31st Dec 1994 Partick Thistle 2 Kilmarnock 2 (SFL Premier Division - game 18)

matches:1994-95: ← 22game 2324 →

53y, 9m, 29d	John Lambie	Alex Totten

David Byrne; Stevie Pittman; Tommy Turner
Kevin McKee; Callum Milne; Chic Charnley

Rod McDonald (1-0, 45 secs); Rod McDonald (2-0, 6 mins)		Steve Maskrey (2-1, 36 mins); Gus MacPherson (2-2, 63 mins)
Roddy Grant (@ 2-2, 90 mins)
Rod McDonald (Roddy Grant, HT); Wayne Foster (Alex Taylor, 79 mins)		Steve Maskrey (Tom Brown, 79 mins)

32y, 3m, 2d	Nicky Walker	Dragoje Leković
33y, 9m, 26d	David Byrne	Gus MacPherson
27y, 5m, 13d	Stevie Pittman	Tom Black
24y, 3m, 10d	Gregg Watson	Mark Reilly
26y, 8m, 12d	Steve Welsh	Shaun McSkimming
31y, 7m, 17d	Alan Dinnie	Derek Anderson
27y, 9m, 11d	Rod McDonald	Ally Mitchell
32y, 11m, 28d	Albert Craig	John Henry
31y, 3m, 20d	Wayne Foster	Colin McKee future Jag
31y, 2m, 20d	Tommy Turner	Bobby Connor future Jag
28y, 4m, 7d	Ian Cameron [i]	Steve Maskrey future Jag

29y, 9m, 18d

25y, 3m, 6d	Mark Cairns	Colin Meldrum
28y, 3m, 15d	Roddy Grant	Craig Napier
32y, 6m, 18d	Alex Taylor	Tom Brown

TTA report

2 dreadful blunders by Kilmarnock allowed McDonald to score twice (poor pass-back, 1 and keeper played about with the ball outside the box, 6). Thistle eased off and paid the price as Kilmarnock improved and a header (36) and a 22-yard drive (63) put them level (63). Grant was harshly sent off (50:50 ball with keeper, 90).

Media report

02-Jan-1995, Glasgow Herald

SUICIDE can be reversible. Kilmarnock proved it, giving away two goals in five minutes, both stemming from insane pass- backs and defensive incompetence, but then somehow revived themselves to pull level and even create sufficient chances for victory. Manager Alex Totten thought they had the better of the game, as did Thistle’s John Lambie, whose voice could be heard howling at his players after wards through the dressing- room door. Publicly, he said: “We were lucky to get what we got out of the game. The team that wanted to win more nearly won it.”

Thistle, clearly sensitive to the tenuousness of their position, had elected for the ultra-defensive strategy of playing five at the back. However, they were two goals up before they had even been tested defensively. Killie had Neil Whitworth out, suspended, and rather than recall Andy Millen they paired Mark Skilling with young Derek Anderson in the middle at the back. It was an ill-fitting and culpable partnership. After 45 seconds Steve Connor, just inside his own half, ran into a pack of Thistle players near the touch line, he turned and knocked an under-paced ball back in the general direction of his goal keeper. The two central defenders were beaten for pace and intuition by Rod McDonald, who poked the ball home. The second goal was truly bizarre. Kilmarnock, who clearly had not learned the first- minute lesson, tried another long back-pass. McDonald moved for it, the goalkeeper Dragoje Lekovic tried to trap it, it ran under his foot and the Thistle striker, alone on the six-yard line, ran the ball home. The home team, without a functioning midfield, were con tent now to batter the ball in the direction they were facing, hoping either they could hold out or that one of the long lobs would occasion more hara-kiri in the heart of the Kilmarnock de fence. This tactic allowed the visitors back into the game, however, and they got a goal back in the 36th minute. Colin McKee curled in a free-kick and Steve Maskrey glanced the ball with his head into the net.

McDonald was substituted at half-time through injury rather than out of disgust and Kilmarnock continued their pressing game. Their equaliser in the 59th minute was superb. The ball bobbed around the Thistle box, it was headed out, apparently safely, but Gus MacPherson thought otherwise. He caught the dropping ball with a right-foot volley, it sped like a tracer past Nicky Walker and nearly tore out the net. Roddy Grant chased a late long ball, the goalkeeper saved at his feet, but what appeared to be a fair challenge was not seen that way by the referee who promptly sent him off for an early Hogmanay drink.

match hubs

match

The Thistle Archive

Partick Thistle stats and stories 1876 to date