31st Jan 1998 Partick Thistle 3 Greenock Morton 3 (SFL First Division - game 23)

matches:1997-98: ← 28game 2930 →

Match Information

41y, 0m, 6d			John McVeigh		Billy Stark
Jamie McKenzie; Nicky Henderson; Alex Martin
Gregg Watson; Peter Hetherston; Robert Dunn
Kevin Gaughan (1-0, 30 mins); Andy Lyons (2-3, 72 mins); Nicky Henderson (3-3, 80 mins)					Kevin Twaddle (1-1, 33 mins); Brian Reid (1-2, 36 mins); Peter Duffield (1-3, 55 mins)
					Brian Reid; Craig McPherson
Billy Macdonald (Iain Nicolson, 59 mins); Jamie McKenzie (Martin Lauchlan, 59 mins); Alex Martin (Robert Dunn, 77 mins)					Paul Blair (Alan Blaikie, 77 mins)
19y, 1m, 24d			Kenny Arthur		John Hillcoat former Jag
32y, 5m, 4d			Callum Milne		Derek Collins future Jag
20y, 1m, 18d			Alan Archibald		Brian Reid
21y, 4m, 14d			Billy Macdonald		John Anderson
19y, 10m, 25d			Kevin Gaughan		Paul Blair
17y, 2m, 2d			Jamie McKenzie		Stephen Aitken
30y, 11m, 12d			Jimmy Boyle		Owen Archdeacon
28y, 11m, 23d			Nicky Henderson		Craig McPherson
35y, 5m, 12d			Alan Lawrence		Kevin Twaddle
18y, 5m, 13d			Alex Martin		Peter Duffield
31y, 3m, 12d			Andy Lyons		Warren Hawke
25y, 0m, 8d
21y, 3m, 18d			Iain Nicolson		Ross Matheson
18y, 7m, 3d			Robert Dunn		Mark McGraw
17y, 3m, 30d			Martin Lauchlan		Alan Blaikie

Match Report

TTA report

9th v 10th. A dire first half-hour was livened up by Gaughan's bullet header (30) but Thistle fell away and were 3-1 down and going nowhere (33, 36 and 55). Lyons reduced the lead (72) and Henderson shot through a ruck of players (80). Only a fine double save by ex-JAG Hillcoat denied Thistle all 3 points.

Media report

02-Feb-1998, The Herald

PARTICK Thistle may well take up the dubiously generous offer of help from self-proclaimed psychokenetic expert Uri Geller in forthcoming weeks. For this weekend, however, they were happy to adopt the Houdini method of overcoming a near impossible situation.

Everything had looked rosey when they took the lead courtesy of a powerful Kevin Gaughan header, ending 30 painstakingly boring minutes of pseudo-football. But shooting themselves in the foot has become a kind of masochistic trait recently for the Firhill side, and so it came to pass that they found themselves 3-1 down and seemingly out of the match with only 20 minutes remaining. However, Thistle's never-say-die attitude ensured a grandstand finale, which helped them drag themselves on level terms courtesy of Andy Lyons and Nicky Henderson. Manager John McVeigh, whose blood pressure must have reached boiling point, said afterwards: “They certainly play with your emotions. For the first hour I was not pleased, but for the last half hour I was pleased. I felt we panicked at times, but we worked very hard in the second half.” The home support seemed content after escaping with a point, but McVeigh realises matches against fellow-strugglers have to be won if his side are to avoid relegation. “I'm never happy with a point,” he snapped, “and I wanted all three to go five points clear of them.” Having found themselves in a comfortable position as a result of goals from Kevin Twaddle, Brian Reid and Peter Duffield, it seemed Morton were set to vacate the base of the division. Instead they find themselves in the same perilous spot, two points adrift of Stirling Albion, much to manager Billy Stark's annoyance. “We should have won the game comfortably,” he groaned, “but all credit to Thistle, they battled back and had the chance to win it late on, but John Hillcoat produced a fantastic double save.” For Morton, the old saying 'when you're down, you're down' certainly applied on Saturday and, unless they learn to tighten up in defence quick smart, that same saying might again be applicable come May.

Scrapbook

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Unknown report

Graeme MacLean report

Daily Record, 2nd February, 1998

PTFC Match Programme, 14th March, 1998

Stats Watch

● 17-year-old Martin Lauchlan makes his Thistle debut.

● Kevin Gaughan scores his last goal for Thistle.

ongoing sequences:

● 26 consecutive competitive appearances for Jimmy Boyle, 2nd Aug 1997 to date, a new personal best. (Longest run since: David Farrell - 40 games, 12th Oct 1996 to 18th Oct 1997. 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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