10th Mar 2009 Ross County 0 Partick Thistle 2 (SFL First Division - game 28)

matches:2008-09: ← 43game 4445 →

Match Information

			Derek Adams		Ian McCall			44y, 5m, 8d
					Scott Chaplain; John A. Robertson; Lucas Akins
					Paul Paton; Ian Maxwell; Simon Donnelly
					Kris Doolan (1-0, 67 mins); Kris Doolan (2-0, 69 mins)
Martyn Corrigan; Steven Watt					Kevin McKinlay
Derek Soutar (Joe Malin, 1 min); Martin Scott (Dyron Daal, 74 mins); Adam Strachan (Michael Gardyne, 80 mins)					Scott Chaplain (Paul Paton, 66 mins); Lucas Akins (Kevin McKinlay, 80 mins)
			Derek Soutar		Jonny Tuffey			22y, 1m, 18d
			future Jag Martyn Corrigan		Simon Storey			26y, 9m, 5d
			Stuart Golabek		Marc Twaddle			22y, 6m, 11d
			former Jag Mark McCulloch		Scott Chaplain			25y, 6m, 0d
			former Jag Andy Dowie		John A. Robertson			32y, 11m, 10d
			Steven Watt		Alan Archibald			31y, 2m, 25d
			Martin Scott		Stephen McKeown			27y, 7m, 21d
			former Jag Adam Strachan		David Rowson			32y, 5m, 24d
			future Jag Steven Craig		Lucas Akins			20y, 0m, 13d
			Craig Brewster		Kris Doolan			22y, 2m, 27d
			Sean Higgins		Gary Harkins			24y, 2m, 8d
								26y, 1m, 25d
			Joe Malin		Craig Hinchliffe			36y, 10m, 5d
			Paul Lawson		Paul Paton			21y, 10m, 20d
			Dyron Daal		Kevin McKinlay			23y, 0m, 10d
			Alex Keddie		Willie Kinniburgh			24y, 6m, 2d
			Michael Gardyne		Ricky Little			19y, 9m, 18d

Match Report

TTA report

Doolan (from Twaddle's cut-back, 67 and set up by McKeown, 69) earned the points. Thistle had most of the play early on but County pressed and had Thistle hemmed in for long spells. Tuffey had some fine saves in the second half as County threw men forward. Thistle went 2nd top and 152 fans had a pleasant journey home.

Media report

10-Mar-2009, ptfc.co.uk

The journey back to Glasgow for the 152 Thistle fans who travelled to Dingwall and gave the Club fantastic support seemed that bit quicker thanks to two Kris Doolan goal within 2 minutes of each other midway through the second half. Following Saturday's reverse at home to Clyde manager Ian McCall made a number of changes to his starting eleven for this fixture, not least in terms of the shape of his team. Paul Paton dropped to the bench and the manager elected to operate with a flat back four. There were also starting slots for Scott Chaplain and Lucas Akins. These changes seemed to have a positive impact as Thistle enjoyed the better of the opening 15 minutes taking a firm grip of the midfield area.

The first chance of the game came in the 7th minute when Gary Harkins was able to get his head to a Stephen McKeown corner kick but his header always looked like being on the high side. Harkins came close once more two minutes later. After some excellent midfield approach work Harkins curled a shot from the edge of the box just wide of goal. Thistle continued to do the early pressing and in the 15th minute a dangerous cross from the right hand side from David Rowson nearly picked out Kris Doolan but Doolan arrived just too late to connect with the cross. After having made such a promising start to the game Thistle rather fell out of the game for the next 20 minutes or so. In the 16th minute Craig Brewster very nearly benefited from a couple of miscues in and around the penalty box only to see Marc Twaddle clear the ball from close to the goal line. County began to enjoy more possession as the half wore on and were able to put the Thistle goal under sustained pressure winning a series of corner kicks on both sides of the pitch. The closest they came to a goal, however, didn't come from a corner. Former Thistle player Adam Strachan swung over a cross from the left hand side with Craig Brewster's glancing header slipping past the post. Although County were on top during this stage of the game they weren't able to create any clear cut openings. An excellent John Robertson tackle denied Martin Scott an opportunity and Scott Chaplain was able to divert a Sean Higgins drive away from goal. The first half ended with what at this stage was almost an isolated raid on the County goal. Gary Harkins did well to feed the ball through to Marc Twaddle but Malin was able to make a comfortable save from Twaddle's low drive.

As they had done so in the first 45 minutes Thistle started the second half well. Inside the half's first minute a left sided free kick from Simon Storey was glanced toward goal by Marc twaddle with Malin having to turn the ball round the post for a corner kick. A minute later Thistle had the ball in the back of the net. David Rowson pushed the ball through to Kris Doolan but although Doolan's low shot found the net he was adjudged to have strayed marginally offside. In the 58th minute Doolan was again unfortunate not to open the scoring. David Rowson was once more the man to play the through ball to Doolan. Doolan had to take the ball wide of goal but his shot still beat Malin but slipped agonizingly wide of the opposite post. This was all much more encouraging from Thistle but it took an excellent 65th minute save from Jonny Tuffey to keep Thistle level. A cross from the right picked out Steven Craig 10 yards from goal. Craig looked set to score only for Tuffey to get a touch to his fierce shot, a touch that took the ball over the bar. That proved to be a pivotal moment in the game as 2 minutes later Thistle were in front. Thistle scored some memorable goals in the 4-2 win against Livingston and while this goal was, perhaps, less spectacular it was every bit as good a goal as any scored in that match. Mart Twaddle and David Rowson worked a one-two at the edge of the box with the former's cut back knocked home by Kris Doolan. After having waited 337 minutes to score against Ross County this season a second followed just 2 minutes later. Kris Doolan was again the scorer taking his tally since joining Thistle in January to five. This time Stephen McKeown was the creator. His pass split open the heart of the County defence and Doolan showed excellent composure to steer the ball beyond Malin and into the net. The home side naturally threw bodies forward in search of a way back into the game but with the confidence of a two goal lead behind them Thistle defended well and were able to repel all that County had to offer. Jonny Tuffey showing excellent handling on several occasions and John Robertson thwarting sub Daal with a perfectly timed challenge. Thistle could even have managed a third goal. With just 8 minutes remaining Kevin McKinlay, a sub for Lucas Akins just 2 minutes earlier, was able to gather a through ball only for Malin to beat out his shot.

Scrapbook

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BBC, 10th March, 2009

Video Highlights

(credit: Partick Thistle Television )

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Stats Watch

ongoing sequences:

● 29 consecutive competitive appearances for David Rowson, 30th Aug 2008 to date. (Longest run since: Simon Storey - 40 games, 1st Dec 2007 to 24th Sep 2008. 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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