17th Oct 2015 St Johnstone 1 Partick Thistle 2 (SPFL Premiership - game 11)

matches:2015-16: ← 15game 1617 →

	Tommy Wright	Alan Archibald	38y, 3m, 4d

		Gary Miller
		Mustapha Dumbuya

Steven MacLean (2-1, 48 mins)		Gary Miller (1-0, 28 mins); Steven Lawless (2-0, 34 mins)
Graham Cummins (2-1, 48 mins)		Sean Welsh (1-0, 28 mins); Gary Miller (2-0, 34 mins)
		Dan Seaborne; Stuart Bannigan; Abdul Osman
		Abdul Osman (@ 2-1, 86 mins)
Simon Lappin (Michael O'Halloran, HT); David Wotherspoon (Liam Caddis, 76 mins); Graham Cummins (John Sutton, 83 mins)		Mathias Pogba (Kris Doolan, 72 mins); David Amoo (Freddy Frans, 88 mins)

	Alan Mannus	Tomáš Černý	30y, 6m, 7d
	Dave Mackay	Gary Miller	28y, 6m, 2d
	future Jag Tam Scobbie	Callum Booth	24y, 4m, 17d
	Simon Lappin	Dan Seaborne	28y, 7m, 12d
	Murray Davidson	Liam Lindsay	20y, 0m, 5d
	Steven MacLean	Abdul Osman	28y, 7m, 20d
	David Wotherspoon	David Amoo	24y, 6m, 4d
	Joe Shaughnessy	Stuart Bannigan	23y, 1m, 0d
	Graham Cummins	Mathias Pogba	25y, 1m, 28d
	Brian Easton	Sean Welsh	25y, 7m, 2d
	Liam Craig	Steven Lawless	24y, 6m, 5d

			25y, 9m, 9d

	Zander Clark	Ryan Scully	22y, 11m, 18d
	future Jag Steven Anderson	Kris Doolan	28y, 10m, 6d
	John Sutton	Ryan Stevenson	31y, 1m, 23d
	Liam Caddis	Freddy Frans	26y, 9m, 14d
	Darnell Fisher	David Wilson [ii]	21y, 1m, 11d
	Chris Kane	Ryan Edwards	21y, 11m, 0d
	Michael O'Halloran	Robbie Muirhead	19y, 7m, 9d

TTA report

A stunning half volley from 25 yards by Miller (28) and an even more stunning 30-yarder by Lawless (34) made it 2-0 but a free header gave Saints a boost (48). It took magnificent defending to earn the points despite Osman's sending off (86). His hand ball was inside the box but the ref gave a free-kick.

Media report

17-Oct-2015, ptfc.co.uk

Thistle returned to Ladbrokes Premiership action with a trip to Perth to play St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park, a ground which Thistle hadn’t won at since November 1993. The side went into the game in high spirits having trounced Dundee United 3-0 in the match prior to the international break and were looking to pull the gap on the teams directly above them in the league. Manager Alan Archibald made only one, enforced, change with Mustapha Dumbuya struggling with an illness picked up on international duty, allowing Gary Miller to face his former club. It was to be a change that had a direct impact on proceedings. Frederic Frans and Robbie Muirhead returned to the squad having missed the Dundee United game, but both had to settle for a place on the bench.

St Johnstone started the stronger and after five minutes it was looking like it was going to be yet another long afternoon in Perth for the Jags faithful. David Amoo, however, had other plans and he proved to be a valuable threat all game for Thistle. He sent over a cross which fell to the feet of Bannigan, who forced a good save from Mannus with a crisp volley. It was a sighter for the midfielder who fired inches wide from distance with the goalkeeper beaten all ends up. Both sides were firing dangerous crosses into the box, but dogged defending, with a touch of luck, was proving to be valuable in each opposition box. Dave Mackay saw a free kick from 20 yards well saved by Cerny before Amoo used his paced to test Mannus after breaking away from the resulting corner. With just under 30 minutes played, Thistle took the lead. The ball dropped to Gary Miller 25 yards from goal and his first time volley curled its way into the bottom corner of the net with a strike of outstanding quality. Liam Craig passed up a good chance to level by heading over from 6 yards out before Steven Lawless produced a sensational strike of his own. A throw in was played in the direction of the winger, who allowed it to cross his body. From a fully 30 yards he smashed a shot high into the top corner to double Thistle’s lead. Thistle had a couple of extra opportunities to extend the lead prior to half time but good defending from St Johnstone forced the side to settle for only a two goal lead.

