22nd Nov 1997 Partick Thistle 2 St Mirren 2 (SFL First Division - game 14)

matches:1997-98: ← 18game 1920 →

40y, 9m, 28d	John McVeigh	Tony Fitzpatrick

Kevin Gaughan; Andy Lyons
Callum Milne; Billy Macdonald

Alan Archibald (1-2, 16 mins); Jimmy Boyle (2-2, pen 90 mins)		Andy Roddie (0-1, 9 mins); Stuart Taylor (0-2, 15 mins)
Kevin Gaughan; Nicky Henderson; Andy Lyons; Iain Nicolson		Hugh Murray; Mark Yardley
		Steve Watson (@ 1-2, 44 mins)
Jered Stirling (Charlie Adams, 50 mins)		Mark Yardley (Tommy Brown, 84 mins)

18y, 11m, 15d	Kenny Arthur	Alan Combe
30y, 9m, 3d	Jimmy Boyle	Paul Fenwick
21y, 1m, 9d	Jered Stirling	Barry McLaughlin
19y, 8m, 16d	Kevin Gaughan	Gavin Galloway
19y, 11m, 9d	Alan Archibald	Norrie McWhirter
27y, 2m, 1d	Gregg Watson	Andy Roddie future Jag
21y, 1m, 9d	Iain Nicolson	Stuart Taylor future Jag
28y, 9m, 14d	Nicky Henderson	Hugh Murray future Jag
30y, 10m, 8d	Gareth Evans	Stephen Watson future Jag
22y, 11m, 12d	Alan Morgan	Junior Mendes
31y, 1m, 3d	Andy Lyons	Mark Yardley

24y, 9m, 6d

21y, 8m, 1d	Charlie Adams	Brian Smith
28y, 0m, 24d	David Farrell	Tommy Brown
18y, 3m, 4d	Alex Martin	Steven McGarry

TTA report

St Mirren fans taunted that the club was going bust. They saw their team score (9 and 15) but Archibald headed in a corner (16). Arthur had some fine saves then St Mirren were reduced to 10 men but ponderous Thistle struggled to use their advantage. Saints hit the bar then a Boyle (pen, 90) grabbed a point.

Media report

24-Nov-1997, The Mirror

We've all heard about Children In Need but there are another group of people struggling to make ends meet every day in life. Yes, it's Managers In Need. John McVeigh and Tony Fitzpatrick are two such dug-out creatures and they met at Firhill. McVeigh has managed to instill inner strength in the collection of youngsters and journeymen he's been forced to work with because his paymasters can't afford to give him anything better. For the second week in a row, the Jags have gifted the opposition a two- goal lead then they've fought back to grab a share of the points. But they were helped out by a Saints side that shot itself in the foot quite spectacularly. Twice.

Fitzpatrick saw his young side stroll into a two goal lead before 15 minutes had elapsed. Andy Roddie grabbed his first for the club within seven minutes and then Stuart Taylor added a second. Despite young Alan Archibald giving them some hope with a scrambled shot that just crossed the line, Thistle were still well short of the standard set by their opponents. Then Steve Watson - one of Saints' more experienced players - let his mates down with only seconds to go before the break. He lost control of the ball and lunged into a reckless tackle on Archibald that fully merited the red card it received and suddenly St Mirren had a fight on their hands.

Throughout the second-half, Thistle battered away at them using the constant support from their desperate fans as fuel. With 30 seconds left, McVeigh's men forced a corner and suddenly it was Saints' keeper Alan Combe who was a generous contributor to the Save The Jags campaign. As the cross came over, Combe shoved Charlie Adams and ref George Clyde pointed to the spot. It was a penalty, all right and wee Jimmy Boyle kept as calm as you like to stroke the kick home.

After the game McVeigh said: “I was happy with the way we didn't give up but we made it hard for ourselves by going two goals down. It turned into a good point because of the way things went but we didn't pass the ball well.”

Fitzpatrick looked like a man who had been mugged at the end but at least he was honest. He said: “I felt it was a penalty at the end but I thought that overall we were the better team. The thing that annoys me is that we were stopped from making a substitution at the corner that led to it.”

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