10th May 2016 Dundee United 3 Partick Thistle 3 (SPFL Premiership - game 37)

matches:2015-16: ← 43game 4445 →

	Gordon Young	Alan Archibald	38y, 9m, 27d

		James Penrice; Liam Lindsay; David Wilson [ii]
		Gary Miller; Mustapha Dumbuya; Abdul Osman

Freddy Frans (2-1, og 67 mins); Edward Ofere (3-2, 86 mins); Justin Johnson (3-3, 90+3 mins)		Freddy Frans (1-0, 6 mins); Kris Doolan (2-0, 34 mins); Ryan Edwards (3-1, 77 mins)
Scott Fraser (2-1, og 67 mins); Scott Fraser (3-2, 86 mins); Edward Ofere (3-3, 90 mins)		James Penrice (1-0, 6 mins); none (2-0, 34 mins); David Amoo (3-1, 77 mins)
Scott Fraser; Edward Ofere		James Penrice

Billy McKay (Justin Johnson, 63 mins); Matthew Smith (Bradley Smith, 78 mins); John Rankin (Cameron Ballantyne, 88 mins)		David Wilson [ii] (Aidan Nesbitt, 68 mins); Kris Doolan (Mathias Pogba, 73 mins); David Amoo (Kevin Nisbet, 83 mins)

	Eiji Kawashima	Ryan Scully	23y, 6m, 11d
	Seán Dillon	Freddy Frans	27y, 4m, 7d
	Paul Dixon	James Penrice	17y, 4m, 18d
	Billy McKay	Dan Seaborne	29y, 2m, 5d
	John Rankin	Liam Lindsay	20y, 6m, 28d
	Edward Ofere	Sean Welsh	26y, 1m, 25d
	Kyle Knoyle	David Amoo	25y, 0m, 27d
	Simon Murray	David Wilson [ii]	21y, 8m, 4d
	Scott Fraser	Kris Doolan	29y, 4m, 29d
	Harry Souttar	Ryan Edwards	22y, 5m, 23d
	Matthew Smith	Steven Lawless	25y, 0m, 28d

			24y, 4m, 8d

	Luis Zwick	Paul Gallacher	36y, 8m, 24d
	Mark Durnan	Aidan Nesbitt	19y, 3m, 5d
	Coll Donaldson	Jordan Leyden	20y, 2m, 1d
	Justin Johnson	Kevin Nisbet	19y, 2m, 2d
	Bradley Smith	Mathias Pogba	25y, 8m, 21d
	Cameron Ballantyne

notes

Thistle filled only 5 of their 7 allocated bench slots, whilst United filled only 6 of theirs.

TTA report

A Frans header from a Penrice corner (6) and when a defensive blunder let in Doolan to round the keeper (34) set up makeshift Thistle nicely. An OG by Frans (67) and a close-in header by Edwards (77) made it 3-1 but goals 86 and 93 earned relegated United a draw as Thistle failed to see the game out.

Media report

10-May-2016, ptfc.co.uk

Thistle travelled to Tannadice to face an already relegated Dundee United side almost 20 years to the day since the Jags suffered a horrible relegation through the playoffs at the ground. The club was shocked with the sudden passing of club kitman Ricky Roughan earlier in the day and the side were looking to get a victory in his memory. Thistle had secured their safety on Saturday and that allowed Alan Archibald to rest players who had been playing through the pain barrier in recent games. Out of the side which triumphed on Saturday went Abdul Osman, Callum Booth and Gary Miller as they looked to begin recuperation ahead of being fully fit for the next campaign. Liam Lindsay was recalled to the centre of defensive, with Frederic Frans shunted to right back. James Penrice was drafted in for his competitive debut and he lined up in the left back position he has made his own in the Development League. David Wilson went in to the heart of midfield alongside Sean Welsh.

