26th Dec 2011 Partick Thistle 1 Queen of the South 0 (SFL First Division - game 18)

matches:2011-12: ← 26game 2728 →

38y, 2m, 2d	Jackie McNamara	Gus MacPherson

Tommy Stewart; Stuart Bannigan
Craig Dargo; Christie Elliott

Kris Doolan (1-0, 48 mins)
Stephen O'Donnell; Paul Paton		Stephen McKenna

Stuart Bannigan (Chris Erskine, 68 mins); Tommy Stewart (Kieran Burns, 82 mins)		Stephen McKenna (Tom Brighton, HT); Kevin Smith (Marc McCusker, 69 mins); Stephen Simmons (Dan Carmichael, 75 mins)

24y, 5m, 28d	Scott Fox	Lee Robinson
19y, 7m, 15d	Stephen O'Donnell	Craig Reid
20y, 8m, 18d	Aaron Taylor-Sinclair	Alan Reid
24y, 8m, 8d	Paul Paton	Stephen Simmons
20y, 10m, 29d	Conrad Balatoni	Mark Campbell
34y, 0m, 13d	Alan Archibald	Ryan McGuffie
24y, 3m, 27d	Paul Cairney	Allan Johnston
35y, 3m, 12d	David Rowson	Stephen McKenna
25y, 0m, 15d	Kris Doolan	Kevin Smith
25y, 1m, 14d	Tommy Stewart	Nicky Clark
19y, 3m, 9d	Stuart Bannigan	Scott McLaughlin

24y, 10m, 10d

19y, 1m, 27d	Ryan Scully	Roddy McKenzie former Jag
33y, 11m, 23d	Craig Dargo	Tom Brighton
24y, 10m, 18d	Chris Erskine	Marc McCusker
24y, 1m, 0d	Scott Robertson	Dan Carmichael
19y, 9m, 2d	Kieran Burns	Kevin Holt future Jag

TTA report

Queens won 2 corners in the first 2 minutes but Thistle dominated the first half and did everything but score. Doolan headed the only goal inside the 6-yard box (48) then Stewart ran half the length of the park but dragged his shot wide (54). An unchallenged header (72) went close but Thistle saw the game out.

Media report

26-Dec-2011, ptfc.co.uk

Thistle brought the curtain down on 2011 with the visit to Firhill on a blustery Boxing Day of Queen of the South. After defeat in Thistle’s previous outing against Queen of the South, manager Jackie McNamara made a couple of changes to his team for this game. Injury denied the Thistle manager the services of Christie Elliott while Craig Dargo, a pre-match injury doubt, took up a position on the bench. There was a start for Tommy Stewart while Stuart Bannigan came in to start his first league game of the season.

It was the home side that made a fast start to this game and they were close to establishing an early lead. They won a corner inside the first minute and although Thistle did initially get the ball clear, Stephen McKenna returned the ball into the box and Scott Fox was required to make a fine stop to prevent Mark Campbell’s header from finding the net. From the corner that followed Stephen O’Donnell cleared off the line. It was Thistle though that had the better of the remainder of the half although clear cut chances were at a premium. In the 8th minute Kris Doolan just failed to make contact with an excellent ball in from the right from Stephen O’Donnell and, as Thistle started to put the visitors under some serious pressure, a Paul Cairney corner swirled in the wind and struck the top of the crossbar. Tommy Stewart too wasn’t too far off target with a shot from just a few yards outside the box. In the 23rd minute Thistle were able to again threaten the Queens goal. David Rowson knocked the ball into the box where Conrad Balatoni, looking to sign off his loan spell at the Club on a high, stabbed the ball wide of goal. Aside from the flurry of activity in the game’s opening minutes the Thistle goal hadn’t been under too much pressure but in the 33rd minute Kevin Smith was able to take advantage of an error from Stephen O’Donnell and he crossed for Nicky Clark whose header drifted away from the Thistle goal. Thistle had one further half chance before the half-time whistle sounded. Aaron Sinclair’s delivery from the left was good but Kris Doolan was always stretching to reach the ball and although he did manage to get a touch to it he couldn’t get any direction on his header.

Three minutes into the second half and Doolan was on target and Thistle had the lead. Thistle won a free kick at the right corner of the Queens box with Robinson doing well to push away Aaron Sinclair’s effort. The loose ball though fell to Paul Cairney and his driven ball was headed into the net by Doolan for his sixth goal of the season. Six minutes later Thistle were close to doubling their lead. Thistle’s play since the goal had actually been a little untidy but Queens were caught on the break. Tommy Stewart though, after gathering the ball at halfway, dragged his effort wide of goal. The wind was certainly making things difficult for both sides but it was Thistle that looked much the more dangerous side with Paul Cairney again prominent, first earning Thistle a corner after a run into the box and then testing Lee Robinson with a low drive. Robinson was again called upon to make an important save in the 67th minute, this time denying Kris Doolan a goal from the edge of the box. As much as Thistle looked the more likely side to score again they were given a fright in the 72nd minute. Ryan McGuffie was able to steal in unnoticed at a free kick and although given a free header he couldn’t keep the ball down and it went over the bar. The swirling, blustery wind didn’t make defending corners any easier and in the 84th minute Scott Fox got a strong fist to the ball to punch clear a dangerous looking corner from the Queens left. Queens though never really looked like finding an equaliser and Thistle were deserved, if narrow, winners.

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