12th Dec 2015 Dundee United 0 Partick Thistle 1 (SPFL Premiership - game 17)

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matches:2015-16: ← 21game 2223 →

	Mixu Paatelainen	Alan Archibald	38y, 4m, 29d

		Tomáš Černý; David Amoo; Sean Welsh
		Ryan Scully; Robbie Muirhead; Gary Fraser

		Kris Doolan (1-0, 51 mins)
		Stuart Bannigan (1-0, 51 mins)
Gavin Gunning		Sean Welsh; Callum Booth; Stuart Bannigan

Florent Sinama-Pongolle (Charlie Telfer, 2 mins); Guy Demel (John Rankin, 58 mins); Charlie Telfer (Chris Erskine, 67 mins)		Steven Lawless (David Wilson [ii], 84 mins); David Amoo (Freddy Frans, 90 mins)

	Michal Szromnik	Tomáš Černý	30y, 8m, 2d
	Paul Dixon	Mustapha Dumbuya	28y, 4m, 5d
	John Souttar	Callum Booth	24y, 6m, 12d
	Callum Morris	Dan Seaborne	28y, 9m, 7d
	Billy McKay	Liam Lindsay	20y, 2m, 0d
	former Jag Ryan McGowan	Abdul Osman	28y, 9m, 15d
	Mark Durnan	David Amoo	24y, 7m, 29d
	Gavin Gunning	Stuart Bannigan	23y, 2m, 25d
	future Jag Blair Spittal	Kris Doolan	29y, 0m, 1d
	Florent Sinama-Pongolle	Sean Welsh	25y, 8m, 27d
	Guy Demel	Steven Lawless	24y, 8m, 0d

			26y, 2m, 26d

	Luis Zwick	Ryan Scully	23y, 1m, 13d
	Seán Dillon	Gary Miller	28y, 7m, 27d
	John Rankin	Ryan Stevenson	31y, 3m, 18d
	former Jag Chris Erskine	Freddy Frans	26y, 11m, 9d
	Charlie Telfer	David Wilson [ii]	21y, 3m, 6d
	Scott Fraser	Ryan Edwards	22y, 0m, 25d
	Euan Spark	Mathias Pogba	25y, 3m, 23d

notes

PTFC missing 2 yellows: Callum Booth and Gavin Gunning and also missing the Telfer (Erskine) substitution in 67 mins.

TTA report

The first half midfield monotony was relieved when Doolan turned and shot home from the edge of the box (51) then Lawless hit the post on the angle. Increasingly desperate United pressure pegged Thistle back. Cerny had some fine saves as they turned the screw. 1 goal from only 2 shots on target!

Media report

12-Dec-2015, ptfc.co.uk

Thistle travelled to Tannadice to take on bottom-placed Dundee United, looking for a third consecutive in the Ladbrokes Premiership. The side knew they would be in for a tough afternoon with the Tayside outfit fighting for their lives at the bottom of the division. Manager Alan Archibald made three changes to the side which had triumphed in style against Kilmarnock a fortnight ago. Tomas Cerny made a return in goal following a spell with injury, Robbie Muirhead was ineligible through the terms of his loan deal and Gary Fraser missed out having picked up an injury late in training on Friday afternoon.

United started the game as the stronger side with Sinama-Pongolle linking up well with Spittal and McKay in the early stages. His impact in the game was curtailed after ten minutes when he appeared to pick up a muscle injury. Gunning fired over from a free kick on the very edge of the penalty area, while it took a good headed clearance from Kris Doolan to deny the Arabs from a corner kick. Thistle were struggling to get a grip in the game as United imposed themselves on the midfield and when Thistle did manage to advance forward, poor deliveries squandered the opportunity. The game descended into a sloppy first half with Thistle the more relieved side at the break.

The second half sparked into life early, with Cerny having to react well to a Dixon effort which he saw extremely late on. Thistle broke up the part and after Bannigan picked out Doolan inside the box, the striker showed off his exceptional touch to fire the ball low beyond Szromnik into the corner of the net. Thistle were high with confidence after the goal and Lawless nearly doubled the lead when his cut back was deflected onto the post via a good save from the goalkeeper. The game was becoming stretched and Thistle had a couple of good opportunities to extend the lead. Equally, United fired efforts on the Thistle goal but from good positions Rankin shot wide on two occasion. Blair Spittal was the latest to have a dig on goal, but after a deflection, his shot bounced harmlessly wide of goal. Thistle were becoming increasingly camped inside their own half, but from a Bannigan corner, Seaborne was unable to flick the ball goalwards. Dundee United were winning lots of corners and from one Morris had a shot which appeared to strike the arm of Lindsay. Referee MacLean was unmoved and waved play on. It was an extremely nervy finish to the game as Thistle were camped into their penalty area with last ditch clearances and blocks being the order of the day. After almost four minutes of injury time, the shrill referee’s whistle pierced the air to signal another three precious points for Alan Archibald’s side.

ARAB HIGHS

● Thistle win a third consecutive competitive game versus Dundee United, the H2H joint-record.

● Thistle register 3 consecutive League clean-sheets vs. Dundee United for the first time ever.

● Kris Doolan is the first Jag to net in three consecutive top-flight games since James Grady, who did 4-in-a-row in May 2005.

● During the course of this campaign Kris Doolan has moved from 21st to joint 15th in the all-time competitive goals chart. 14th placed Dougie Somner (on 83) is now firmly in his sights. This is history in the making!

● Archie's Jags register 3 consecutive top-flight victories for the second time in 2015 - no mean feat considering we've only ever had 3 such runs of 3 since December '78 onwards! Bertie's Jags were last to go beyond this point, winning 4-in-a-row in October 1977.

● Thistle register their first competitive victory in the away strip since the truly magnificent 2-1 triumph at home to Cove Rangers 3 years, 1 month and 9 days ago. Kris Doolan scored that day too. Obviously.

● In the "all-games" category, Archie started his managerial career with 12 away games unbeaten in 2013, and followed that with a 10 game stretch unbeaten away from home in 2014. There was a further all-game run of 7 away unbeaten in 2015. The current run of 4 away games unbeaten should therefore come as no great surprise to anyone.

● League progression at the end of next Saturday's game would mean that, for the first time since October 1977, Thistle had moved upwards in the top-flight table 4 games-in-a-row.

ongoing sequences:

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

● 28 consecutive competitive appearances for Callum Booth, 14th Mar 2015 to date, a new personal best. (Longest run since: Stephen O'Donnell - 29 games; 8th Nov 2014 to 23rd May 2015. Club-record: Johnny Jackson - 313 games; 28th Aug 1926 to 25th Mar 1933.)

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

● 73 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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