28th Feb 2015 Dundee United 0 Partick Thistle 2 (SPFL Premiership - game 27)

matches:2014-15: ← 37game 3839 →

	former Jag / man. Jackie McNamara	Alan Archibald	37y, 7m, 15d

		Conrad Balatoni; Stuart Bannigan; James Craigen; Steven Lawless; Kallum Higginbotham
		Callum Booth; Dan Seaborne; Gary Fraser; Ryan Stevenson; Declan McDaid

		Stephen O'Donnell (1-0, 34 mins); Ryan McGowan (2-0, og 41 mins)
		Lyle Taylor (1-0, 34 mins); Kallum Higginbotham (2-0, og 41 mins)
Ryan McGowan

Charlie Telfer (Henri Anier, 52 mins); Chris Erskine (Mario Bilate, 76 mins)		Kallum Higginbotham (Declan McDaid, 70 mins); Lyle Taylor (Kris Doolan, 79 mins)

	Radoslaw Cierzniak	Paul Gallacher	35y, 6m, 12d
	Seán Dillon	Stephen O'Donnell	22y, 9m, 17d
	Paul Dixon	Christie Elliott	23y, 9m, 2d
	former Jag Ryan McGowan	Conrad Balatoni	24y, 1m, 1d
	Jarosław Fjout	Freddy Frans	26y, 1m, 25d
	former Jag Paul Paton	Abdul Osman	28y, 0m, 1d
	Charlie Telfer	Stuart Bannigan	22y, 5m, 11d
	former Jag Chris Erskine	James Craigen	23y, 11m, 0d
	future Jag Blair Spittal	Lyle Taylor	24y, 10m, 30d
	Ryan Dow	Steven Lawless	23y, 10m, 16d
	Nadir Çiftçi	Kallum Higginbotham	25y, 8m, 13d

			25y, 6m, 24d

	Luis Zwick	Scott Basalaj	20y, 10m, 9d
	John Rankin	Callum Booth	23y, 8m, 29d
	Aidan Connolly	Kris Doolan	28y, 2m, 17d
	John Souttar	Ryan Stevenson	30y, 6m, 4d
	Henri Anier	Ben Richards-Everton	22y, 4m, 11d
	future Jag Robbie Muirhead	Gary Fraser	20y, 7m, 26d
	Mario Bilate	Declan McDaid	19y, 3m, 6d

TTA report

Apart from an early flurry and an anxious last 10 mins, Thistle were comfortable and controlled the game for long spells. A brilliant move (a season highlight) down the right started by Gallagher's roll-out was finished by O'Donnell (34) then a Higginbotham corner led to an OG (41). Taylor and Bannigan also went close.

Media report

28-Feb-2015, ptfc.co.uk

With Thistle on a wretched run of form, a trip to face Dundee United may have been the last place Alan Archibald wanted to take his side, especially as the Jags hadn’t secured a victory over the Arabs for 20 years. In an attempt to halt the slide, Archibald made five changes to the team who had lost to Ross County the previous weekend. Kallum Higginbotham, Conrad Balatoni, Stuart Bannigan, James Craigen and Steven Lawless all started with Declan McDaid, Ryan Stevenson, Gary Fraser and Callum Booth dropping to the bench with injury forcing Dan Seaborne to watch from the stands.

Thistle started the game brightly and a long throw from O’Donnell found Taylor who turned well in the box only to see his shot blocked. A magnificent cross field pass from Craigen then found Higginbotham clear behind the home sides defence. Unfortunately for the visitors a late offside flag denied him the chance to open the scoring. O’Donnell was looking confident and exciting as the first half wore on and some quick thinking saw his free kick nodded down by Higginbotham to Taylor but he couldn’t get clean contact on his shot and it drifted wide – it was the first real chance of the game though and a sign of things to come. The home side almost made the Jags pay in the 10th minute when Fojut drove the ball across goal but, thankfully, Ciftci miss-hit his shot from six yards and the Jags defence survived. Despite the scare Thistle continued to look the stronger side and Bannigan slid a lovely pass through for Taylor only to see Cierzniak save with his foot. The United keeper had to look lively again when Taylor got in behind the home side’s defence from a Lawless pass but again the keeper came to the rescue to clear before the Jags striker could get a foot on the ball. Craigen then saw a curling shot from outside the box well saved by the keepr and Osman could only poke the ball wide after a scramble in the United box. The way the visitors were playing, it seemed only a matter of time before the opening goal came and, in the 34th minute, the Jags opened the scoring with a fantastically worked team goal finished with a wonderful bit of individual skill. Gallacher rolled the ball out to Higginbotham, his pass was collected just inside his own half by O’Donnell who found Taylor’s run wide, O’Donnell continued his run and collected Taylor’s brilliant back heel, O’Donnell then dropped his shoulder, wrong footing Paton with a cheeky step over, before curling a magnificent left foot curling shot past Cierzniak. As our Twitter feed read at the time: Sensational. With Thistle’s confidence sky high, Frans then headed over a Higginbotham corner, perhaps feeling he should have hit the target with a free header. However, the noisy Jags support did not have long to wait for a second goal. Higginbotham curled a corner into the box, slipping as he took it and ending up on his backside, but as Frans challenged the ball came off the heel of McGowan and finished in the back of the net to put Thistle 2-0 ahead at half time. A lucky break certainly but perhaps the rub of the green that we have been missing at times this season.

