Partick Thistle Youth (U-18s) Season 2024-25
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| 2024-25 (Youth - Under 18s) |
| The first full season under the 'Partick Thistle Youth Academy' name |
| scorers in CAPS • used subs in brackets | |
| 1. Fri-12-Jul-2024 [a] D1-1 Falkirk (Friendly) |
| – 7.00pm, Falkirk Stadium. LOW. |
| 2. Mon-15-Jul-2024 [a] W3-0 Moville Celtic (Foyle Cup U-17 Group B - game 1) |
| – 7.00pm, Bay Field, Moville. A hybrid of 16s & 18s (mostly the latter) represented Thistle in this U-17 tournament. 2 x 35s. LOCKHART, ROONEY, MacKAY. |
| 3. Tue-16-Jul-2024 [n] W6-0 Lisnaskea Rovers (Foyle Cup U-17 Group B - game 2) |
| – 7.00pm, Strabane Melvin 3G. 2 x 35s. GAUGHAN (2), BRAID (2, 1 pen), LOCKHART, DOLAN. |
| 4. Wed-17-Jul-2024 [n] W1-0 Don Boscos (Foyle Cup U-17 Group B - game 3) |
| – 7.00pm, Shared Village, Derry. 2 x 35s. GAUGHAN. |
| 5. Thu-18-Jul-2024 [n] W3-0 Inishowen Youth League (Foyle Cup U-17 Semi Final) |
| – 7.00pm, Prehen 3, Derry. 2 x 35s. MacKAY (2), GAUGHAN. |
| 6. Fri-19-Jul-2024 [n] W*0-0 T6 Football Academy (Foyle Cup U-17 Final) |
| – 7.00pm, Brandywell Stadium. 2 x 35s. T6 Football Academy are in partnership with Middlesbrough FC. * Jags won 8-7 in the penalty shoot-out. |
| – After a hard-fought nil nil stalemate, the final was decided on penalty kicks. It was a high-quality shoot-out and Thistle were on the brink of defeat when Luis Cameron saved at 3-4 to keep the Jags alive and it went to sudden death. Another save at 7-7 gave Liam Rooney the chance to win it for Thistle and he slotted home, sparking scenes of great celebration! |
| 7. Fri-02-Aug-2024 [a] W2-1 Ayr United (CAS Performance U-18s League - game 1) |
| – 4.00pm, Townhead Park. TRIALIST (2). |
| 8. Tue-06-Aug-2024 [a] W3-1 Kilmarnock (Friendly) |
| – 7.00pm, Rugby Park. LOCKHART, MacKAY, GAUGHAN. |
| 9. Fri-09-Aug-2024 [a] L1-3 Queen's Park (Friendly) |
| – 3.00pm, Lochinch Sports Complex. FALCONER. |
| 10. Fri-16-Aug-2024 [a] W4-0 Rangers (Friendly) |
| – 6.00pm, Auchenhowie. As Scottish Cup Quarter Finalists last time out, both sides had a first round bye and so organised this friendly. GAUGHAN, LOW, FALCONER, LOCKHART. |
| – A strong and relentless performance that, in all honesty could have been an even larger scoreline. Rangers had 2-3 trialists in their side and looked disjointed and struggled to live with the high press from the Thistle front line. Two excellent saves from Storey, one in each half, ensured a well-deserved clean sheet for the Thistle defence. |
| 11. Wed-28-Aug-2024 [a] W8-3 Alloa Athletic (CAS U-18 League Cup South/West Group - game 1) |
| – 8.00pm, Recreation Park. FALCONER (3), MacKAY (3), GAUGHAN, CAMPBELL. |
| – 4 goals in each half mean that this result was never in much doubt, and if any matchday nerves were in play, they disappeared after Chrissy Mackay scored after just 18 seconds. Matty Falconer rounded off an excellent performance in midfield with a hat-trick completed within an hour, and Mackay closed out his own hat trick 10 minutes later. Gaughan also on the scoresheet and a first competitive U18s goal for Rudi Campbell, playing up from the U-16s. |
| 12. Fri-06-Sep-2024 [a] L2-4 Airdrieonians (CAS U-18 League Cup South/West Group - game 2) |
| – 6.00pm, Excelsior Stadium. MacKAY (2, 1 pen). |
| – A fairly lacklustre performance from a Thistle side who have been flying. They found themselves behind early in the first half after a mix-up at the back gave the Airdrie front line the chance to press home an advantage. 2 goals from MacKay in fairly quick succession (the 2nd being a penalty won after Falconer drove into the box) meant that Thistle went into the break 2-1 ahead. Second half saw Airdrie grab two equally quick-fire goals in the first five minutes, and extend their lead with 15 to go. |
| 13. Fri-13-Sep-2024 [a] D2-2 Inverness Caledonian Thistle (CAS Performance U-18s League - game 2) |
| – 2.00pm, Highland Football Academy. This was the rearranged fixture after a postponement two weeks prior. DOCHERTY, ROONEY. |
| – Thistle had plenty of possession in the first half and pressed hard for a goal of their own, before falling behind to an Inverness strike not too long before half time; 1-0 at the break and Thistle with the work to do. The task became greater on the hour mark when Inverness scored a good second after breaking down the right hand side. Docherty scored the first of Thistle’s goals and, only minutes later, Rooney added the second to draw the match level. Both sides had further chances to win it, but had to settle for a share of the spoils. |