James Penrice was keen to impress and made an immediate impact on the travelling Thistle support when he fired a 25 yard effort just wide of Kawashima’s post. With six minutes on the clock Thistle took the lead. Penrice was entrusted with corner kick duties and whipped over a cracking delivery which Frederic Frans powered home at the near post. United and Thistle were keen to play an open attacking game of football with both sides passing the ball around well on the Tannadice surface. Simon Murray drilled a shot across the face of goal after 14 minutes, with Scully relieved to see the ball evade his far post by a number of feet. Billy McKay was on a one man mission to drag United level but he was finding Ryan Scully in fine form, pushing away his effort from just outside the box. With just over 30 minutes on the clock Thistle doubled their lead. David Amoo flicked on Steven Lawless chipped ball with Sean Dillon looking like he was able to clear the danger. He blundered on the edge of the box to present Kris Doolan with an opportunity and the in-form striker made no mistake from close range after rounding Kawashima.

United came out strongly at the start of the second half when Smith sends a low shot into the sidenetting after showing neat skill to evade the attentions of Frederic Frans. After an excellently observed 65th minute’s applause for Ricky Roughan, United did get themselves back into the game when a corner kick was deflected into the back of the net via an unfortunate deflection from Frederic Frans. Thistle went up a notch as they looked to re-establish the two goal lead and Ryan Edwards created a chance for himself before forcing an excellent save from Kawashima. United were continuing to put pressure on the Thistle goal but somehow the Thistle rear-guard remained intact when United players were queuing up to put the ball in the back of Ryan Scully’s net. With less than a quarter of an hour to go, however, Thistle netted at the other end to extend the lead. David Amoo showed great determination to battle through a tough challenge before crossing the ball for Ryan Edwards who headed home from close range. The game looked to be drifting to a tame conclusion when suddenly Dundee United managed to force their way back into the game. Aidan Nesbitt threaded a tremendous through ball to Kevin Nisbet who had an excellent shot tipped around for a corner before Edward Ofere had too much time and space at the edge of the box to power a shot through Seaborne and Scully. With the fourth official indicating a minimum of three minutes added United grabbed their third of the game. Ofere flicked on for Johnson who was able to brush off the challenge of Welsh to fire a low effort into the net from inside the box. Thistle had to settle for just a point on a day where football was secondary after the news that a member of the Partick Thistle family passed away earlier in the day. Thistle will look to sign off their season with a win against Hamilton Accies on Saturday.

PENRICE BREAKTHROUGH

● James Penrice becomes the 28th player to register a competitive appearance for the season. He now becomes the most recently-born player to appear for Thistle. The 17-year-old provides a high-quality assist on his competitive debut.

● On Saturday Kris Doolan becomes the first Jag in history to register 3 Hogans. Last night he became the first Jag in history to register 4 of them! He has now scored in 3 out of 4 same-season League matches vs QOS 11-12; vs Ayr Utd 11-12; vs Kilmarnock 15-16; vs Dundee United 15-16. Not only does this guy set club-records, he breaks his own all in a week's work!

● Kris Doolan bags his 94th goal (all games) for the club, and might well break through that overall 100 goals barrier sometime in 2016.

● Kris Doolan scores for Thistle in 4 consecutive competitve games; a new personal best for the striker. He's the first Jag since James Grady in 2004 to register this feat purely in top-flight action. Joe McBride was the last man to do 5-in-a-row in the top-flight, set away back in August 1961. The club-record for the top-flight is 6-in-a-row, set by Sandy Hair in October 1923 and equalled by Bobby Howitt in February 1953.

● With 13 goals, Kris moves up to joint 5th in this season's Scottish Premiership scorers chart. Looks a certainty that only he and Billy McKay will be able to lay claim to being ever-presents in the end-of-season Top 10 scorers chart of the SPFL Premiership.

● Freddy Frans scores his last goal for Thistle. He becomes the first Jag in the 21st century to score for and against Thistle in the same match. (Cracking header though!)

● Unluckily, Freddy is the first Jag in the 21st century to register 2 own-goals in the same season.

● A shift of at least 84 minutes from Steven Lawless (3221 mins) on Saturday would see him pip Callum Booth (3304 mins) in terms of most game time for Thistle in 2015-16.

● A brace from Kris Doolan on Saturday would see him equal his personal best senior tally of 15 League goals in a season, achieved in 2010-11.

ongoing sequences:

● 39 consecutive competitive appearances for Steven Lawless, 9th Aug 2015 to date, a new personal best. (Longest run since: Callum Booth - 46 games; 14th Mar 2015 to 9th Apr 2016. Club-record: Johnny Jackson - 313 games; 28th Aug 1926 to 25th Mar 1933.)

● 48 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.)

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