History repeated itself as Aberdeen were forced to settle for a draw against a spirited Queens side that thoroughly deserved their draw.

The last time the two teams met in the competition was 50 years ago when the scoreline was 3-3 at Palmerston, with the Dumfries men winning the replay 2-1 at Pittodrie.

With veteran keeper Andy Goram fit after a bout of flu and taking his place for his 750th competitive club match, Queens started with a burst of enthusiasm and could have taken the lead in the opening minute when McLaughlin shot high over from just 10 yards.

It was end-to-end stuff in the opening minutes, with Queens showing they were in no way overawed by their Premier League opponents.

John O'Neill had to go off for attention for five minutes after a head clash with Russell Anderson, who was able to resume.

But the Dons had a chance to break the deadlock on the 10-minute mark when a cross from Kevin Rutkiewicz beat the Dumfries defenders and left Laurent D'Jaffo with a clear header on goal, but he put the ball over the bar.

Then Kevin McNaughton shot over the bar with the Queens defence at sixes and sevens.

Aberdeen were beginning to show that little extra pace which left the part-timers occasionally stretched.

But Eric Paton gave David Preece a fright with a 20-yard shot which just went outside the post.

Referee Eric Martindale produced his first yellow card when Brian McColligan felled Steve Tosh with a wild tackle.

The first real save of the match came after 26 minutes when Goram had to dive to smother a short from Chris Clark.

Aberdeen made a good break on the resumption and a cross beat Jim Thomson but D'Jaffo headed straight into the arms of Goram.

Whatever Steve Paterson told his players in the dressing room it showed with more determination as they homed in on Queens' goal and Clark pulled out a save from Goram.

The Dons were upping the pressure and a run down the wing by Darren Mackie saw his cross put behind for a corner before it could reach Clark.

Manager John Connolly tried to put more punch into his attack to relieve the pressure and brought on striker Sean O'Connor for McColligan, and it made an immediate difference as a mazy run by O'Connor created a moment of panic in the Dons rearguard.

O'Connor then had a chance when O'Neill caught the Dons off-guard with a pass out to the right and O'Connor raced through but Preece was able to gather.

Then Peter Weatherson had the fans on their feet with a 30-yard drive that saw Preece fly across his goal to turn round the post.

The Dons came within a hair's breadth of taking the lead when Steve Posh rifled in a shot from 25 yards which just zipped past the post.

Again the Dons were unlucky when Clark tricked his marker to send in an inswinging cross - beating all the Dumfries defenders - to reach substitute Leon Mike and his header left Goram well beaten but missed the target.

Teams:

Queen of South: Goram, Renicks, Aitken, Thomson, Anderson, McColligan (O'Connor 62), O'Neill, Bowey, Paton, Weatherson, McLaughlin.

Subs Not Used: McAlpine, Lyle, Gray, Scott.

Booked: McColligan, Bowey.

Aberdeen: Preece, Anderson, McGuire, Rutkiewicz, McNaughton (Sheerin 41), Tosh, Derek Young, Clark, McAllister (O'Donoghue 82), Mackie, D'Jaffo (Mike 73).

Subs Not Used: Kjaer, Michie.

Booked: McAllister.

Att: 5,716

Ref: E Martindale (Scotland).