25th Apr 1998 Partick Thistle 0 Hamilton Academical 0 (SFL First Division - game 34)

matches:1997-98: ← 40game 4142 →

Match Information

41y, 3m, 0d			John McVeigh		Sandy Clark former Jag / man.
no changes
no changes
Gregg Watson; Martin Lauchlan					Eddie Cunnington; Chris Hillcoat
Iain Nicolson (Andy Lyons, HT); Martin Lauchlan (Alex Martin, 82 mins)					John McQuade (Paul Ritchie, 89 mins); ? (Paul McKenzie, 90 mins)
35y, 8m, 14d			Lindsay Hamilton		Allan Ferguson
31y, 2m, 6d			Jimmy Boyle		Steve Renicks
20y, 4m, 12d			Alan Archibald		Steve Thomson
27y, 7m, 4d			Gregg Watson		Eddie Cunnington
21y, 7m, 8d			Billy Macdonald		David Craig former Jag
21y, 6m, 12d			Jered Stirling		Chris Hillcoat
31y, 3m, 11d			Gareth Evans		Steven McCormack
21y, 6m, 12d			Iain Nicolson		Gary Clark
35y, 8m, 6d			Alan Lawrence		John McQuade
29y, 2m, 17d			Nicky Henderson		Jim Sherry
17y, 6m, 24d			Martin Lauchlan		Dave McFarlane
26y, 7m, 27d
31y, 6m, 6d			Andy Lyons		Paul McKenzie former Jag
18y, 8m, 7d			Alex Martin		Paul Ritchie future Jag
17y, 4m, 27d			Jamie McKenzie		Gary Wales

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Match Report

TTA report

Stalemate against Hamilton (1 win in 22). Thistle had only 2 shots on target and went back to the bottom as Hamilton enjoyed the best of things. Good goalkeeping and a post kept the score sheet blank. A win at champions Dundee became essential to delay the drop. “Lambs to the slaughter” (McVey).

Media report

27-Apr-1998, The Herald

FOOTBALL can be a fickle beast and, after feeling the full force of its bite against Hamilton Academical, it will take something quite spectacular to save Partick Thistle from the despair of relegation and whatever financial disaster might befall them as a result. Glasgow's other team went into Saturday's game on the back of two wins and buoyed by a growing belief that they could escape the doomsday scenario that has seemed inevitable since they came close to closure. Hamilton, meanwhile, were in the midst of a 22-game depression, during which they had won only once and been dragged steadily into the danger zone. So you can imagine the dismay of Thistle head coach John McVeigh after watching his side treat Firhill to a display with no thrills, no spills, no goals, and an ominous lack of fight. He has known for some time that his team were basically not good enough for the first division, but even the extra resources of spirit he has recently extracted, and the added inspiration gathered from their supporters' successful fund-raising campaign, seem to be running dry. McVeigh lamented: “You try every week to pick them up and get a spark. It becomes tiresome and I am more knackered now after games than I ever was while playing. My players went out like lambs to the slaughter. I cannot understand them.”

Hamilton manager Sandy Clark could not comprehend how his team could so dominate a match and not claim the victory their play deserved, but that persistent problem could wait for a solution as he celebrated the point he believed they needed to be safe from the drop. Although, technically, Accies are not yet safe, lying a mere four points ahead of second-bottom Stirling, something must give in Albion's next match, against the team just above them, St Mirren. The plight of Thistle is more desperate. Back at the bottom following Stirling's surprise victory away to Raith Rovers, nothing less than a win against Dundee at Dens Park on Saturday being needed to keep the visit of fellow relegation candidates Ayr United alive as a final-day showdown. McVeigh now has the job of lifting the resurrected despondency but admitted: “We now have a mountain to climb, especially as we next have to go to Dundee to play the league champions. We must win both our games and hope that others slip up.”

There cannot be too many football fans who have not wished Thistle well in their battle for survival, if not from relegation then certainly from financial collapse. Their foresight in being one of the first among Scotland's smaller clubs to make major ground improvements, their hard-working and genial manager, and being the natural home of those in Glasgow not poisoned by sectarian bias, makes the club deserving of survival. Their present playing staff, though, are in danger of letting the side down. “I was annoyed at the lack of effort,” complained McVeigh after Saturday's draw. “They gave the appearance that they were playing in an end-of- season game with nothing to play for and that angers and concerns me. The fact that we got a point after the way we went about our business is remarkable. We had only two efforts on goal, which does not suggest to me a team fighting against relegation.” Football success and logic do not always converge and so Hamilton, a team devoid of their own stadium, a significant following, or any warmth from those who do turn out towards those who control the club's purse strings, now look like avoiding an immediate return to the second division. However, on Saturday, their team's superior play was not the only thing to endear them to the neutral. As Thistle goalkeeper Lindsay Hamilton's saves and a friendly post denied his namesakes, whose re- born striker, John McQuade, was particularly unlucky not to score, their fans made up for being short in numbers by a laudable, self- depreciating humour and lack of expletives. Such chants as “You're going down with George Michael” and “We're staying up and you're no” were greeted by little more than four- letter words from the subdued home crowd. Oh yes, they did manage to respond with “Stand up if you have a ground” - but for how long?

Stats Watch

ongoing sequences:

● 37 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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