29th Jun 2016 Cirencester Town 0 Partick Thistle 6 (Friendly)

matches:2016-17: ← 45game 0102 →

Match Information

			Brian Hughes		Alan Archibald			38y, 11m, 16d
					David Syme; Liam Donnelly; Danny Devine; Sean Welsh; Chris Erskine
					Gary Miller; Dan Seaborne; Freddy Frans; David Wilson [ii]; Aidan Nesbitt
					Chris Erskine (1-0, 12 mins); Chris Erskine (2-0, 39 mins); Steven Lawless (3-0, 42 mins); Ryan Edwards (4-0, 63 mins); Mathias Pogba (5-0, 75 mins); Kevin Nisbet (6-0, 81 mins)
					Steven Lawless (1-0, 12 mins); Kris Doolan (2-0, 39 mins); Kris Doolan (3-0, 42 mins); none (4-0, 63 mins); none (5-0, 75 mins); Kris Doolan (6-0, 81 mins)
Harvey Rivers (Josh Langley, HT); James Coates (Luke Ballinger, HT); Scott Bevan (Ben Prictor, HT); Ben Brown (James Fowke, HT); Tom Hoskins (Mark Francis, HT); Charlie Griffin (Paul Fahy, HT); Jon Else (Aidan Bennett, HT); Ollie Knight (Elliott Green, HT); Adam Connolly (Alex Dinsmore, 65 mins); Matt Liddiard (Caleb Youngsam, 72 mins); James Mortimer-Jones (Aaron Oakley, 72 mins)					Ryan Scully (Conor Cullen, HT); Sean Welsh (David Wilson [ii], HT); Danny Devine (Jack Batten, HT); Chris Erskine (Mathias Pogba, 51 mins); David Amoo (Kevin Nisbet, 62 mins); Steven Lawless (Declan McDaid, 66 mins); James Penrice (Michael McMullin, 70 mins); David Syme (Sean Long, 70 mins)
			Harvey Rivers		Ryan Scully			23y, 8m, 0d
			James Coates		David Syme			19y, 0m, 6d
			Scott Bevan		James Penrice			17y, 6m, 7d
			Ben Brown		Liam Donnelly			20y, 3m, 22d
			Matt Liddiard		Danny Devine			23y, 9m, 22d
			Tom Hoskins		Sean Welsh			26y, 3m, 14d
			Adam Connolly		David Amoo			25y, 2m, 16d
			James Mortimer-Jones		Ryan Edwards			22y, 7m, 12d
			Charlie Griffin		Kris Doolan			29y, 6m, 18d
			Jon Else		Chris Erskine			29y, 4m, 21d
			Ollie Knight		Steven Lawless			25y, 2m, 17d
								23y, 10m, 14d
			Josh Langley		Conor Cullen			19y, 4m, 9d
			Luke Ballinger		Mathias Pogba			25y, 10m, 10d
			Ben Prictor		Jack Batten			20y, 6m, 7d
			James Fowke		Sean Long			21y, 1m, 27d
			Caleb Youngsam		Kevin Nisbet			19y, 3m, 21d
			Mark Francis		Declan McDaid			20y, 7m, 7d
			Alex Dinsmore		David Wilson [ii]			21y, 9m, 23d
			Aaron Oakley		Michael McMullin			19y, 4m, 19d
			Paul Fahy
			Aidan Bennett
			Elliott Green
			Aaron Ferris

notes

Thistle generally in playing order, opposition in squad number order. Liam Donnelly, Jack Batten and Sean Long played as trialists for Thistle. There were several trialists for Cirencester.

Match Report

TTA report

Thistle had 2 new signings on show (and Erskine back). He put them well ahead (12 and 39). Lawless made it 3 just on half-time. Edwards tapped in a Pogba shot that came off the bar (63), Pogba scored after the keeper dropped a shot (75) and Nisbet made it 6 off a post (81). The defence was seldom tested.

Media report

29-Jun-2016, ptfc.co.uk

Thistle’s first pre-season game of the season saw the side head to Cirencester to face local side Cirencester Town. It was to prove a successful evening’s work for the squad with each of the 19 players in the squad getting minutes in their legs. There were first public starts for new Thistle signings Daniel Devine and David Syme, while Chris Erskine marked his return from Dundee United with a typical swashbuckling performance. Lining up in 4-1-4-1 formation the game gave Jags fans the opportunity to see an attacking midfield combination of David Amoo, Steven Lawless, Ryan Edwards and Chris Erskine for the first time.

