The 2011 Scottish Challenge Cup final was played between Queen of the South and Ross County at McDiarmid Park, Perth. Ross County won 2–0. The game had been postponed from November to April due to inclement weather.^[1]

Queen of the South beat Peterhead 2–1 in their semi-final^[2] and Ross County beat Partick Thistle 4–3 on penalties after their semi-final ended at 2–2.^[3]

Queen of the South have appeared in the final twice before, winning the 2002 final 2–0 against Brechin City, but losing the 1997 final 1–0 to Falkirk. Ross County have appeared in three Challenge Cup finals to date, defeating Clyde on penalties in the 2006 final^[4] but losing the 2004 final to Falkirk,^[5] and the 2008 final to Airdrie United on penalties.^[6]

Both teams have recently appeared in the Scottish Cup final. Queens were beaten 3–2 in 2008 Scottish Cup final by Rangers. County were beaten 3–0 by Dundee United two years later in the 2010 Scottish Cup final.

The game was originally scheduled to be played on 28 November 2010. However the game was postponed at noon the day before the game after consultation with police voicing concerns over weather conditions particularly on the A9.^[7] Due to the Scottish football referee strike, the original fixture was scheduled to be officiated by foreign officials. The revised final date was 10 April 2011.^[8]

The match was televised live on BBC Alba.

The game was played in unseasonally warm conditions with bright sunshine and a good natured atmosphere generated by both sets of fans. An early goal gave County a dream start but it was a nightmare for Queens and in particular goalkeeper David Hutton. Asked to deal with a routine passback by Queens captain David Lilley, a combination or poor decision making and poor ball control on Hutton's part allowed Andrew Barrowman to exert pressure and dispossess him. Barrowman easily rolled the ball into the empty net from one yard in the eighth minute to make the score 1–0 against his former club.^[9]

Queens only exerted pressure in the five-minute period leading up to County's second goal when they forced goalmouth scrambles. However, a swift County counterattack led to a ball from the right wing, with Iain Vigurs scoring from close range in 39 minutes to make it 2–0.^[9]

County were deserved winners without having to exert themselves against a Queens side who were easily second best in all departments and short of ideas other than aiming long balls at Derek Holmes.^[9]

10 April 2011

15:00

Queen of the South	0 – 2	Ross County
	Report	Barrowman 9' Vigurs 39'

McDiarmid Park, Perth

Attendance: 5,124

Referee: Euan Norris

Queen of the South

Ross County

QUEEN OF THE SOUTH: GK 1 David Hutton CB 2 Craig Reid LM 3 Bob Harris CB 4 Ryan McGuffie CB 5 David Lilley CM 6 Stephen McKenna RM 7 Daniel Carmichael  72' CM 8 Paul Burns CF 9 Derek Holmes CM 10 Allan Johnston CF 11 Willie McLaren Substitutes: GK 12 Roddy McKenzie MF 14 Ian McShane DF 15 Steven Black FW 16 Steven Degnan  72' FW 17 Ryan Smylie Manager: Kenny Brannigan

ROSS COUNTY: GK 1 Michael McGovern RB 2 Gary Miller LB 3 Marc Fitzpatrick LM 4 Paul Lawson  90' CB 5 Scott Boyd CB 6 Johnny Flynn RM 7 Michael Gardyne  87' CM 8 Stuart Kettlewell CF 9 Andrew Barrowman  90' CM 10 Richard Brittain (c) CF 11 Iain Vigurs Substitutes: FW 12 Steven Milne  87' FW 14 Gary Wood  90' FW 15 Steven Craig DF 16 Scott Morrison  90' GK 18 Joe Malin Manager: Jimmy Calderwood