27th Dec 1993 Hibernian 5 Partick Thistle 1 (SFL Premier Division - game 24)

matches:1993-94: ← 30game 3132 →

	Alex Miller	John Lambie	52y, 9m, 25d

		Grant Tierney
		Gregg Watson

Brian Hamilton (0-1, 41 mins); David Farrell (1-2, 58 mins); Darren Jackson (1-3, pen 68 mins); Kevin McAllister (1-4, 71 mins); Keith Wright (1-5, 81 mins)		Grant Tierney (1-1, 56 mins)

Gordon Hunter (Gareth Evans, 2nd half); Kevin McAllister (Steven Tweed, 2nd half)		Craig Nelson (Andy Murdoch, 2nd half); Andy M. Gibson (Isaac English, 2nd half)

	Jim Leighton	Craig Nelson	22y, 6m, 29d
	Willie Miller	Kevin McKee	27y, 6m, 17d
	Graham Mitchell	Bobby Law	28y, 0m, 3d
	future Jag David Farrell	Grant Tierney	32y, 2m, 16d
	Dave Beaumont	Willie Jamieson	30y, 8m, 0d
	Gordon Hunter	Ian Cameron [i]	27y, 4m, 3d
	Kevin McAllister	Andy M. Gibson	24y, 10m, 25d
	future Jag Brian Hamilton	Albert Craig	31y, 11m, 24d
	Keith Wright	Gerry Britton	23y, 2m, 7d
	Darren Jackson	Alex Taylor	31y, 6m, 14d
	Joe Tortolano	Chic Charnley	30y, 6m, 16d

			28y, 2m, 23d

	Chris Reid	Andy Murdoch	25y, 5m, 7d
	future Jag Gareth Evans	Isaac English	22y, 1m, 15d
	Steven Tweed	Martin Clark	25y, 2m, 14d

TTA report

Craig's header (6) was off-side and it looked like 0-0 at half-time until a cross hit 2 players and squirmed in (41). Murdoch replaced Nelson at half-time (concussion) then Tierney scored with an overhead kick at a corner (56). The midfield collapsed and Hibs scored (58, pen 68, 71, 82). The score definitely flattered Hibs. Best forgotten.

Media report

28-Dec-1993, Glasgow Herald

Thistle are hit by an avalanche of goals… NO team should emerge with a thrashing after having put in as much effort as Thistle did at Easter Road, especially at a time of the year when kindness rules. There was not much lucky white heather about for the Glasgow side, certainly not for keeper Andy Murdoch. He was brought on to replace concussed Craig Nelson at the start of the second half, then saw his team, who were 1-0 down at the time, equalise. He must have had visions of an unexpectedly rewarding afternoon’s work. Instead, he had to endure a mini-avalanche of goals as Hibs went slightly berserk to record their biggest win for two years.

There had been no hint of such a startling conclusion in the first half, when Thistle were a shade the better side and could consider themselves genuinely unlucky to be a goal down at the interval. That Hibs goal had a touch of the bizarre about it, too. A Mitchell cross from the left was met by Hamilton, but ricocheted, first off Cameron and then himself, before finally hitting Nelson on the way over the line. Even then, the odds were that Thistle would recover, and so they did. Grant Tierney scored with a remarkable overhead kick. The ball hit the underside of the bar and ended up behind Jim Leighton. But that was to be the last bit of good news for the Firhill followers in the 10,164 attendance. Inside a minute Hibs had gone ahead again, when David Farrell headed in a cross from Joe Tortolano. Whatever that did to Thistle (and it clearly did their confidence no good) it fairly put Hibs on turbo and they sped into almost unstoppable form. Darren Jackson scored from the penalty spot after Tierney had tripped Keith Wright and Kevin McAllister went on a flying run before sending an angled shot into the net off the far post. In the 10 minutes before the final goal Murdoch had a wonderful save from Farrell, Hibs might have had a second penalty, and Thistle were chasing green shirts all over the place. With nine minutes left Wright came up with the fifth goal and gave Hibs the kind of lift that manager Alex Miller had demanded after their depressing show at Parkhead last week. “I showed them the reports of that game and told them that if they were happy with that they should not be here,” he said. “I was delighted with the way we played today and it was important that we came back quickly after they equalised.” Not surprisingly, his opposite number, John Lambie, was in less benevolent mood. “I thought we were a disgrace after having come back into the game. We lost the place altogether. There was no discipline and we stopped working. We made Hibs look a good side. I did not think any team could take five off us.”

It would be true to say that Hibs had not looked all that special earlier on, and when they had to replace Gordon Hunter, who had suffered the recurrence of a leg injury, at the beginning of the second half their prospects did not look cast-iron. But once they had their wagon rolling there was no halting them. They will go into the derby game with Hearts at Tynecastle on Saturday filled with renewed confidence, despite the fact that they have not won an inter-city clash for five years. Thistle went home bedraggled and baffled at what went wrong. Even Chic Charnley, who had been buffeted about as he threatened to run the midfield, ended up being booked, but he was far from the worst offender. Whoever it was, Chic or one of his mates, somebody at Firhill upset Santa.

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