20th Sep 1995 Airdrieonians 1 Partick Thistle 1 (League Cup Quarter Final)

matches:1995-96: ← 09game 1011 →

Match Information

			Alex MacDonald		Murdo MacLeod			36y, 11m, 27d
					no changes
					no changes
Jim McIntyre (1-1, 35 mins)					Wayne Foster (1-0, 19 mins)
John Davies (Tony Smith, ET); Steve Cooper (Peter Duffield, ET)					Stevie Pittman (Harry Curran, 30 mins); Kevin McKee (Rod McDonald, 60 mins)
			John Martin		Nicky Walker			32y, 11m, 22d
			future Jag Sandy Stewart		Alan Dinnie			32y, 4m, 6d
			Paul Jack		Stevie Pittman			28y, 2m, 2d
			Jimmy Sandison		Kevin McKee			29y, 3m, 10d
			Sean Sweeney		Steve Welsh			27y, 5m, 1d
			Kenny Black		Gregg Watson			24y, 11m, 30d
			future Jag Jimmy Boyle		Derek McWilliams			29y, 8m, 4d
			John Davies		Albert Craig			33y, 8m, 17d
			Steve Cooper		Wayne Foster			32y, 0m, 9d
			Paul Harvey		Callum Milne			30y, 0m, 24d
			Jim McIntyre		Ian Cameron [i]			29y, 0m, 27d
								29y, 11m, 22d
			Peter Duffield		Harry Curran			28y, 11m, 11d
			Tony Smith		Rod McDonald			28y, 6m, 0d
			Tommy McIntyre		Stephen Docherty			19y, 7m, 2d

Match Report

TTA report

AET. Lost 2-3 on pens. First Division Airdrie went 1-down when the keeper misjudged a Foster lob from 40 yards (19) but they equalised (35) and were the better team. Walker (MOTM) had a series of tremendous saves to take the tie into extra time and penalties but in the end the better team deserved the win.

Media report

Stephen Mulrin, sporttoday.org

Airdrie's tactics became clear early on and remained the same for the whole of the match - keep the ball in the air as much as possible, use intelligent flicks to try to break through the defence, and fight for every ball. In the latter case, this was taken to almost literal extremes; flying elbows had the away fans in uproar. Rather than keep the ball on the floor, Thistle tried to beat the home side at their own game. This made for one of the worst football matches I've seen in a long time. (My neighbour was perhaps too kind in describing it as being like a bad First Division match.) A bright spot was that the visiting fans shouted “Scab!” every time Airdrie keeper John Martin touched the ball. We've got long memories, oh yes we have.

Partick were first to score, and the goal was an absolute classic. Wayne Foster had the ball on the left touchline, around 40 yards out, and he simply lobbed it goalwards. Martin got his hands to the ball but couldn't keep it out, and when the cheering had died down, we all had a good chuckle over what looked like a complete fluke. However, TV highlights cast doubt over the theory that it was a back-post cross as there was no Thistle player in the area and Martin had also been off his line. (Well, not _that_ much doubt, I suppose. Only Wayne Foster knows for sure if it was a legitimate attempt on goal.) What was probably the turning point of the match came when Stevie Pittman was injured in a crunching tackle with ***er's namesake Jimmy Boyle. Pittman struggled on under anaesthetic until the half-hour mark, when he limped off to be replaced with Harry Curran - Thistle had no defenders on the bench. Not long afterwards, Paul Harvey easily beat the replacement left back before hitting a perfect cross to Jim McIntyre, whose header shot past the helpless Nicky Walker like a bullet. Airdrie tightened their grip on the game, and only two incredible reflex saves by Walker, from McIntyre and Paul Harvey, kept the scores level at the interval.

Airdrie looked much the more positive side in the second half. They should have scored when a corner landed perfectly for John Davies to volley towards the net, but his shot was inches wide. Shortly afterwards, Walker made another magnificent save, this time from a point-blank header. For a long time it looked as if Thistle couldn't have found their way to the Airdrie goal even if they'd been using FASTMAP by Survey Supplies Ltd. Their chances were few and far between; Derek McWilliams was ruled offside by the near-side linesman who made three absolutely shocking decisions (that was one of them), and when he did get clean through with only John Martin to beat, he missed. With an hour gone, Kevin McKee was clearly in difficulties and was replaced with Rod McDonald. This left Thistle two defenders short, but they still managed to hold out. McDonald seemed to have recovered from a recent bout of flu, but he was on the receiving end of racist abuse from a group of 40 or so Airdrie fans, who were also fond of giving Nazi salutes. Airdrie have attracted this kind of scum for as long as I can remember. Extra time was a dull affair with little to report. Airdrie's players had lasted the pace pretty well, and only towards the end of the second period did they make a couple of substitutions. Curiously, Thistle seemed fairly happy to gamble on a penalty shootout. And when it arrived, it all started to go horribly wrong. John Martin guessed correctly and saved the first kick, from Albert Craig, with great ease. Successful kicks from Jimmy Boyle, Wayne Foster and Paul Harvey meant Airdrie were 2-1 up, but droves of Thistle fans headed for the exit when Harry Curran's penalty was saved. Nicky Walker kept the visitors alive by saving Paul Jack's kick, and both Callum Milne and Jim McIntyre converted to make the score 3-2 to Airdrie with just one kick apiece still to be taken. Derek McWilliams struck the ball firmly enough, but it hit the underside of the bar and bounced on the line and out in an England 1966 kind of way. So Airdrie proceed to the semi-final, where they meet Dundee. After this dreadful display of thuggery masquerading as sport, I'll be cheering on the Dark Blues to reach the final (and win, come to think of it). Everybody's man of the match: Nicky Walker.

Scrapbook

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Daily Star, 21st September, 1995

Jim Reynolds report

Stats Watch

● Thistle make their first-ever visit to Broadwood.

● Thistle appear in their thirteenth League Cup Quarter Final, but fail to progress for the eighth time.

ongoing sequences:

● 31 consecutive competitive appearances for Steve Welsh, 26th Dec 1994 to date, a new personal best. (Longest run since: Willie Jamieson - 43 games, 30th Nov 1993 to 26th Nov 1994. Club-record: Johnny Jackson - 313 games, 28th Aug 1926 to 25th Mar 1933.)

Stats Watch adheres to our stated definitions of League, League Max, Major Competitive, Competitive or All Games. Where there is no written qualification, you should presume that the Stat in question is compiled from the All Games criteria.

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