late on at Alloa Athletic last weekend, but there were welcome returns to the bench for midfielders Cole McKinnon and Ewan Simpson.

In-form striker Connor Young led the line for the Doonhamers, who listed player-manager Nicky Clark among the substitutes.

Lewis Gibson was first to threaten against his old side, winning an early corner with a dangerous looping cross before Craig Ross had to stand strong to see off the danger of Queens midfielder Liam Smith.

Gibson’s ninth-minute penalty claims were waved away as he went down chasing a Josh Gentles flick. The visitors almost took advantage on the break, but Young’s strike was well blocked.

The Dumfries side were beginning to get a foothold in the game, and were denied by a goal-line block following a headed effort from a corner kick, with Taylor Charters then seeing a decent strike deflected over.

Play was allowed to continue after a bad tackle on Dylan MacDonald on 18 minutes, with Caleb Goldie’s ball across goal failing to find a scoring touch.

A minute later Gibson was harshly booked for a “high” boot as a Queen’s defender stopped to head a knee-high ball.

Queens had their own penalty claims turned down on 27 minutes following a somewhat theatrical dive just inside the box, and as play continued it took a strong hand from Kieran Wright to turn an angled strike over the bar.

Liam Smith went close after a jinking run on 34 minutes, with Yates hooking his shot wide of the top corner five minutes later.

With 40 minutes played the Diamonds took the lead having barely threatened Deniz Mehmet’s goal, a nice Yates pass finding Gentles, who slipped in Gavin Gallagher to shoot. Although the initial effort was blocked by the legs of Mehmet, Airdrie’s top scorer had the instincts to stick out a leg and divert the rebound goalward, with the ball eventually trundling over the line.

Gibson came close to adding an immediate second as he sprung the offside trap to bear down on goal, but this time Mehmet was able to hold the former Doonhamer’s low strike.

Airdrie started the second half on the hunt for a quick second, and Gallagher drew another save from Queens’ Turkish goalkeeper a minute after the restart.

Sam Fisher played Gentles in for a 54th-minute effort which Mehmet was equal to, but the keeper’s next action was to pick the ball out of the net as the resultant corner fell to Yates via deflections from Gentles and a defender, and the former Stenhousemuir forward tucked the close-range chance away.

With the visitors reeling again, Gentles was inches away from connecting with a low Gibson cross before the game descended into a scrappy period of fouls, bookings and substitutions.

Shaun Want got the vital touch as Gentles looked set to shoot on 67 minutes, with MacDonald and Ross working well together at the other end three minutes later as Queen of the South attacked down their right.

Robbie Mahon looked to make an impact from the bench again, but his 75th-minute strike was tame and Mehmet gathered easily.

The wide man was fortunate not to be badly injured after a horrendous tackle on the bye-line five minutes later, with referee Gary Hanvidge astonishingly failing to award a foul.

A late rally from Doonhamers found the home defence at their organised best, and when the visitors did eventually get a sight of goal two minutes into stoppage time, Clark’s free-kick was palmed away by Wright.

While not the most aesthetically pleasing, the win and clean sheet were welcome ones which see the Diamonds move within a point of fourth-placed Montrose.

Three away days follow for Airdrie, with a trip to East Fife next weekend before cup ties at Arbroath and Musselburgh.