The start to the second half was a little slower to get going with O’Donnell needing treatment after staying down for a period, Frans also required the physio’s attention after a clash of heads in the middle of the park. In the 57th minute Taylor did well to create an opening for himself but he dragged his shot wide from 22 yards out. Thistle continued to control the midfield and largely dictated the pace of the game, the home side struggling to contain the Jags. Another excellent O’Donnell pass found Taylor whose back heel in turn found Craigen. JC picked out Bannigan in the middle of the park and his shot from 18 yards fizzed inches wide of the post with Cierzniak rooted to the spot. With 13 minutes remaining Dundee United should have reduced the deficit, Dow got in behind Elliott and squared for Anier who fluffed his shot wide from eight yards – much to the relief of the travelling support. Substitute Bilate then forced the ball through to Ciftci whose shot was easily gathered by Gallacher and the home side continued to press without really causing any major scares for the Jags’ defence, who were superb throughout the game. The final chance of the match fell to the team in tangerine when, in injury time, Anier again missed a chance when unmarked at the back post, blasting wide from six yards. As the final whistle blew Thistle fans breathed out in relief having again watched a magnificent team performance on the pitch. The players were quick to acknowledge the large and noisy travelling support who returned home from their tangerine dream having been rewarded for their journey north.

PARADISE AT TANNADICE

● In the 34th minute, Partick Thistle registered their 100th League goal against Dundee United. All of these goals have come in the top-flight, 1926 to date. The Barca-esque team-effort, complete with Stephen's beautiful finish, was befitting of the milestone.

● In this season's competitive games, Stephen's combined goals / assists tally is now into double figures. He's moved to joint-top of that particular chart alongside Ryan on 10. No' bad for a defender, eh?

● Kallum's second goal-making corner in two games raises his assists tally to 5 in 2014-15, all of which have come in the Premiership. He is now our second-top assistant in this League campaign, and is hunting down Steven on 8.

● Ryan McGowan, cunningly disguised in a Dundee United shirt, scores his first-ever goal for Thistle. #banter

● Thistle win only their sixth League match at Tannadice of all-time. It's only our second League win at Tannadice since the SFL reconstruction in 1975!

● Thistle end a horrible run of 17 competitive games without a win against Dundee United. From those in our Premiership peer group, St Johnstone now take over the category top-spot, as Jags are 9 games without a win against them.

● Goalie Paul Gallacher keeps his last clean-sheet for Thistle.

● Thistle register their fifth competitive clean-sheet in four months, all of which have resulted in victories.

● After picking up 10 yellows and 3 reds in our last three visits to Tannadice, Thistle leave this time without a single booking. Apart, that is, from Ryan McGowan who was working undercover, dressed as an Arab.

● After this latest round of matches, Partick Thistle are the only team in the Premiership who can lay claim to have progressed their same stage 2013/14 position in the 5 main areas; improved League position (10th to 9th), won more games (5 to 7), scored more goals (28 to 35), conceded less goals (44 to 35) and gained more points (25 to 28).

● For the twelfth footballing month in a row, Thistle have registered exactly one League victory in each calendar month. This incredibly strange run now stretches to include all of the months from January 2014 to February 2015.

● In next week's match, Thistle have a 16th opportunity to register back-to-back competitive wins since the current streak started in September 2013. It's also the last chance to avoid a joint-share of the all-time record for the category. Word is, Archie has special agent Scott Boyd on the case already…

ongoing sequences:

● 4 consecutive competitive home defeats; 30th Jan 2015 to date. (Longest run since: 4 defeats; 7th Oct 2013 to 1st Dec 2013. Club-record: 10 defeats; 5th Dec 1908 to 25th Aug 1909.)

● 18 consecutive competitive appearances for Stephen O'Donnell, 8th Nov 2014 to date. (Longest run since: Abdul Osman - 22 games, 13th Aug 2014 to 27th Dec 2014. Club-record: Johnny Jackson - 313 games, 28th Aug 1926 to 25th Mar 1933.)

● 34 competitive games since back-to-back draws, 7th May 2014 to date. (Longest run since: 59 games, 18th Aug 2009 to 11th Dec 2010. Club-record: 201 games, 11th Feb 1957 to 1st Apr 1961.)

● 67 competitive games since back-to-back wins, 14th Sep 2013 to date. (Longest run since the club-record: 69 games, 31st Dec 1907 to 9th Oct 1909.)

● 67 League games since back-to-back Top Flight wins, 9th May 2004 to date. (Longest run since the club-record: 77 games, 2nd Nov 1912 to 5th Dec 1914.)

● 73 competitive games since back-to-back clean-sheets, 6th Aug 2013 to date. (Longest run since: 102 games, 27th Apr 2002 to 23rd Oct 2004. Club-record: 303 games, 26th Feb 1938 to 23rd Jun 1945.)

● Thistle stay 9th in the Premiership for the 15th match in a row. (Longest run since the club-record: 33 games in 12th, 20th Sep 2003 to 15th May 2004.)

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