26th Dec 2010 Partick Thistle 0 Raith Rovers 0 (SFL First Division - game 16)

matches:2010-11: ← 25game 2627 →

Match Information

46y, 2m, 26d			Ian McCall		John McGlynn
Alan Archibald
Conrad Balatoni
					Mark Campbell
Willie Kinniburgh (Conrad Balatoni, 56 mins); Paul Cairney (Liam Buchanan, 64 mins); Chris Erskine (Iain Flannigan, 64 mins)					Gregory Tade (Stephen Simmons, 73 mins); John Baird (Graham Weir, 77 mins)
23y, 5m, 28d			Scott Fox		David McGurn
23y, 8m, 8d			Paul Paton		Grant Murray former Jag
23y, 9m, 6d			Patrick Boyle		Willie Dyer
37y, 2m, 2d			Jackie McNamara		Mark Campbell
26y, 3m, 18d			Willie Kinniburgh		Laurie Ellis
33y, 0m, 13d			Alan Archibald		Iain Davidson
23y, 3m, 27d			Paul Cairney		Iain Williamson
34y, 3m, 12d			David Rowson		Allan Walker
23y, 3m, 3d			Bryan Hodge		John Baird future Jag
36y, 0m, 25d			Simon Donnelly		Gregory Tade
23y, 10m, 18d			Chris Erskine		Scott McBride
28y, 0m, 9d
18y, 1m, 27d			Ryan Scully		Andy McNeil
25y, 8m, 29d			Liam Buchanan		Stephen Simmons
24y, 0m, 15d			Kris Doolan		Mark Ferry
22y, 11m, 11d			Iain Flannigan		Graham Weir
19y, 10m, 29d			Conrad Balatoni		Craig Wedderburn

Match Report

TTA report

The Thistle defence was solid but up front there was little on offer. It took 35 minutes to test the Rovers' keeper. Fox had a fine save early in the second half and Rovers had a spell in the ascendancy. A last ditch challenge robbed Buchanan on the hour mark and a brave block denied Rovers a winner near the end. 0-0 was fair.

Media report

26-Dec-2010, ptfc.co.uk

The Thistle side to face Raith Rovers in a Boxing Day fixture showed just one change from the side that had drawn 0-0 with Dunfermline in Thistle’s last outing. Now free from suspension

Alan Archibald returned to the centre of the Thistle defence with Conrad Balatoni the unfortunate man to drop to the bench.

The opening exchanges in this game were cagey, indeed it will be the 14th minute before either side managed a shot on goal. It was the visitors that managed that effort but even then when John Baird gathered a long ball forward from Willie Dyer his effort was off target. Thistle were playing some neat football without, however, being able to find sufficient quality with the final ball to open up the Raith defence. Thistle were close though to an opening goal in the 35th minute. Chris Erskine ran at the Raith defence and as they backed off McGurn in the Raith goal did well to push away Erskine’s shot. Thistle were having their best spell at this point and in the 37th minute Alan Archibald was able to flick on a near post Bryan Hodge corner but there was no Thistle player able to take advantage of that flick and the chance was lost. At the other end the Thistle defence were coping well with the visitors infrequent thrusts on their goal but Raith did have a half chance on the stroke of half time when the ball dropped to Iain Williamson at the edge of the Thistle box but his effort was well wide of target.

It was Raith that were close to breaking the deadlock just three minutes into the second half. Thistle conceded a needless corner and when that corner reached Iain Williamson at the back post it took a good save, right on his goal line, from Scott Fox to keep the score at 0-0. There was further anxiety for Thistle a couple of minutes later. Another set piece, this time a free kick from the left, nearly caught the Thistle defence out with Iain Williamson feeling he was impeded as the free kick came across and an unmarked Iain Davidson knocked the loose ball wide of goal from close range. Raith continued to enjoy the better of the early stages of the second half but in the 58th minute Simon Donnelly was just unable to connect with a great ball in from the right from Paul Paton. Just past the hour mark Thistle had already committed all three substitutes and Liam Buchanan, just two minutes after having come on, had an excellent opportunity to opening the scoring but after getting clear of the Raith defence he was thwarted by an excellent tackle right on the edge of the box. Buchanan was involved again a minute later, this time squaring to Paul Paton who knocked a shot wide of goal with McGurn struggling. There was a hint of controversy in the 71st minute when Mark Campbell hauled David Rowson to the ground with Rowson bursting clear on goal. Referee Salmond though judged it to be a yellow rather than a red card offence and the chance was lost when Iain Flannigan’s free kick struck the Raith wall and spun away for an unproductive corner. With the game drifting into the last ten minutes it was naturally looking more and more likely to be settled by just a single goal and Bryan Hodge wasn’t far away from scoring the all important opening goal. Indeed he may feel that he should have done a little better than scoop his shot over the bar from the edge of the box. With two minutes remaining Raith came close to snatching a late winner. A Scott McBride free kick was blocked at the expense of a corner by Paul Paton and when that corner dropped invitingly at the feet of Allan Walker his shot was blocked by a Thistle defender.

Video Highlights

(credit: Partick Thistle Television )

advertisement

the ultimate destination for the best and latest Thistle multimedia content, from live audio commentary to the latest video interviews and tactical analysis…

…only £7.99 per month

Stats Watch

ongoing sequences:

● 23 consecutive competitive appearances for Paul Paton, Patrick Boyle (a new personal best) & Liam Buchanan, 24th Jul 2010 to date. (Longest run since: David Rowson - 24 games, 27th Feb 2010 to 25th Sep 2010. 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.

.

match hubs