The Thistle Archive

A late Tony Andreu strike salvaged a point for Hamilton Accies at home to Partick Thistle in the Premiership. Two goals in the space of a minute put Accies into a first-half lead when Darian McKinnon and Danny Redmond both fired past Thistle keeper Scott Fox. Grant Gillespie diverted Jordan McMillan's strike into his own net, then James Craigen's shot levelled. Christie Elliott's left-footed effort looked set to seal the win until Andreu fired home during added time. The result allowed Dundee United to assume top spot in the Premiership table with a one-point advantage, Hamilton dropping to second-place ahead of Celtic. Just as it looked like Partick Thistle were staging a remarkable comeback to take all three points, Hamilton managed to rescue a point right at the death. An early long range effort from Hamilton's Mickael Antoine-Curier flashed wide of the Thistle post, then Kris Doolan latched on to a wayward defensive header, surging into the box - but Accies keeper Michael McGovern came out to meet him and the chance was gone. The match exploded into life in the 21st minute when Dougie Imrie's pacy run down the right wing had Partick Thistle shuffling back towards their own goal. The former Morton player then passed inside to Mackinnon at the edge of the box, and the central midfielder measured a firmly placed shot into the corner of the net past the despairing dive of Scott Fox. A minute later Accies were two in front when Danny Redmond latched onto a ball into the Thistle box and with the Jags' keeper Fox advancing, Redmond dinked a clever shot into the far corner. The Partick response came just after the half hour mark when the ball dropped to McMillan at the edge of the area. He lashed in a shot which took a deflection that gave Hamilton keeper Michael McGovern no chance. Down at the other end a Martin Canning flick from a Redmond free-kick went just wide. And then Stuart Bannigan went close for Partick Thistle, his shot from 20 yards curling narrowly past the post. The first 20 minutes of the second-half passed off fairly peacefully, and shortly after the hour mark a low swerving shot from Andreu was well saved by Fox. But Partick Thistle again responded and midfielder Craigen found space in the box to finish with a low shot past McGovern. Suddenly, Partick completely turned the match around with a wonderful left-footed effort from Elliott into the corner of the net sent the large travelling support into noisy delirium. Deep in added time, the mercurial Andreu gathered the ball just outside the penalty area and he swept in a stunning low strike to rescue a point for the home side.

bbc.com

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