8th Mar 2016 Partick Thistle 1 Aberdeen 2 (SPFL Premiership - game 28)

matches:2015-16: ← 34game 3536 →

38y, 7m, 24d	Alan Archibald	Derek McInnes

Christie Elliott; Gary Fraser
Gary Miller; Stuart Bannigan

Steven Lawless (1-0, 60 mins)		Andrew Considine (1-1, 74 mins); Simon Church (1-2, 76 mins)
Abdul Osman (1-0, 60 mins)		none (1-1, 74 mins); Barry Robson (1-2, 76 mins)
Callum Booth; Abdul Osman		Mark Reynolds

Gary Fraser (Ryan Edwards, 68 mins); Mathias Pogba (Kris Doolan, 75 mins); Steven Lawless (Antonio German, 81 mins)		Craig Storie (Barry Robson, 66 mins); Barry Robson (Daniel Harvie, 89 mins)

30y, 10m, 27d	Tomáš Černý	Scott Brown
24y, 9m, 11d	Christie Elliott	Shay Logan
24y, 9m, 7d	Callum Booth	Graeme Shinnie
29y, 0m, 3d	Dan Seaborne	Andrew Considine
20y, 4m, 25d	Liam Lindsay	Ash Taylor
29y, 0m, 10d	Abdul Osman	Mark Reynolds
24y, 10m, 24d	David Amoo	Kenny McLean
21y, 8m, 6d	Gary Fraser	Jonny Hayes
25y, 6m, 18d	Mathias Pogba	Simon Church
25y, 11m, 22d	Sean Welsh	Ryan Jack
24y, 10m, 25d	Steven Lawless	Craig Storie

25y, 7m, 17d

23y, 4m, 8d	Ryan Scully	Adam Collin
28y, 10m, 22d	Gary Miller	Daniel Harvie
29y, 2m, 26d	Kris Doolan	Barry Robson
24y, 2m, 11d	Antonio German	Willo Flood
27y, 2m, 5d	Freddy Frans	Francis Ross
19y, 1m, 3d	Aidan Nesbitt	Scott Wright
22y, 3m, 20d	Ryan Edwards	Cammy Smith future Jag

notes

Rescheduled from the postponed fixture of 19th February 2016.

TTA report

8th v 2nd was an entertaining, open game. Lawless scored a magnificent top corner 25-yarder (60) then Pogba's header was tipped over. 2 headers (from a cross, 74 and a corner, 76) turned the game around. Thistle played well and matched Aberdeen for long spells but their efforts went unrewarded.

Media report

08-Mar-2016, ptfc.co.uk

Aberdeen were the latest visitors to Firhill as Thistle looked to secure more precious Premiership points in the quest to catch the sides above them in the league. There was a chill in the air at Firhill as kick-off approached with the Dons keen to pick up the points in order to threaten Celtic at the summit of the Ladbrokes Premiership table. Manager Alan Archibald made two changes to the side which lost narrowly against Hearts on Saturday afternoon; one enforced through injury, the other a tactical switch. Stuart Bannigan, so influential for the side this season, had limped off with an injury on Saturday and instead of being available for selection on the pitch, he took his place in the Thistle commentary box to bring audio analysis to the proceedings. His place was taken by Gary Fraser, who was looking to re-capture the form he had shown earlier in the season before injury and bereavement so cruelly denied him much needed game time. In defence, Christie Elliott replaced Gary Miller as Thistle looked to match up against the potent Aberdeen attack throughout the game. For Aberdeen, the influential Jonny Hayes returned from injury and was fit to start the game.

Aberdeen looked in determined mood early on, but it was Thistle who looked the more dangerous side with David Amoo probing in the early stages. From the first corner of the game, Gary Fraser found Sean Welsh who fired high over the bar from the edge of the box. With the rain beginning to tumble Hayes, returning from injury for the visitors, was looking to use the surface to his advantage but his 25 yard effort lashed high off Tomas Cerny’s bar. The opening 20 minutes didn’t have anything in way of real goalscoring threat but Kenny McLean had the game’s first real opportunity. The ball skidded off the surface, allowing the late run from the midfielder to get in behind the defence. Under pressure from Liam Lindsay, he could only fire tamely into the arms of Tomas Cerny. Gary Fraser and Mathias Pogba were linking up well in the advanced areas of the pitch and after the returning midfielder curled a really good ball through to the striker, the ball just wouldn’t fall kindly for Pogba to bury past Brown. Gary Fraser had Thistle’s best opportunity to open the scoring in the first half when Sean Welsh sprayed the ball into his path, after benefiting from an Aberdeen mistake. Under significant pressure from the advancing goalkeeper, Fraser could only lift his effort inches over the bar. Set pieces were proving troublesome for Thistle and after McLean had cleared the Thistle bar with one from 20 yards after 30 minutes, Simon Church got on the end of Hayes free kick to fire a shot against the top of the bar and over for a goal kick.