Thistle started the game with a high tempo keeping the ball for the first 60 seconds straight from kick off. There was a desire to release Amoo down the right hand side instantly and after a trademark run he won the sides first corner. Penrice sent over a good delivery which, after a scramble in the box, won a second corner in succession for the Jags. Another good delivery saw Devine send a header over the bar at the near post. Thistle were keeping the ball comfortably in the opening stages and more good work down the right won a third corner, this time Devine found his header blocked by a defender. Having had a no joy from their first three corners, Thistle tried something different with their fourth and the short corner routine forced the first save from goalkeeper Rivers. Steven Lawless had the low effort which was comfortable for the keeper at his near post. Thistle were continuing to have the majority of possession and when a deep Penrice cross found Syme, he was able to pick out Erskine at the edge of the box. His effort took a deflection leading to an easy save for the goalkeeper. Thistle were knocking on the door and on the 12th minute took a deserved lead. David Amoo’s arching cross was missed by Erskine’s initial leap but Lawless was able to collect the loose ball. He managed to cut the ball back to Erskine who finished high into the net from 12 yards out. Thistle were buoyed by the goal and started to fire more efforts on the home goal. Steven Lawless took aim from 30 yards with a fierce effort. The ball spun past the diving goalkeeper but smashed off the crossbar before bouncing over the bar. Cirencester were struggling to make an impact in front of the Thistle goal but Scully had to be alert to clear when Griffin had the first effort from the home side. Seconds later they fizzed a deep free kick just beyond Scully’s goal as the game became more of a midfield battle for a spell. With 10 minutes to go until half time, Erskine and Lawless showed interplay which echoed the connection the dynamic duo experienced when previously in the same team. With Erskine through on goal, the foot of the goalkeeper denied him a second goal of the game. He wasn’t to be denied for long and on 38 minutes he bagged his second of the game. Doolan picked him out on the edge of the box before a tremendous feint took out three Cirencester defenders, before slotting the ball past the goalkeeper with his right foot. A two goal lead was soon three as Thistle continued to press forward with halftime approaching. Penrice was unlucky to see a curling volley smash off the woodwork before Lawless fired a right footed effort from the edge of the box high beyond the reach of Rivers.

Half time brought with it the traditional high number of substitutes with the home side making eight changes to the original starting line-up. Alan Archibald resisted the temptation to tinker with his squad too much making only three half time changes with Conor Cullen getting a run out in goals for the second half. The young goalkeeper showed some assured handling during his 45 minutes on the pitch and grabbed crosses that were fired into the box with confidence. David Wilson, another half time substitute, was showing plenty of energy and played a variety of good passes in the early stages of the half as the game dipped slightly into a typical pre-season affair. With 63 minutes on the clock Thistle bagged a fourth. Pogba sent a fizzing effort towards goal which the goalkeeper flapped at touching the ball onto the bar. Ryan Edwards was in the right place at the right time to head home from a few yards out. Thistle continued to make changes, disrupting the flow of the game slightly but there was only one side on the ascendancy. McMullin swung over a cross which seemed comfortable for Langley in the home goal. He spilled the ball around six yards out which Mathias Pogba, under pressure from a recovering defender slotted into the empty net. Kris Doolan was having a good game and, although he didn’t get on the scoresheet himself, he did play an influential part in setting up a number of goals. He was heavily involved in the sixth and final goal of the game, playing in youngster Kevin Nisbet. With Mathias Pogba screaming for the square pass, the confident youngster finished home at the near post with his shot taking a slight nick off the near post. It was to finish six-nil to Thistle in a game that was an encouraging fitness exercise for Alan Archibald’s side. Ryan Edwards and Kris Doolan managed full 90 minutes on a heavy pitch and the gaffer will be pleased to see the goals spread amongst five different scorers. He’ll also be encouraged by the clean sheet kept by the side after a number of defensive switches throughout the game. Thistle return to the University of Bath for the rest of their training camp and will be focussing on the visit to Twerton Park on Saturday.

Scrapbook

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Cirencester Town Website, 29th June, 2016

Stats Watch

AN ASSISTS HAT-TRICK FOR DOOLAN

● The opening game of the 142nd season of Partick Thistle F.C.

● An impressive 22 players with existing competitive first-team appearances for Thistle are in place for season 2016-17. Going into the 2016-17 campaign, an incredible 207 competitive goals have been scored between those 22 players.

● There were only 45 days between the end/start games in 2016, the 4th shortest close-season in the club's history. The shortest was just 31 days in 1951.

● Thistle kick-off the new season in June for only the 3rd time in the club's history. It's the earliest start since Lambie's Jags fought for a credible 2-2 draw in Linz back on 25th June 1995.

● Thistle play non-Scottish opposition for the 25th season-in-a-row, further extending the club-record.

● 19-year-old David Syme makes his Thistle debut.

● 19-year-old Michael McMullin makes his Thistle debut.

● 20-year-old Liam Donnelly makes his Thistle debut.

● 21-year-old Sean Long makes his Thistle debut.

● 23-year-old Danny Devine makes his Thistle debut.

● 19-year-old Conor Cullen joins our goalies' clean-sheet debutants club; his only clean-sheet for Thistle.

● 20-year-old Jack Batten plays his one and only game for Thistle.

● Kevin Nisbet scores his first goal for Thistle.

● Cirencester go down in history as the first club to have 12 players on the bench versus Thistle, but it's still not a record. Raith Rovers once had had 13!

● Liam Donnelly becomes the latest full-internationalist to have played for Partick Thistle, and the 124th known to the Thistle Archive.

● Kris Doolan's run of scoring in 5 consecutive games ends in spectacular fashion with an assists hat-trick, the first such instance since the Archive's records began in 2013-14.

● As a season-opener, Thistle's six-goal winning margin is second only to the 7-0 win over Ardayre on 6th September 1879.

ongoing sequences:

● 40 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.)

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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