5th Apr 2016 Partick Thistle 1 Dundee United 0 (SPFL Premiership - game 32)

matches:2015-16: ← 38game 3940 →

38y, 8m, 23d	Alan Archibald	Mixu Paatelainen

Kris Doolan; Gary Fraser
Mathias Pogba; Ryan Edwards

Kris Doolan (1-0, 71 mins)
Mustapha Dumbuya (1-0, 71 mins)
Freddy Frans; Callum Booth; Dan Seaborne		Gavin Gunning; Scott Fraser

Gary Fraser (Mathias Pogba, 12 mins); Freddy Frans (Mustapha Dumbuya, 48 mins); Kris Doolan (Ryan Edwards, 81 mins)		Guy Demel (Blair Spittal, 67 mins); Paul Dixon (Edward Ofere, 79 mins); Ryan Dow (Scott Fraser, 79 mins)

30y, 11m, 26d	Tomáš Černý	Eiji Kawashima
28y, 11m, 21d	Gary Miller	Paul Dixon
24y, 10m, 6d	Callum Booth	Callum Morris
29y, 1m, 0d	Dan Seaborne	Paul Paton former Jag
27y, 3m, 2d	Freddy Frans	Billy McKay
29y, 1m, 9d	Abdul Osman	John Rankin
24y, 11m, 23d	David Amoo	Kyle Knoyle
26y, 0m, 21d	Sean Welsh	Ryan Dow
29y, 3m, 25d	Kris Doolan	Gavin Gunning
21y, 9m, 3d	Gary Fraser	Henri Anier
24y, 11m, 24d	Steven Lawless	Guy Demel

27y, 0m, 11d

23y, 5m, 7d	Ryan Scully	Michal Szromnik
24y, 10m, 10d	Christie Elliott	Seán Dillon
28y, 7m, 29d	Mustapha Dumbuya	Edward Ofere
19y, 2m, 0d	Aidan Nesbitt	Simon Murray
22y, 4m, 19d	Ryan Edwards	Mark Durnan
19y, 0m, 28d	Kevin Nisbet	Blair Spittal future Jag
25y, 7m, 17d	Mathias Pogba	Scott Fraser

notes

Rescheduled from the postponed fixture of 30th January 2016. Art giveaway # 5: 2,000 thumbs-up foam-hands, designed by Macclesfield-born Glasgow-based visual artist (and Jags fan!), David Shrigley.

TTA report

United had Thistle all at sea but ultimately regretted umpteen misses. Cerny kept them in it, occasionally playing at sweeper. After half-time re-jigged Thistle took over and a magnificent drive by Doolan from 17 yards after a fine move down the right and dummy by Amoo (71) completed the transformation.

Media report

05-Apr-2016, ptfc.co.uk

With two games remaining before the league splits into two sections of six, it was another crucial night at Firhill as Thistle hosted Dundee United in a re-arranged game from January. Both sides needed the three points for very different reasons contributing to a tense atmosphere around the ground as kick off approached.Manager Alan Archibald made two changes to the side which contested a drab draw against Kilmarnock with Kris Doolan being preferred to Mathias Pogba up front, while Ryan Edwards dropped out for Gary Fraser. United were captained by former Thistle player, Paul Paton and were looking to build on Saturday’s 1-0 win over St Johnstone.

Frederic Frans went into Andrew Dallas’ book inside two minutes when he fouled Anier as he looked to burst through on goal. Paul Paton’s free kick sailed high over Cerny’s cross bar. It was Dundee United who had the better of the early stages and after they capitalised on Gary Fraser lying stricken on the Firhill turf, Ryan Dow forced a strong save from Tomas Cerny. Fraser’s game was over with barely ten minutes played and Archibald introduced Pogba to the team, with Doolan dropping deeper into midfield. As Thistle struggled to adapt to the tactical change, United imposed themselves on the game. Paul Paton curled a free kick just out of the reach of the United attack. Long ball after long ball caused Thistle bother and Tomas Cerny had to be alert on a number of occasions to sweep up loose balls while also producing terrific saves. Ryan Dow was posing a menace to the Thistle defence, but was having a poor time with his accuracy, firing over the top of the bar. With 29 minutes on the clock, Thistle got themselves in a horrible mess on the edge of the box and with McKay presented with near to an open goal, his effort was just over the cross bar. Thistle were starting to come into the game but Doolan’s header was comfortable for Kawashima to clutch. It was only a temporary respite as United broke again. The ball working its way to Rankin on the left hand side of the box and he forced an excellent save from Cerny who tipped over the crossbar. United did have the ball in the net on the stroke of half-time through McKay but the whistle had long gone for an offside.

