27th Feb 2016 Motherwell 3 Partick Thistle 1 (SPFL Premiership - game 25)

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matches:2015-16: ← 31game 3233 →

	Mark McGhee	Alan Archibald	38y, 7m, 14d

		Kris Doolan
		Mathias Pogba

Louis Moult (0-1, pen 37 mins); Louis Moult (0-2, 52 mins); Marvin Johnson (0-3, 69 mins)		Callum Booth (1-3, 76 mins)
none (0-1, pen 37 mins); Scott McDonald (0-2, 52 mins); Stephen Pearson (0-3, 69 mins)		Stuart Bannigan (1-3, 76 mins)
		Aidan Nesbitt

		Aidan Nesbitt (Mathias Pogba, HT); Gary Miller (David Amoo, 66 mins); Kris Doolan (Antonio German, 84 mins)

	Connor Ripley	Tomáš Černý	30y, 10m, 17d
	Stephen McManus	Gary Miller	28y, 10m, 12d
	Steven Hammell	Callum Booth	24y, 8m, 28d
	Louis Laing	Dan Seaborne	28y, 11m, 22d
	future Jag Ben Hall	Freddy Frans	27y, 1m, 24d
	future Jag Scott McDonald	Abdul Osman	29y, 0m, 0d
	Louis Moult	Christie Elliott	24y, 9m, 1d
	Marvin Johnson	Stuart Bannigan	23y, 5m, 10d
	Chris Cadden	Kris Doolan	29y, 2m, 16d
	Keith Lasley	Aidan Nesbitt	19y, 0m, 22d
	Stephen Pearson	Steven Lawless	24y, 10m, 15d

			26y, 5m, 14d

	Craig Samson	Ryan Scully	23y, 3m, 29d
	Lionel Ainsworth	Sean Welsh	25y, 11m, 12d
	Josh Law	David Amoo	24y, 10m, 14d
	Wes Fletcher	Antonio German	24y, 2m, 1d
	Dom Thomas	Liam Lindsay	20y, 4m, 15d
	James McFadden	Ryan Edwards	22y, 3m, 10d
	Jack Leitch	Mathias Pogba	25y, 6m, 8d

TTA report

A scrappy first half was going nowhere until a clip by Nesbitt gave away a pen (37). A throw-in led to an angled drive (52) and a 3rd on the break (69) made sure. Booth's 25-yard strike (76) was some consolation. Motherwell deserved the win. Not good enough on the day, even against an average team.

Media report

27-Feb-2016, ptfc.co.uk

Thistle travelled to Fir Park looking to gain a first victory at the Lanarkshire ground in over 20 years against a Motherwell side that had not played since losing at St Johnstone last Saturday. Thistle had beaten the same opposition at Firhill on Tuesday night with an encouraging, strong performance to climb to 8th in the Ladbrokes Premiership table. It was perhaps the good performance from Tuesday night that prompted manager Alan Archibald to make just the one change to the starting line-up. Kris Doolan, who netted such a quick opener after coming on as a substitute was preferred to Mathias Pogba with the rest of the side instructed to repeat their performances from Tuesday night.

The game got off to a slow start with not much in the way of goalmouth action in the opening stages. Doolan did take advantage of a slack Motherwell pass in the second minute but after the ball was played wide to Booth, the full back was unable to win even a corner with his cross as it went behind for goal kick. Motherwell were showing plenty of passing movement, but Thistle weren’t challenged in a defensive area in the forgettable opening 20 minutes of a match. Osman and Booth both fired crosses into a penalty area where plenty of Thistle players made the run into the box, sadly from a Thistle perspective the deflection proved helpful for Ripley in the Motherwell goal. Aidan Nesbitt, so impressive on Tuesday night, showed a couple of flashes of his potential but after a run into the Motherwell half, fired wide of the post from just outside the box. Motherwell did have the ball in the net after 27 minutes when Louis Moult knocked home after being set up by Scott McDonald. The prolific striker was, correctly, ruled offside. Thistle were growing into the game, but in truth the match was a poor one and it was from a Thistle mistake that Motherwell took the lead. Lasley made a run into a wide area of the penalty and was tracked by Aidan Nesbitt, sadly for the loanee he clipped the veteran Motherwell player and referee, Finnie, pointed to the spot. Louis Moult made no mistake from the spot and sent Tomas Cerny the wrong way to fire Motherwell into the lead. It was very close to a second goal moments later when Scott McDonald burst into the Thistle box, before picking out Cadden on the right hand side. The young winger skipped past Booth before firing a low cross which was evaded by everyone in the six yard box. Motherwell were well on top as the first half came to a close and Thistle were relieved at just the one goal deficit.

