22nd Mar 1994 Partick Thistle 0 St Johnstone 0 (SFL Premier Division - game 33)

matches:1993-94: ← 40game 4142 →

53y, 0m, 20d	John Lambie	Paul Sturrock

Albert Craig
Tom Smith



		Phil Scott (Grant McMartin, 60 mins)

22y, 9m, 22d	Craig Nelson	Andy Rhodes
28y, 2m, 26d	Bobby Law	Kevin McGowne future Jag
28y, 6m, 23d	Callum Milne	Colin Miller
23y, 6m, 1d	Gregg Watson	Paul Ramsey
30y, 10m, 23d	Willie Jamieson	John Inglis
32y, 2m, 19d	Albert Craig	Paul Cherry
31y, 9m, 9d	Alex Taylor	Phil Scott
22y, 4m, 10d	Isaac English	Tommy Turner future Jag
27y, 6m, 6d	Roddy Grant	Ian Ferguson
30y, 9m, 11d	Chic Charnley	Billy Dodds former Jag
27y, 6m, 26d	Ian Cameron [i]	Harry Curran future Jag

27y, 10m, 2d

25y, 8m, 2d	Andy Murdoch	John Donegan
20y, 5m, 10d	Tom Smith	Grant McMartin
31y, 3m, 5d	Bobby Barnes	Gunni Torfason

TTA report

By the hour mark play “had become pretty woeful with the fear of losing taking over as the major motivation” (GH). English's header was cleared off the line and a Taylor volley hit the bar but St Johnstone had most of the play, restricting Thistle to short spells of pressure. Thistle up to 5th, Saints stayed 10th.

Media report

23-Mar-1994, Glasgow Herald

WE did not expect it to be pretty, and it wasn’t. We might have expected a goal, but there were none. These relegation battles could be the main course for most of the weeks ahead, a shuddering prospect. Thistle can claim that the point gained did more for them than the one collected by Saints. It lifted them above Kilmarnock into fifth place in a table that is getting very crowded in the zone just above the department of doom. St Johnstone are in the dreaded bottom three and will need to perform some extraordinary heroics to finish up any higher. They were marginally better than Thistle for most of the evening but never had much to offer in the way of firepower. Billy Dodds is being asked to do too much all by himself. Thistle were dogged, willing, and energetic, qualities that could just about see them through the season safely.

Saints produced a fresh face in their ranks, Colin Miller, who was bought from Hamilton Accies for £35,000 earlier in the day. And he and his new mates looked more tuned up for this event than the home lot for most of the first half. It needed a good interception by Watson to rob Dodds of a clear opening, for example, and soon after that, Miller tried a shot that kept Nelson on the alert. But Thistle did interrupt the Perth pressure briefly when they created the best chance to date, after Turner had misplaced a pass to the foot of Cameron. He turned the ball into the penalty area where Grant’s header went just over. And when a Charnley free kick tested Rhodes some time later, the Firhill populace was in better humour. However, it was short lived as Saints gained control for another spell but if a Charnley corner had been a shade less powerful, Jamieson might well have reached it and put the Perth team behind. Their response was a rather weak effort from Curran, but their next try was much better. A Dodds cross was headed down by Curran, who was understandably annoyed to see Nelson make a superb, one-handed save on the line. Milne was fortunate to escape a yellow card following a reckless tackle on Dodds, who was giving the Thistle defence a tough time. But despite St Johnstone’s dominance, Thistle came up with the odd attack that indicated the visiting defence was vulnerable. A deep Charnley cross deceived Rhodes who had come out of his goal, but Craig’s effort at a chip was too long. However, Thistle very nearly snatched the lead 10 minutes before the interval when an English header was on target but cleared off the line by Turner. And in a spirited end to the first half, Partick went very close again when a volley by Taylor beat Rhodes but came off the bar.

Thistle might have suffered early in the second half as a Curran free kick eluded three Saints men in front of goal when a touch would have done the trick. And the home side escaped again when a Scott shot was only parried by Nelson but rebounded over the in-rushing Dodds. Play had never been in danger of being exhilarating but by midway through the half it had become pretty woeful, with fear of losing taking over as the major motivation. In 60 minutes Saints, who had lost their way somewhat, sent on Grant McMartin for Philip Scott in an attempt to regain control.

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