In an open entertaining game, it was perhaps surprising that the score line remained at 0-0 at the half time interval. Thistle could sense that they’d get at the Aberdeen defence, but they had to be wary of the threat posed by the Dons. From another dangerous free kick, Sean Welsh was able to clear the ball from inside the six yard box denying Storie the game’s opening goal. The opener did arrive with the hour mark approaching. Steven Lawless has scored many spectacular goals for Thistle, but this is right up there. He showed good trickery to get space for himself 30 yards from goal. He unleashed an absolute screamer which flew past Brown and into the top corner of the net to give Thistle a lead which they had worked incredibly hard to get. Amoo was continuing to prove a handful to another left back and from his cross, Pogba nodded goalwards appearing certain to double the lead. The intervention of Scott Brown, who tipped the ball over the bar for a corner, denied Thistle the second goal which may well have proved decisive. With the game entering the closing stages, Aberdeen didn’t look like breaching Tomas Cerny’s goal, until they did. A cross from Hayes, was deflected by Dan Seaborne to the back post where it fell for Andrew Considine who was in the right place at the right time to nod the visitor’s level. No sooner than Aberdeen scored one, than they took the lead. Barry Robson fired a corner into the Thistle penalty area, Simon Church got a run on his marker to plant a header beyond Cerny at the far post. Thistle had one great chance to grab a leveller, but Doolan’s effort on the turn dragged wide of Simon Brown’s left hand post. Tomas Cerny adventured into the Aberdeen penalty area in stoppage time as he looked to salvage an unlikely leveller but there was to be no heroics as Aberdeen won a valuable three points to continue their title battle at the top of the league.

THISTLE'S LEAD OVERTURNED, ENDING A MIGHTY RUN

● Steven Lawless notches up his 30th competitive appearance of 2015-16. His only absence was due to suspension and came in the season opener at New Douglas Park.

● Abdu picks up his 10th yellow card in competitive action this season, drawing level with Stuart.

● Thistle have registered 31 first-half blanks in their last 40 competitive fixtures.

● Stevie's goal ends Thistle's longest-ever goal drought vs Aberdeen; now set at 527 minutes.

● Stevie's goal puts him joint-top of our Goals + Assists combi-table with 8, alongside Kris Doolan and Stuart Bannigan.

● 24-year-old Antonio German plays his last game for Thistle.

● Thistle take the lead and lose for the first time since September 2014, when St Mirren won 2-1 at Firhill with an injury-time penalty. Sadly, this ends a mighty run of 26 competitive games without defeat when we score the opening goal.

● 4-and-a-half months have passed since Thistle last shared the spoils at Firhill; the 1-1 draw with Accies on 24th October 2015 being the last occurence.

● Failure to score against Celtic on Saturday will see Archie's Jags equal the club-record for most games (6) without a goal versus the same team in the League. Such a run has only ever been registered once before; versus St Johnstone in the mid 90s.

ongoing sequences:

● 7 competitive games without a draw, 2nd Feb 2016 to date. (Longest run since: 8 games; 22nd Aug 2015 to 17th Oct 2015. Club-record: 27 games; 18th Feb 1899 to 23rd Dec 1899.)

● 7 competitive games without a home draw, 31st Oct 2015 to date. (Longest run since: 11 games; 21st Jan 2015 to 9th Aug 2015. Club-record: 26 games; 11th Mar 1899 to 13th Oct 1900 & 4th Mar 1944 to 5th May 1945.)

● 41 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.)

● 68 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.)

● 86 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.)

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.

match hubs

match

The Thistle Archive

Partick Thistle stats and stories 1876 to date