16th Jul 2011 Partick Thistle 2 Celtic XI 1 (Friendly)

matches:2011-12: ← 02game 0304 →

Match Information

37y, 8m, 22d			Jackie McNamara		Danny McGrain
Paul Paton; Stuart Bannigan; Alan Archibald
Jamie Campbell; Conrad Balatoni; Martin Grehan
Paul Cairney (1-0, 14 mins); Tommy Stewart (2-1, 56 mins)					Greig Spence (1-1, 20 mins)
Paul Cairney (Tommy Stewart, 27 mins); Alan Archibald (Conrad Balatoni, HT); Paul Paton (Jamie Campbell, 60 mins); Kris Doolan (Martin Grehan, 60 mins); Aaron Taylor-Sinclair (Johnny Lindsay, 68 mins); Iain Flannigan (Kieran Burns, 79 mins); Chris Erskine (Shaun Fraser, 79 mins)					Jos Hooiveld (Marcus Fraser, 11 mins); Emilio Izaguirre (Joe Chalmers, 58 mins); Greig Spence (Tony Watt, 63 mins); Patrick Twardzk (Bahrudin Atajić, 78 mins)
24y, 0m, 18d			Scott Fox		Nick Feely
24y, 2m, 28d			Paul Paton		Lewis Toshney
20y, 3m, 8d			Aaron Taylor-Sinclair		Emilio Izaguirre
18y, 9m, 29d			Stuart Bannigan		John Herron
26y, 10m, 8d			Willie Kinniburgh		Josh Thompson
33y, 7m, 3d			Alan Archibald		Jos Hooiveld
23y, 10m, 17d			Paul Cairney		Patrick Twardzk
34y, 10m, 2d			David Rowson		Calum McGregor
24y, 7m, 5d			Kris Doolan		Morten Rasmussen
23y, 6m, 1d			Iain Flannigan		Greig Spence
24y, 5m, 8d			Chris Erskine		Filip Twardzk
25y, 4m, 14d
18y, 8m, 17d			Ryan Scully		Robbie Thomson
24y, 8m, 4d			Tommy Stewart		Bahrudin Atajić
18y, 9m, 0d			Johnny Lindsay		Marcus Fraser
18y, 0m, 16d			Shaun Fraser		Joe Chalmers
20y, 5m, 19d			Conrad Balatoni		Tony Watt future Jag
19y, 3m, 22d			Jamie Campbell		Paul George
26y, 9m, 7d			Martin Grehan
19y, 3m, 22d			Kieran Burns

notes

Scheduled 3pm was delayed by 15 mins to allow the large crowd to gain entry.

Match Report

TTA report

A crowd of over 5,000 saw this game which was more a derby than a friendly. Celtic's XI had early shots blocked then Cairney fired home an Erskine cross (14). Celtic levelled 6 minutes later but a stunning strike from 25 yards by Stewart (56) when he latched on to an Erskine pass proved conclusive.

Media report

16-Jul-2011, ptfc.co.uk

Kick-off for this pre-season friendly was delayed by a full 15 minutes to accommodate the large crowd of just over 5,000 and they were treated to an entertaining game played, in the main, in the Firhill sunshine.

The first chance of the game came Thistle’s way in the fifth minute. Chris Erskine’s perfectly weighted through ball picked out Kris Doolan and his shot crept past the post. Two minutes later it was Celtic’s turn to come close to an opening goal. Filip Twardzk was given space on the right hand side of the Thistle box and he twice saw shots blocked by the Thistle defence. It was Thistle though that were playing the better football in the opening exchanges, knocking the ball about with purpose and accuracy. They were rewarded for that with the game’s opening goal in the 14th minute. Celtic were struggling to cope with Chris Erskine and his run took him to the bye-line where he crossed for Paul Cairney to knock the ball home from inside the six yard box. It was a lead that Thistle were able to hold for just six minutes with the Celtic equaliser coming almost out of the blue. Greg Spence being able to bundle the ball over the line from close range. After a fairly, untypically for a pre-season friendly, frantic opening twenty minutes the pace of the game dropped noticeably in the second half of the first 45 minutes although both teams continued to play some nice football. Scott Fox was the busier of the two goalkeepers as half-time approached, firstly doing well to tip a net bound header over the bar and then produced an excellent save at the feet of Filip Twardzk as he broke clear with the Thistle defence looking for a lag for offside that didn’t come.

Thistle were the first side to threaten a goal in the second half. A nice move in the 53rd minute ended with the ball breaking to the ever dangerous Chris Erskine at the very edge of the Celtic box but he wasn’t able to keep his shot down. Thistle though had just a further three minutes to wait before they did take the lead. Chris Erskine was in one of those moods where he was almost unplayable and after he had side stepped a celtic defender as if he wasn’t there he set up sub Tommy Stewart whose shot from close on 25 yards left Feeley in the Celtic goal with no chance. Celtic were close to finding a rapid response equaliser for the second time in the afternoon. After winning a free kick about a yard outside the Thistle box, Filip Twardzk’s free kick was just about a foot over Scott Fox’s crossbar. Ten minutes later Twardzk was again able to threaten the Thistle goal but after cutting across from the left hand side his shot was always drifting wide of target. At the other end the Celtic defence were able to clear a dangerous cross from sub Johnny Lindsay but Thistle were quickly able to regain possession and Iain Flannigan tested Feeley with a low drive. With four minutes remaining Thistle were close to sealing a victory. Shaun Fraser’s persistence allowed him to get the better of Josh Thompson and it took a fine save from Feeley to prevent Fraser’s effort from a tight angle finding the back of the net. It nearly proved to be a crucial intervention from the Celtic keeper as inside a minute Celtic had missed a great chance when Ajajic but he saw his shot blocked after a Celtic forward had managed to take the ball round Scott Fox. That proved to be the last chance of the game with Thistle fully meriting their 2-1 win.

Video Highlights

(credit: Sky Sports )

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Stats Watch

ongoing sequences:

● 35 consecutive competitive appearances for Chris Erskine, 25th Sep 2010 to date, a new personal best. (Longest run since: Paul Paton - 36 games, 24th Jul 2010 to 19th Mar 2011. 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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