If the first half was one of Thistle’s poorest then the second half was a definite improvement. There was a tactical reshuffle required early on with Frederic Frans having to be replaced in the early stages of the second half through injury. Mustapha Dumbuya was introduced to the game meaning Gary Miller moved to central defence. It was a move that would have a devastating impact on the game. One of his rampaging runs down the right hand side saw him whip over a cross which Callym Booth volleyed over the crossbar by inches. Thistle were coming into the game stronger as it wore on, but weren’t creating clear cut opportunities for Kawashima to face in the United goal. That all changed in the 71st minute as Thistle took the lead. Dundee United sent an aimless long ball into the corner, which Callum Booth collected. He played the ball to Doolan who controlled well before sending it back to Booth. The ball was switched to Dumbuya, via Osman and Welsh, who rampaged down the right hand side. His low cross from the right was dummied by David Amoo to create the space for Kris Doolan to lash a right footed effort beyond Kawashima from just inside the penalty area. Thistle found renewed confidence from the goal and Lawless forced a full length save from the edge of the box. With Thistle having used all three substitutes there was some concern when Abdul Osman appeared to suffer an injury. Thankfully he was able to soldier on with Thistle unable to add a second goal when Welsh worked well inside the box. Kawashima was equal to his curling low effort. David Amoo was proving to be useful for Thistle in winding down the clock with several rampaging runs deep into United territory. With four minutes of injury time signalled, there would be one further moment of drama when Scott Fraser tumbled inside the Thistle box. He was, correctly booked for diving as temperatures began to rise inside the Jags penalty area. With four minutes of additional time safely navigated, Thistle could celebrate another three points that took the side above the 40 points mark and means the side will be competing for a top six slot in the last game before the split.

DOOLAN MOVES AHEAD OF SOMNER

● For the first time, eight nations are represented in the Thistle appearances tally; Belgium, the Czech Republic, England, Ghana, Guinea, Scotland, Sierra Leone & Singapore.

● For the first time in competitve action, eight nations are represented in the Thistle appearances tally; Belgium, the Czech Republic, England, Ghana, Guinea, Scotland, Sierra Leone & Singapore.

● Dundee United, formed in 1909 as Dundee Hibernian, bring 1909 supporters to Firhill.

● Kris scores with his right foot for the first time since January 2015; a 2-2 draw with Dundee United at Firhill.

● With his 84th goal in all competitions, Kris leaves Dougie Somner behind and now sits outright 14th in that all-time table. Next target: Sam Kennedy on 91 goals.

● Across all main Leagues (including pre-SFL and wartime), Kris now sits outright as our 10th greatest League goal-scorer with 76. He's our most prolific League marksman since George Smith, who last played for the Jags way back in 1963.

● Just one more goal from Kris would take his competitive goals tally into double-figures for the sixth consecutive season. If he achieves that, he'd only be the second Thistle man in history to do so. Jimmy Walker registered 7 seasons-in-a-row from 1947-48.

● Callum Booth's 6th yellow card of the campaign means that he will be thwarted in his most excellent attempt to play every minute of every competitive game this season. He'll be suspended for match-day 34 of the Premiership.

● Amazingly, all 5 of the artistic giveaway games of 2015-16 have resulted in 5 Thistle victories with 5 clean-sheets! THAT DESERVES TWO BIG THUMBS UP… :thumbsup:

● With his 11th Premiership clean-sheet of the campaign, Tomáš Černý now lies joint-3rd in the all-time 'keepers table for League clean-sheets in a single top-flight season. He's only the second 'keeper post-75 reconstruction to achieve this feat, equalling Craig Nelson's tally from 1993-94. Only Johnny Jackson (13 top-flight clean-sheets in 1930-31) and Kenny Campbell (14 top-flight clean-sheets in 1920-21) have went beyond this point.

● Archie's Jags re-set the club's H2H League record vs Dundee United with a 4th consecutive win.

● Archie's Jags re-set the club's H2H League record vs Dundee United with a 4th consecutive clean-sheet.

● With his 31st victory in the top-flight, Alan Archibald now sits shoulder to shoulder with Davie McParland in the Premier League wins table.

ongoing sequences:

● 6 competitive games without a first-half goal, 5th Mar 2016 to date. (Longest run since: 6 games; 22nd Aug 2016 to 26th Sep 2016.)

● 45 competitive away games without a penalty award, 1st Mar 2014 to date. (Longest run since: 64 games; 17th Apr 1948 to 3rd Mar 1951. Club-record: 73 games; 1st Apr 1911 to 7th Nov 1914.)

● 45 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.)

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