Ben Wilson made it four goals in his last three games as he netted twice from the penalty spot to earn the Diamonds an impressive victory over Queen’s Park.

There was one change to the Airdrie starting line-up which beat Dunfermline Athletic 3-0 last weekend, loanee Ricco Diack replacing Chris Mochrie after the in-form midfielder had come down with a flu bug.

Visitors Queen’s Park had already registered two 2-0 wins over the Diamonds this season, although neither match was without refereeing controversy, Wilson seeing a perfectly good goal disallowed in the August meeting before the Spiders opened the scoring with the aid of a handball at Hampden in December.

Callum Davidson’s side almost got off to the ideal start when a second-minute Seb Drozd effort beat Kieran Wright, but Craig Watson got back to clear off the line.

A period of Airdrie dominance followed, with Calum Ferrie denying Wilson with a fine fingertip save after Lewis McGrattan had released the Airdrie striker to curl in a netbound effort.

On seven minutes Lewis Strapp found himself in the centre-forward position, beating Ferrie to a long ball and chipping the keeper, but a deflection took the effort wide.

It was to be Strapp’s last involvement in the match as the recent signing left the pitch with a dislocated shoulder after 16 minutes.

Dean McMaster went close with a 19th-minute strike from range, and McGrattan curled just wide a minute later.

Ferrie clutched a Gavin Gallagher corner which looked set to sneak in under the bar on 24 minutes, with Sam Graham standing strong at the other end as Jack Turner released Drozd.

Wilson’s 28th-minute penalty appeals went unrewarded after Gallagher and McGrattan had linked well in the box, and substitute Flynn Duffy made the first of a number of excellent blocks as Queens countered.

Wright held a Nikola Ujdur header on 33 minutes, with Duffy denying Zak Rudden five minutes later.

McMaster sent a volley wide of the target with three minutes of the first half remaining, and when Ferrie raced out to head an Adam Frizzell pass away from Gallagher on 44 minutes, it looked like the sides would go in level at the break.

That wasn’t to be the case as a short corner was lofted into the box by Gallagher, and two visiting defenders attempted to block with the ball striking a hand. How much the perpetrator knew about the incident was questionable, but that was of no concern to Wilson, who remained calm and smashed the ball down the middle as Ferrie dived to his left.

Diack came close to doubling the Diamonds’ lead seven minutes after the restart, but a combination of Ferrie and a scrambling defender managed to block his headed effort on the goal-line.

Drozd had another run at goal three minutes later, but again there was no way past the colossal figure of Graham.

Just before the hour mark Queen’s Park levelled the tie, new loan signing Adam Devine cutting in and seeing space open up for him to thread a pass to Josh Scott, who slammed beyond Wright despite the Airdrie calls for an offside flag.

The Diamonds wasted no time in retaliating, and McGrattan was unlucky with a powerful effort from the edge of the box on 63 minutes.

Two minutes later Airdrie had another penalty, an excellent run and cross from Duffy allowing Wilson to flick the ball up, with Ujdur raising a hand to block. Referee Iain Snedded showed no hesitation in pointing to the spot a second time, and although Ferrie guessed right this time, there was no stopping Wilson’s powerful effort which saw the Northern Irishman bag his 12th goal of the season.

McMaster scooped over after a good cutback from substitute Mochrie on 73 minutes, with a flurry of bookings and substitutions then taking the sting out of the game.

The visitors launched a late assault on the Airdrie goal which almost saw substitute Lewis McGregor net a third for Airdrie, but after rounding the keeper he was unable to squeeze home from an extremely tight angle.

Duffy and Graham continued to tackle everything that came their way, and a late penalty claim for a high boot in the Airdrie box was denied. The Spiders vehement protestations led to second yellow cards, and the inevitable reds, for debutant Devine and manager Davidson.

The final whistle called time on a frantic end to the match, and Airdrie were able to celebrate a third successive win before a break from league duty for next weekend’s Scottish Gas Men’s Scottish Cup fifth-round tie at Dundee.