Manager Alan Archibald will have stressed the importance of not conceding an early second half goal, but Thistle being Thistle, did exactly that. A cross from Cummins from the left hand side was nodded home by Steven MacLean from close range, taking his tally to 9 for the season. Liam Craig almost equalised moments later but Cerny was more than equal to his fierce drive. The game was stretching from end to end at a fast tempo and Thistle were struggling to get a foot hold in the game. Bannigan and Osman went into the referee’s notebook presenting St Johnstone with favourable opportunities from free kicks, which Cerny dealt with comfortably. With time winding down, slack play from Thistle almost gifted Saints an equaliser when MacLean rounded Cerny, but Miller and Lindsay managed to scramble the ball away. With five minutes to go the odds were stacked higher against Thistle. A shot from Shaughnessy was blocked by Osman on the edge of the box, with referee Beaton awarding a free kick to St Johnstone having deemed it hit his hand. With Saints protesting for a penalty, he issued a second yellow card to Osman who had to make the long walk off the pitch. After a lengthy delay, MacLean fired the free kick wildly over the crossbar. With four minutes of injury time to navigate, Thistle put in a dogged backs-to-the-wall performance and held out to claim their first win at McDiarmid Park since November 1993.

HOODOO BUSTERS

● Gary Miller scores his only goal for Thistle.

● Steven Lawless registers on the Thistle scoring charts for the fourth consecutive season. Can he finish top League scorer for the second time?

● For the second consecutive top-flight game Thistle retired with a lead at both HT and FT. You have to rewind back to the 5-2 win at Tynecastle in March 1996 to find the last time that happened.

● Thistle continue to be taking a hammering in terms of refereeing decisions. Even by recent standards, John Beaton's 3-game stats thus far in 2015-16 are almost laughable. The Motherwell whistler has awarded 8 yellows, 1 red and a penalty against Thistle this season. In the other column he has dished out one solitary yellow to the opposition. Under my usual arbitrary system of 1 point for a yellow card, 4 points for a red and 5 points for a penalty award he's 94% against Thistle this season! I surmise that pure shame prevented him from pointing to the spot in the 85th minute.

● Thistle end a run of 16 competitive games without a win at McDiarmid Park. It's only Thistle's second League win away to the Saints since reconstruction in 1975. On away days, taking over on our Premiership hoodoo hitlist is Fir Park, where Jags are 10 competitive games without a win.

● Thistle record back-to-back wins against St Johnstone for the first time since 1993 and have now set up an opportunity to equal the club-record 3-in-a-row at Firhill on boxing day.

● After the first round of top-flight fixtures Thistle are 4 pts behind the same stage 2013 tally; 3 pts behind the 2014 tally.

ongoing sequences:

● 17 competitive games without defeat when scoring the opening goal, 23rd Sep 2014 to date.

● 18 competitive games without a win in the away strip, 29th Dec 2012 to date.

● 22 consecutive competitive appearances for Callum Booth, 14th Mar 2015 to date, a new personal best. (Longest run since: Stuart Bannigan - 23 games; 24th Jan 2015 to 22nd Aug 2015. Club-record: Johnny Jackson - 313 games; 28th Aug 1926 to 25th Mar 1933.)

● 49 competitive games without a penalty award, 19th Sep 2014 to date.

● 67 competitive games without a goal from a penalty, 22nd Feb 2014 to date.

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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