16th Apr 1994 St Johnstone 1 Partick Thistle 0 (SFL Premier Division - game 38)

matches:1993-94: ← 45game 4647 →

	Paul Sturrock	John Lambie	53y, 1m, 14d

		no changes
		no changes

Phil Scott (0-1, 81 mins)
		Grant Tierney (@ 0-0, 21 mins)
Harry Curran (Allan Preston, 54 mins); Paul Deas (Gunni Torfason, 77 mins)		David Byrne (Alex Taylor, 84 mins); Isaac English (Bobby Barnes, 84 mins)

	Andy Rhodes	Craig Nelson	22y, 10m, 19d
	Paul Cherry	David Byrne	33y, 1m, 11d
	future Jag Kevin McGowne	Bobby Law	28y, 3m, 23d
	future Jag Tommy Turner	Gregg Watson	23y, 6m, 26d
	future Jag Paul Deas	Grant Tierney	32y, 6m, 5d
	Colin Miller	Willie Jamieson	30y, 11m, 20d
	Phil Scott	Ian Cameron [i]	27y, 7m, 23d
	John Davies	Albert Craig	32y, 3m, 13d
	future Jag Harry Curran	Roddy Grant	27y, 7m, 0d
	Ian Ferguson	Isaac English	22y, 5m, 4d
	former Jag Billy Dodds	Chic Charnley	30y, 10m, 5d

			28y, 4m, 16d

	John Donegan	Andy Murdoch	25y, 8m, 27d
	Gunni Torfason	Alex Taylor	31y, 10m, 3d
	Allan Preston	Bobby Barnes	31y, 3m, 30d

TTA report

Thistle took the game to Saints even after Tierney was sent off for a travesty of a prof foul (21). Stupid refereeing (9 bookings) and good goalkeeping thwarted Thistle as they kept St Johnstone quiet for long spells but the extra man told eventually and a well-placed shot (their 1st on target) beat Nelson (80). Joint 8th.

Media report

18-Apr-1994, Glasgow Herald

HE did not say much, which in itself was unusual, because John Lambie is seldom short of an interesting quip after his Partick Thistle team have called it a day on a Saturday afternoon. But his expression said just about everything. The manager walked slowly into the media gathering after his side was edged out 1-0 by St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park, heaped praise on his players for, as he saw it, a job well done under trying circumstances, wished everyone a good evening, then nipped away. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but it was what the man did not say that would have been interesting.

The trying circumstances mentioned were brought about by a match official who was well out of his depth. Indeed, the only consistency in Joe Kelly’s performance was the man’s inconsistency. In matches involving clubs in the relegation zone, the sensible course of action would be to appoint officials for whom the participants can have a little respect, and leave men like Kelly to run around blowing his whistle where he can do less damage. Thistle’s Grant Tierney was sent indoors after just 19 minutes following a collision with Billy Dodds. “Craig (Nelson) had the ball in his hands,” said the defender, “so I stopped running and Dodds ran into me. And I still have the pain to prove it. The referee blew his whistle and called me over. I couldn’t believe it when he booked me, but when the red card came out, well …” The incident galvanised Thistle, but changes had to be made, resulting in Roddy Grant being left alone up front. And what did St Johnstone do to capitalise on their good, early fortune? Not a great deal, really. The Thistle defence would clear their lines, usually to the toes of an opponent but the home lot’s attempts to make inroads were, at times, pitiful. But Philip Scott, “excited” to have joined the Scotland under-21 squad this week, eventually struck a blow that was to prove fatal to the men from Maryhill.

Paul Sturrock, the St Johnstone manager, was “delighted with the result” which moves his club up the ladder, but not with their performance. Sturrock claims to have been aware for some time that his players seriously lack creativity in the danger zone. Pity he has done little to rectify the situation, for there were times when men in blue shirts broke in numbers only to embarrass themselves moments later. When it was all over, a lonely figure stared at the bus outside waiting to whisk Thistle’s people back to the big city. Lambie still was keeping mum. However, he is well aware that his men’s fate is in their own hands.

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