19th Nov 1996 Partick Thistle 0 St Johnstone 4 (SFL First Division - game 14)

matches:1996-97: ← 23game 2425 →

Match Information

38y, 1m, 26d			Murdo MacLeod		Paul Sturrock
Stuart Ayton; Nicky Henderson
Callum Milne; Steve Maskrey
					Callum Davidson (0-1, 5 mins); Danny Griffin (0-2, 38 mins); Roddy Grant (0-3, 58 mins); Roddy Grant (0-4, 72 mins)
Billy Macdonald (Tommy Turner)					Steve Tosh (Phil Scott)
25y, 11m, 3d			John Hillcoat		Alan Main
21y, 1m, 0d			Stuart Ayton		John McQuillan
20y, 1m, 6d			Jered Stirling		Callum Davidson
20y, 2m, 2d			Billy Macdonald		Attila Sekerlioglu
27y, 0m, 21d			David Farrell		Jim Weir
26y, 1m, 29d			Gregg Watson		Danny Griffin
29y, 10m, 5d			Gareth Evans		Nick Dasovic
27y, 9m, 11d			Nicky Henderson		Steve Tosh
20y, 7m, 29d			Charlie Adams		Roddy Grant former Jag
28y, 0m, 4d			David Moss		George O'Boyle
30y, 1m, 0d			Andy Lyons		Leigh Jenkinson
25y, 2m, 3d
33y, 1m, 8d			Tommy Turner		Phil Scott
20y, 9m, 1d			Stephen Docherty		Charlie King
21y, 10m, 1d			Jim Slavin		Andy Whiteford

notes

7.30pm kick-off delayed by 18 mins to allow players delayed by snow to appear.

Match Report

TTA report

Heavy snow caused some players to arrive late or miss the game altogether. It was an emphatic win by top of the table Saints with goals 5, 38, 58 and 72. Thistle had spells of neat play but had no cutting edge. Farrell from a free kick and Adams just after half-time went close but, in truth, Thistle were well beaten. Still 4th.

Media report

21-Nov-1996, Daily Record

Partick Thistle director Brown McMaster last night blamed his absent stars for their 4- 0 Firhill freeze out by St Johnstone. That's despite the fact Jags boss Murdo MacLeod reckons the game should NEVER have been played. After four key players failed to turn up for Tuesday's clash McMaster said: “The referee was right to start the game.” Thistle were forced to shuffle their side at the last minute after four stars were left stranded because of freak weather conditions. But McMaster admitted he had no sympathy for Steve Maskrey, Callum Milne, Derek McWilliams or Mark Cairns, who were left sitting in the stand after turning up late for kick-off. He rapped: “I have no axe to grind with the stand-in ref Bobby Tait. He made his decision according to league rules. Our players should've got off their butts earlier and made sure they could get through because of the bad weather. I understand part of the problem was Gareth Evans was late for the pick up and the others spent 40 minutes waiting.”

Ironically Evans, who lives in Edinburgh, actually made the game in time for kick-off which was delayed by 15 minutes. He doubled back to the station and phoned from Glasgow's Queen Street when he arrived before jumping into a cab. McMaster also claimed the Maryhill club couldn't AFFORD to put the match off. He said: “Around 3000 fans managed to make it including the supporters from Perth. We had the undersoil heating on for 24 hours, the lights had also been on for an hour and we had 84 staff and police to pay. It was financially impossible for us to put the game off. It was just unfortunate that we then came up against the best team in the league.” Boss MacLeod was angry his team had to play a game which dented their promotion hopes. He moaned: “I still think it was unfair to make us play with FOUR players missing. If we fielded an under strength side towards the end of the season we'd be fined and I think that's a double standard.”

Scrapbook

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Dundee Courier, 20th November, 1996

Daily Record, 20th November, 1996

Aberdeen Press & Journal, 21st November, 1996

Stats Watch

ongoing sequences:

● 31 consecutive competitive appearances for Andy Lyons, 2nd Mar 1996 to date, a new personal best. (Longest run since: Ian Cameron [i] - 31 games, 21st Oct 1995 to 16th May 1996. 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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