15th Oct 2011 Raith Rovers 2 Partick Thistle 0 (SFL First Division - game 9)

matches:2011-12: ← 15game 1617 →

	John McGlynn	Jackie McNamara	37y, 11m, 21d

		no changes
		no changes

Laurie Ellis (0-1, 31 mins); John Baird (0-2, 55 mins)
		Paul Cairney

Iain Davidson (Ross Callachan, 89 mins)		Christie Elliott (Tommy Stewart, 40 mins); Paul Paton (Chris Erskine, 57 mins)

	David McGurn	Scott Fox	24y, 3m, 17d
	Reece Donaldson	Paul Paton	24y, 5m, 27d
	Willie Dyer	Aaron Taylor-Sinclair	20y, 6m, 7d
	former Jag Grant Murray	Kyle Hutton	20y, 8m, 10d
	Laurie Ellis	Conrad Balatoni	20y, 8m, 18d
	Iain Davidson	Alan Archibald	33y, 10m, 2d
	Iain Williamson	Paul Cairney	24y, 1m, 16d
	Allan Walker	David Rowson	35y, 1m, 1d
	future Jag John Baird	Kris Doolan	24y, 10m, 4d
	future Jag Brian Graham	Christie Elliott	20y, 4m, 19d
	Joe Hamill	Stephen O'Donnell	19y, 5m, 4d

			24y, 4m, 25d

	Ross Laidlaw	David Crawford	26y, 3m, 15d
	Steven Reynolds	Tommy Stewart	24y, 11m, 3d
	Danny Thomson	Chris Erskine	24y, 8m, 7d
	Ross Callachan	Stuart Bannigan	19y, 0m, 28d
	Andrew Walls	Johnny Lindsay	18y, 11m, 29d

notes

David Crawford was the trialist sub goalie.

TTA report

A bright first half-hour saw several good chances come and go then a knock-in after a back-post header at a corner (31) made it 1-0. A better performance after the break fizzled out and poor defending led to Rovers' 2nd goal (55). Thistle pressed to the end but there was no argument Rovers deserved to win.

Media report

15-Oct-2011, ptfc.co.uk

After having defeated league leaders Morton 5-0 in the fixture immediately prior to this one it was hardly a surprise that manager Jackie McNamara elected to go with an unchanged starting eleven for this game. The only change coming on the bench where Trialist replaced the injured Ryan Scully.

While the Thistle personnel was the same there was little other similarity in the first 45 minutes of this game. The home side, who had been struggling to pick up point on their own turf, made a bright start and Brian Graham was able to rise unchallenged to meet a corner in the third minute but his header was too high. That though set the tone for a first half where, with the home side pressing and closing Thistle down quickly very time they had the ball, Thistle simply couldn’t pass the ball in the same fashion that they had done against Morton. They were, however, close to taking an 8th minute lead with their first foray towards the Rovers goal. Christie Elliott was able to make progress down the left hand side and his cut back was collected by Kris Doolan who should really have done better than shoot high over the bar. There was the hint that Thistle were starting to settle and a free kick in the 16th that clearly came from the Thistle training ground nearly caught the home defence out. Paul Cairney knocked a free kick out wide for Aaron Sinclair who a few seconds earlier had been standing over the ball with Cairney. With space and time though Sinclair couldn’t get his cross beyond McGurn at Rovers keeper’s near post. At the other end Scott Fox hadn’t had too much direct

involvement in the game but he still had to be well placed to keep out an Allan Walker shot from the edge of the box although in truth it would have been a surprise had Fox, as he did, not dealt with that effort with ease. Stephen O’Donnell, who made such a positive impact during his first start against Morton, wasn’t make quite the same impact in this game but in the 20th minute he was able to cut in from the right touchline but saw his final shot drift wide of the opposite post. Rovers pressing game was making life uncomfortable for the Thistle backline and the home side took a 31st minute lead with a goal, that from a Thistle perspective, was an extremely disappointing one to concede. A corner from the left was headed on at the back post by Grant Murray and Laurie Ellis was on hand to knock the ball home from close range. Thistle boss Jackie McNamara made a change before half-time with Tommy Stewart replacing Christie Elliott but Thistle were unable to create a worthwhile opening prior to half-time and ended a disappointing opening half with a one goal deficit.

Having lacked a bit of a spark in the first half, Thistle looked much more positive at the start of the second half. Paul Cairney, subdued for much of the opening half, was able to dance past a couple of Rovers challenges inside the box in the 48th minute but couldn’t find a team mate with his final ball. Thistle’s bright start to the second half was but brief with Rovers extending their lead in the 55th minute. The chance initially came about as a result of a mishit John Baird shot but even allowing for that piece of bad fortune, Thistle should still have made a much better job of clearing the ball with John Baird having an alarming amount of space when he headed beyond Fox and into the net. Chris Erskine was immediately sent on for Paul Paton but it was the home side that continued to look like scoring again with a Brian Graham header only a foot or so over the bar. There was an increased sense of urgency from Thistle at 2-0 down and both Aaron Sinclair and Paul Cairney saw low shots saved by David McGurn but as Thistle pushed forward there were gaps appearing at the back for Rovers to exploit on the counter attack. Chris Erskine though was unlucky in the 68th minute to see his curling effort headed behind by Grant Murray. Typically, Thistle were unable to make anything of the corner that followed. Thistle’s best spell in the game though failed to produce a goal and it would be hard if not impossible to argue that the home side weren’t worthy winners in the end despite Thistle never giving up the chase.

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