Thistle made a half time change with Nesbitt being replaced by Mathias Pogba as Alan Archibald looked to beef up his attack which had failed to test Ripley during the first half. The striker made an immediate impact playing the ball wide to Miller but his cross, like so many, was comfortable for Ripley. The second goal did arrive but it was a second for Motherwell. Scott McDonald broke away from a throw in and was able to slip the ball to Moult, who had far too much space inside the penalty area and he made no mistake to fire the ball powerfully past Cerny. Thistle were working hard trying to get back in the game and Doolan had a powerful driven cross punched away by Ripley as Pogba looked set to pounce on the loose ball. There was a lack of creativity as Thistle struggled to get back into the game. Motherwell continued to pose a threat on the break and McDonald was close to adding a third when he got on the end of Steven Hammell’s free kick but was unable to find the target with his effort. As Thistle looked to get back into the game, Callum Booth fizzed a low drive into the box which was cleared by a Motherwell defender off the hands of Ripley. Motherwell countered on the break, Marvin Johnson cut in from the right hand side and fired past the helpless Cerny to put Motherwell into a 3-0 lead. Thistle were falling apart at the back and it could have been more with a hungry Motherwell keen to punish the side on every occasion. McDonald saw the ball fall to him inside the box, but his shot was pushed away by Cerny for a corner kick. From the resulting corner, McManus forced another tremendous save from Thistle’s goalkeeper as the ball sat up for him to volley from 10 yards out. Thistle grabbed a goal back with 15 minutes remaining when Callum Booth fired a deflected effort past Ripley from 20 yards, finally breaking his goalscoring duck for Thistle with his first strike for the club. There was hope for a comeback and Amoo went on a mazy run deep into the Motherwell half just moments later. With good support alongside him, he elected to shoot with his shot being blocked for a Thistle corner kick. Thistle continued pushing forward, with Amoo looking very lively in his substitute appearance but Motherwell were able to contain and soak up the pressure as the minutes closed out. Despite three additional minutes of time, Thistle didn’t look like troubling the Motherwell rear guard in the closing stages and the 979 Thistle fans who made the trek to Fir Park went home very disappointed.

UNLUCKY 13?

● In competitive action, 13 consecutive penalty awards have now went to the opposition. For Thistle, such a run is unprecedented in the 20th or 21st century, and I have virtually no doubt that it's unprecedented in the entire history of the club.

● Thistle have failed to score in 10 of the last 11 opening halves.

● Callum Booth's first goal for Thistle comes at the 46th time of asking. It's Thistle's first away-day League goal of 2016.

● 24-year-old Antonio German makes his Thistle debut.

● Motherwell become the first side in more than 13 years not to utilise a substitute vs Thistle. Dundee were the last club to be so gallus, in their 2-0 Scottish Cup win at Firhill in January 2003.

● Thistle are now 11 competitive games without a win at Fir Park; this further extends an unwanted H2H club-record run.

● Thistle have an opportunity to set a new H2H record on Wednesday evening; 4 consecutive wins vs St Johnstone would be an historic first for the club.

ongoing sequences:

● 11 competitive games without a half-time lead, 12th Dec 2015 to date. (Longest run since: 19 games; 7th Mar 2015 to 26th Sep 2015.)

● 25 competitive games without defeat when scoring the opening goal, 23rd Sep 2014 to date. (Longest run since: 26 games; 29th Sep 2001 to 7th Dec 2002.)

● 38 consecutive competitive appearances for Callum Booth, 14th Mar 2015 to date, a new personal best. (Longest run since: Aaron Taylor-Sinclair - 55 games; 27th Oct 2012 to 18th Jan 2014. Club-record: Johnny Jackson - 313 games; 28th Aug 1926 to 25th Mar 1933.)

● 65 competitive games without a penalty award, 19th Sep 2014 to date. (Longest run since the club-record: 106 games; 10th Oct 1891 to 14th Dec 1895.)

● 83 competitive games without a goal from a penalty, 22nd Feb 2014 to date. (Longest run since the club-record: 114 games; 8th Aug 1891 to 14th Dec 1895.)

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