18th Jan 2011 Partick Thistle 1 Falkirk 0 (Scottish Cup 4th Round replay)

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matches:2010-11: ← 28game 2930 →

46y, 3m, 19d	Ian McCall	Stephen Pressley

Willie Kinniburgh; Paul Cairney
John A. Robertson; Iain Flannigan

Chris Erskine (1-0, 6 mins)
Alan Archibald; Willie Kinniburgh		Brian McLean; Chris Mitchell; Marc Twaddle; Jack Compton

Kris Doolan (Iain Flannigan, 79 mins); Paul Cairney (John A. Robertson, 87 mins); Chris Erskine (Shaun Fraser, 89 mins)		Jack Compton (Kallum Higginbotham, 73 mins)

23y, 6m, 21d	Scott Fox	Robert Olejnik
23y, 9m, 0d	Paul Paton	Chris Mitchell
23y, 9m, 29d	Patrick Boyle	Marc Twaddle former Jag
23y, 3m, 26d	Bryan Hodge	Brian McLean
26y, 4m, 10d	Willie Kinniburgh	Mehdi Khalis
33y, 1m, 5d	Alan Archibald	Burton O'Brien
23y, 4m, 20d	Paul Cairney	Stewart Murdoch
34y, 4m, 4d	David Rowson	Mark Millar
25y, 9m, 22d	Liam Buchanan	Carl Finnigan
24y, 1m, 7d	Kris Doolan	Ryan Flynn
23y, 11m, 10d	Chris Erskine	Jack Compton

25y, 11m, 14d

30y, 3m, 17d	Bryn Halliwell	Jamie Barclay former Jag
17y, 6m, 19d	Shaun Fraser	Kallum Higginbotham future Jag
18y, 9m, 25d	Jamie Campbell	Tam Scobbie future Jag
34y, 9m, 21d	John A. Robertson	Blair Alston future Jag
23y, 0m, 3d	Iain Flannigan	Kieran Duffie

TTA report

A superb pass by Erskine set up Doolan (7) and had Thistle taken their chances they would have been able to endure Falkirk's pressure more comfortably. Chances were few however. A free-kick bounced off the Thistle wall (60) then a good chance was blasted wide (83) but Thistle saw the game out and into the hat.

Media report

18-Jan-2011, ptfc.co.uk

Manager Ian McCall resisted the temptation to leave his team unchanged following the 6-1 win over Stirling Albion and made two changes for the cup tie with Falkirk. Willie Kinniburgh and Paul Cairney returned to the starting eleven while John Robertson and Iain Flannigan dropped to the bench.

The first chance of this cup replay produced the opening goal after just 6 minutes. A great pass from Kris Doolan put Chris Erskine clear on goal and although Olejnik was able to get a hand to Erskine’s shot he was unable to prevent the ball from finding the back of the net. Thistle were very much the better side in the opening 20 minutes or so. After setting up Chris Erskine for the opening goal, Kris Doolan tried his luck with a snap shot from 25 yards in the 10th but there was neither sufficient pace nor power in the shot to cause Olejnik any anxiety. Liam Buchanan has been in excellent scoring form of late and in the 20th minute a lovely through ball from Paul Cairney gave him a further opportunity to score but as he turned inside the Falkirk box he was robbed of the ball by a well timed tackle. Falkirk though were close to levelling the scores in the 23rd minute. Thistle were guilty of conceding possession a little too cheaply in midfield and Ryan Flynn was able to cross from the left. His cross was collected by Mitchell at the far post and his first time shot was powerfully and accurately struck but Scott Fox was quickly down to save right on his goal line. Despite the stodgy underfoot conditions Thistle were playing some neat passing football and one move in the 28th minute, with Chris Erskine prominent, gave Paul Cairney a chance but his shot was half blocked by a Falkirk defender with the result that Olejnik didn’t have to move to complete a save. A corner from the left reached the head of Kris Doolan a couple of minutes later as Thistle continued to press but his header was wide of target. It was far from one way traffic, however, and in the 32nd minute Thistle hearts were in mouths when Chris Mitchell’s free kick from right was met by a glancing header from Carl Finnigan who was unfortunate to see his header slip the wrong side, for him, of the goal. The last chance of a fast paced first half came the way of Thistle. A handball gave Thistle a free kick in a central area just a few yards outside the Falkirk box and Paul Cairney’s attempt to place the ball in the corner of the net was only marginally unsuccessful.

The opening 15 minutes of the second half were as equally frantic as the first 45 minutes were with Falkirk’s frustration, as bookings to Twaddle and McLean were evidence of, growing all the time. They did, however, have an excellent chance to tie the scores in the 61st minute. Alan Archibald, booked himself conceded a somewhat needless free kick just a yard outside his own box and Thistle anxiety levels were growing until Chris Mitchell wasted the opportunity by hitting the free kick tamely off the Thistle wall. With the game into the final twenty minutes a second Thistle goal would have considerably eased the growing tension in the air and good skill from Chris Erskine appeared to have provided Thistle with the chance to score that goal but instead of shooting Thistle were guilty of trying to walk the ball into the net and a glorious chance was wasted. The longer the game went on the nervier it got for all that though Falkirk were struggling to create many chances. With 7 minutes remaining though Carl Finnigan was able to gather the ball and find space for himself inside the box but he couldn’t hit target with his final shot. Thistle should have made the game safe with time running out. Paul Paton sent Liam Buchanan clear but Buchanan’s cut back was behind Chris Erskine. There were more than a few anxious moments before the final whistle finally sounded nut sound it did and Thistle are through to the Fifth Round and an away tie with St Johnstone on February 5th.

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