Airdrie will take a 1-1 draw into the second leg of their Championship play-off semi-final against Queen's Park after a battling match with the Spiders.
A drab first half played out at Firhill as both sides looked to combat the effects of a bobbly pitch in Maryhill.
Simon Murray livened things up in the second half for Owen Coyle's hosts, first having a shot cleared off the line and then dispatching an effort into the bottom corner moments later.
It rattled the Diamonds but it mattered not as with five minutes remaining, Jonathan Afolabi won a penalty for his team, and Rhys McCabe finished perfectly in a big boost for the away side.
It's firmly in the balance heading into Sunday's second leg at the Penny Cars Stadium, where manager Ian Murray will look to guide his team back to Scotland's second tier for the first time since 2013.
Both of these teams headed into this one off the back of outstanding results. Queen's had managed to dump Dunfermline into the third tier while Airdrie completed an almighty comeback against Montrose to prevail 6-5 on aggregate in their semi-final.
Partick Thistle's Firhill pitch has come under scrutiny this season and its surface problems well-documented amid a groundshare with the Spiders. It showed no signs of getting much better.
While looking healthier on the exterior, it didn't take long for the turf to cut up and the ball to bobble, although both teams did try to play a passing game. Not that it was all too successful.
Luca Connell had the first opening for the home side on four minutes but away goalkeeper Max Currie beat his shot down and gathered at the second attempt.
Calum Gallagher responded with a chance of his own on eight minutes but his effort off an Adam Frizzell cross was high and just wide of the post.
Jai Quitongo was up next to register an effort but the Queen's star was penalised for a foul in the box on 16 minutes, with McCabe stopping another one of their attacks seven minutes later.
The former Rangers man sailed a free-kick over the bar on the half-hour mark and it was clear that a moment of magic or a set-piece looked likeliest to break the deadlock as half-time loomed.
Murray's booking for an argument with referee Gavin Duncan before the whistle being one of the half's more amusing moments just about summed up the opening 45 minutes.
Airdrie had finished second and 21 points above Queen's in fourth during the League One term and were favourites for this, yet a clear attacking chance was evading them.
Diamonds legend Coyle doesn't officially start his new job as Spiders boss until June but it was him barking the orders that were keeping Murray's men at bay.
Adam Frizzell flashed a ball across the home box on 48 minutes in one opening but Gabby McGill couldn't get near enough to have a dig at goal.
Frizzell then had to work at the back on the hour-mark as a dangerous Murray cross threatened to cause bother, before the striker's shot from the following corner was even closer and hooked off the line.
Eventually he would not be denied as he got a clear sight of goal and finished calmly beyond Currie to hand Queen's a precious lead on 64 minutes. It rattled Airdrie who struggled to get back into the game.
Fans had chanted for Celtic loanee Afolabi to come off the bench and when he did, his impact was massive. He darted through on goal and was sent up in the air by Ferrie, Duncan pointing to the spot.
McCabe stepped up and slotted into the bottom corner five minutes from time, sending the away end wild. It's a big moment that swings the tie back in in the favour of Airdrie ahead of their second leg this Sunday.
Queen’s Park XI: Ferrie, Davidson, Robson, Grant, Lyon, Quitongo (Longridge, 58), Fox, Murray, Doyle, Smith, Connell.
Subs: Kilday, McHugh, Brown, Heraghty, Thomson, Longstaff, McBride, Darcy.
Booked: Connell.
Airdrie XI: Currie, Paterson, Fordyce, McCabe, Agnew, Gallagher (Afolabi, 67), Easton, Smith, Watson, Frizzell, G McGill (S McGill, 58).
Subs: Cantley, Kerr, Allan, McDonald, Walker, MacDonald, Devenny.
Booked: Paterson.
Referee: Gavin Duncan.
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