| 14. Fri-20-Sep-2024 [a] W4-0 Dunfermline Athletic (CAS Performance U-18s League - game 3) |
| – 7.30pm, Dunfermline Training Centre. MacKAY, OG, FALCONER (2, 1 pen). Scheduled as Thistle's home fixture, but switched to Rosyth. Presumably, we'll play the reverse later in the season at the refurbished Petershill, which is yet to have the upgraded/replaced floodlights installed. |
| – An absolutely dominant display in the first half, but less impressive was the narrow 1-0 lead taken into half-time. The Dunfermline goalkeeper made 3-4 excellent saves in the half, but couldn’t keep MacKay out after 30 mins, following a flowing move down the right, and an excellent cross from Rooney. Dunfermline came out for the second half with much more intent, and a frenetic 45 minutes saw several good chances for the home side before a Lockhart corner was turned into the Dunfermline net to give Thistle a second around 70 mins. In the last 20, a Falconer penalty and another from inside the box closed the game out 4-0 in favour of the visitors. |
| 15. Fri-27-Sep-2024 [a] W4-3 St Johnstone (CAS Performance U-18s League - game 4) |
| – 2.00pm, McDiarmid Park. MacKAY (2, 1 pen), WADDELL, DOCHERTY. 5 months without a home game, but on away form like this, who cares? Great win at the home of the back-to-back champions! |
| – With four U16 players in the squad and 4 goals scored by players in their first year of U18s, Mark Wilson’s side continues to be a useful blend of youth and experience. A strong performance from Matthew Monaghan at the back and a relentless and effective 90 minutes from Steven Docherty in attack (scoring a winner late-on by way of a reward) seen the Young Jags win on the road again. They fell behind from a low drive (10) but came back into it and Chrissy MacKay levelled (17). There were chances at both ends, but it was Saints who hit next on the break (24). A 54th minute pen was converted by MacKay (his 8th in 5 games) but it was never easy and a deep corner was converted at the back post (64), 3-2 Saints. Showing great character, the young Jags turned zero points into three with two late goals. A relatively rare but important headed equaliser from centre-back Charlie Waddell (84) preceded Docherty’s winner (86) and that was enough to overcome a resilient St Johnstone side. Scenes! |
| 16. Fri-04-Oct-2024 [a] L1-3 Greenock Morton (CAS Performance U-18s League - game 5) |
| – 7.30pm, Parklea. FALCONER. |
| – Two nil down at half time, Thistle conceded again around the hour mark to make a difficult comeback more or less impossible. One goal for the Young Jags courtesy of a Matthew Falconer free kick around 70 minutes wasn’t enough to trouble a very direct and pacy Morton side, who currently sit top of the league with a 100% win record. |
| 17. Fri-11-Oct-2024 [h] W5-3 Rangers (Scottish Youth Cup 3rd Round) |
| – 4.00pm, Petershill Park. Storey, Monaghan, DOLAN, Rooney, Johnston (Waddell), Docherty (Fullerton), FALCONER, McKenna, MacKAY (Braid), Gaughan (PATERSON), Low. Unused subs: Cameron (GK), Williamson. 1 x OG. 1st & 2nd Round byes. First home match since May - what a return. Our top level youth class of '24 mark the 75th Scottish Cup match with the club's best-ever result in the competition, knocking out the holders for the first-time ever! Last knocked out Rangers in 1991 and ran to the semi finals… |
| – Thistle brought their 'A' Game in the attacking sense in this pulsating tie which had some excellent football - and goals! A corner was deflected in for a (definite!) own goal at the back post (29) but Rangers levelled (40) and 1-1 was fair after a well-contested first half. Good work from Matthew Falconer and a clinical close-range finish from Chrissy MacKay (52) restored the lead, but Rangers weaved their way back level (62). Thistle might have rocked at this point, but they went ahead for the 3rd time via a towering header from Liam Dolan (71, not Rooney as reported elsewhere). A last-minute equaliser could've been a killer blow, but up stepped captain Matthew Falconer to net an exquisite 25-yard free-kick (90+2). 4-3 Jags! Surely they could hold it this time? Ryan Paterson soon answered, taking the ball for a run and he drilled it home (90+6) to seal a famous 5-3 win over the Scottish Cup holders! |
| 2024-25 Youth (U-18s) summary notes |
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P17 W12 D2 L3 (2.235 ppg)
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| see also: |
| 2024-25 (Scottish Youth Cup) → |
| 2024-25 (first-team) → |
| 2024-25 (reserves) → |
| 2024-25 (women) → |
