Ian McCall's men were then reduced to ten men on the 21st minute when Jimmy Gibson was dismissed for a two footed lunge on Stuart Kettlewell. The rest of the first period was poor, but both Mark Ferry and Paul Paton had opportunities to double Queen's lead. Gary Harkins almost levelled for Thistle when he headed ex Spiders man Simon Donnelly's header over the bar from close range.
With seconds left in the half, Canning was unleashed one-on-one with Hinchcliffe but his second touch was heavy and the ball spun away and out for a goal kick. The second half started with two changes in the Queen's ranks, Paul Ronald was replaced by Richard Bowers and Mark Cairns by Alexander Cowie, who despite being a member of the Queen's first team squad since January 2005 was making his Hampden debut.
Thistle could have had a penalty when Cowie seemed to impede Alan Archibald after spilling a high ball but O'Reilly gave a corner kick instead to the relief of everyone in black and white, and after that there was limited action in the match.
Bowers, Trouten and another sub Shaun Molloy all had chances for Queen's while Thistle came close with McStay and Chaplain but Queen's saw out the game with miminal fuss to secure a fantastic 1-0 victory.
QUEEN'S PARK: Mark Cairns (Alex Cowie), Paul Paton, Mick Dunlop, Richard Sinclair, Damiano Agostini, Alan Trouten (Trialist), Stuart Kettlewell, Paul Cairney (Tony Quinn), Paul Ronald (Richard Bowers), Stephen Canning, Mark Ferry (Shaun Molloy)
GOALSCORER: Stephen Canning (14)
REFEREE: Steven O'Reilly
MAN OF THE MATCH: Stephen Canning