26th Apr 2003 Partick Thistle 3 Motherwell 0 (Scottish Premier League - game 34)

matches:2002-03: ← 43game 4445 →

Match Information

62y, 1m, 24d			John Lambie		Terry Butcher
Martin Hardie
Jamie Buchan
Alex Burns (1-0, 29 mins); Gerry Britton (2-0, 68 mins); Gerry Britton (3-0, 90 mins)
Derek Whyte					David Partridge; Steven Craig; Dirk Lehmann
Alex Burns (Jamie Buchan, 84 mins); David Rowson (Kenny Milne, 90 mins); Ian Ross (Gavin Rushford, 90 mins)					Steven Craig (Richard Offiong, 69 mins)
24y, 4m, 19d			Kenny Arthur		François Dubourdeau
25y, 5m, 26d			David Lilley		Martyn Corrigan future Jag
25y, 4m, 13d			Alan Archibald		David Partridge
26y, 5m, 28d			Stephen Craigan		David Cowan
34y, 7m, 26d			Derek Whyte		Tony Vaughan
27y, 0m, 4d			Martin Hardie		Steven Hammell
26y, 5m, 20d			Jamie Mitchell		Derek Adams
26y, 7m, 12d			David Rowson		Steven Craig future Jag
29y, 8m, 22d			Alex Burns		Dirk Lehmann
32y, 6m, 6d			Gerry Britton		David Clarkson
28y, 7m, 30d			Ian Ross		James McFadden
27y, 11m, 9d
28y, 7m, 10d			Kevin Budinauckas		Stevie Woods
23y, 8m, 0d			Kenny Milne		Willie Kinniburgh future Jag
26y, 0m, 23d			Jamie Buchan		Dougie Ramsay
21y, 1m, 24d			Andy S. Gibson		Kevin MacDonald
16y, 11m, 21d			Gavin Rushford		Richard Offiong

Match Report

TTA report

Burns scored with an angled drive (29). Britton scored through a ruck of players following several blocked shots (68) and with a volley (90) to take Thistle 8 points clear of bottom placed Motherwell who offered little. “A master class in handling a pressurised situation”. “JAGS rely on bottle of Britton” (GH).

Media report

26-Apr-2003, bbc.com

THISTLE PILE MISERY ON WELL. Partick Thistle took another step towards securing their status in the SPL with a victory over Motherwell who find themselves still in deep relegation trouble. Thistle had the better of the game throughout and deservedly took the lead through Alex Burns. Francois Dubourdeau in the visitors' goal did his best to keep his team in the match but when Gerry Britton added a second midway through the second half, the game was won. Britton added a third just before full time to complete Motherwell's misery.

Motherwell started the game in a positive manner but the first chance fell to Thistle after five minutes when David Lilley met Stephen Craigan's long throw-in only to nod over the crossbar from six yards out. A few minutes later, Burns called goalkeeper Francois Dubourdeau into action with a shot from the edge of the 18-yard box that the Motherwell keeper did well to hold. Thistle squandered another opportunity when Hardie squared the ball into the path of Britton in front of goal but he mis-kicked the effort under pressure from the Motherwell defence. Burns almost opened the scoring when he curled a free kick past the Motherwell wall only to be denied by a great save from Dubourdeau who dived low to block at the post. The breakthrough came after 28 minutes when Ian Ross supplied the pass for Burns to embark on a run down the left flank before slotting home from a tight angle. Thistle were clearly boosted by the opener and they almost grabbed a second goal just before half-time when Burns fired a free-kick into the box from 40 yards out but Ross just failed to connect at the far post.

At the beginning of the second period, Britton shot weakly from close range before Steven Craig did likewise at the other end. Martin Hardie twice missed chances to put Thistle further ahead, but they did double their lead in the 68th minute when Burns' ball into the box was blocked by Dubourdeau only to fall to the feet of Mitchell. Both he and Britton saw shots cleared off the line before the latter eventually rammed the ball home. Britton could have grabbed his second goal of the day when he produced a well-struck shot from the edge of the penalty area but Dubourdeau saved impressively. The Motherwell goalkeeper was called into action again when he blocked a Stephen Craigan header and then scrambled the ball clear to prevent Britton from tapping the ball over the line. But Dubourdeau was helpless to prevent Britton's thunderous last-minute volley from hitting the back of the net.

Scrapbook

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Mail on Sunday, 27th April, 2003

Video Highlights

Option 1: regular highlights with commentary

(credit: BBC Scotland )

Option 1: brief highlights no commentary

(credits: SPFL YouTube / Partick Thistle Television )

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Stats Watch

● 16-year-old Gavin Rushford plays his last game for Thistle.

ongoing sequences:

● 44 consecutive competitive appearances for Alex Burns, 27th Mar 2002 to date, a new personal best. (Longest run since: Scott Paterson - 51 games, 9th Feb 2002 to 5th Apr 2003. 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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