The Thistle Archive

matches:2016-17: ← 04game 0506 →

	Eddie Wolecki Black	Alan Archibald	39y, 0m, 2d

		Ziggy Gordon; Liam Lindsay; Declan McDaid; Kris Doolan
		David Syme; Sean Kelly; David Amoo; Ade Azeez

		Kris Doolan (1-0, 55 mins)
		Declan McDaid (1-0, 55 mins)
		Ryan Edwards; Danny Devine

Marc Fitzpatrick (Hugo Faria, 48 mins); Conor McLaughlin (Kevin Schmidt, 61 mins); Adam Brown (Craig Truesdale, 85 mins)		Declan McDaid (Ade Azeez, 57 mins); Chris Erskine (Ryan Edwards, 67 mins)

	Rohan Ferguson	David Crawford	31y, 0m, 15d
	Scott Stewart	Ziggy Gordon	23y, 2m, 22d
	Sean McIntosh	Callum Booth	25y, 1m, 15d
	Joe Gorman	Liam Lindsay	20y, 9m, 3d
	Kieran MacDonald	Danny Devine	23y, 10m, 8d
	former Jag Ryan Conroy	Sean Welsh	26y, 4m, 0d
	Adam Brown	Declan McDaid	20y, 7m, 23d
	Marc Fitzpatrick	David Wilson [ii]	21y, 10m, 9d
	Andy Ryan	Kris Doolan	29y, 7m, 4d
	Conor McLaughlin	Chris Erskine	29y, 5m, 7d
	Iain Russell	Steven Lawless	25y, 3m, 3d

			25y, 2m, 11d

	Matthew Kerr	Conor Cullen	19y, 4m, 25d
	Hugo Faria	Ade Azeez	22y, 6m, 7d
	James Daly	Ryan Edwards	22y, 7m, 28d
	Kevin Schmidt	David Syme	19y, 0m, 22d
	John Higgins	Kevin Nisbet	19y, 4m, 7d
	Craig Truesdale	James Penrice	17y, 6m, 23d
	Dean Cairns	Mathias Pogba	25y, 10m, 26d

	Teamlines derived from PTFC / SPFL. Thistle generally in playing order, opposition in squad number order.
	1632 (SPFL)

Thistle had most of the possession but lacked a clinical finish. Crawford's one-handed stop denied Airdrie the lead (21) then Doolan's “goal” was off-side (24). Erskine robbed a defender and McDaid set up Doolan for the winner (55). Given the debutants and lack of match sharpness, a comfortable win.

Thistle travelled to the Excelsior Stadium for their first competitive fixture of the 2016/17 season taking on League One Airdrieonians as the Betfred Cup group stages got underway. Despite the mid-July date, the weather wasn’t glorious sun shine as the rain tumbled down before kick off, with the poor weather contributing to a slick artificial surface. Manager Alan Archibald didn’t have his injury issues to seek with a number of first team regulars missing the match. David Crawford, signed early on Friday went straight into the starting line up while Danny Devine and Ziggy Gordon also made their competitive debuts for the club.

Thistle got the game underway after a moments silence for the victims of the terror attacks in Nice yesterday and immediately went on the front foot. The high pressing game was forcing Airdrie into giving away the ball inside their half, but the Jags didn’t display a cutting edge in front of goal during the early period of the game. Ziggy Gordon looked to have picked out Steven Lawless with an excellent through ball but a vital Airdrie boot deflected the ball away to safety. Airdrie had their first glimpse of goal in the 11th minute when a long free kick wasn’t dealt with in the Jags box, the defence eventually hacked clear after a couple of Diamonds attackers had fresh air kicks at the attempt on goal. As play surged down the other end, Doolan mis-timed his jump and couldn’t steer his header on target from 10 yards out. Thistle were still demonstrating good play and the attacking players were having neat interplay without seriously testing the Airdrie goalkeeper. Sean Welsh was next to have an attempt but from 25 yards he fired high over the bar. Airdrie weren’t posing a threat in the Thistle defence but from a long ball Andy Ryan forced a terrific one handed save from David Crawford with a powerful low effort. Ziggy Gordon managed to scoop the loose ball away from danger. After 25 minutes, Thistle had the ball in the back of the net through Kris Doolan. The striker just strayed offside from Chris Erskine’s excellent through ball. It was Erskine who passed up the next Jags opportunity when, with just the goalkeeper to beat, he opted to head David Wilson’s cross into the turf rather than firing a left footed effort beyond the goalkeeper. Despite all the possession, Thistle didn’t win a corner until the 42nd minute. McDaid’s delivery was met by Ziggy Gordon at the near post, but his header was off target. McDaid had the next opportunity, forcing a great save from the goalkeeper before Steven Lawless fired the rebound off the post.

With the game delicately poised at half time there was a feeling amongst the stands that a Thistle goal was only a matter of time. Thistle started the second half strongly and won a corner in the first couple of minutes. McDaid again found a Jags head with his delivery but Lindsay’s header was cleared off the line. Chris Erskine sent the rebound high over the bar from 10 yards out. Thistle continued to press and Erskine picked the pocket of a defender but was unable to find Kris Doolan with his chipped pass. Moments later, a similar combination produced the only goal of the game. A back pass from Iain Russell remained at the feet of his goalkeeper for far too long and he was rushed into a short pass to his defender. Chris Erskine closed down the defender, robbing him of the ball before McDaid instinctively played the ball into the path of Kris Doolan. He took a touch before guiding the ball into the corner of the net, beyond the reach of the despairing goalkeeper. Azeez was introduced as a substitute and showed Thistle fans the first glimpse of his electrifying pace with a strong showing. He provided an instant outlet to hold up the ball as Thistle looked to hold on to the goal they so richly deserved. Airdrie brought on a number of attackers to drag themselves level as they looked to grab a draw which would bring about a penalty shoot out, but despite a number of corners and set pieces, David Crawford never had a save to make. Thistle were professional in their performance and saw out the remainder of the clean to secure a thoroughly merited 1-0 victory and get the Betfred Cup campaign off to a winning start. Next up in the group stages is a home fixture with Queen of the South, a tie Jags Season ticket holders will get in for free.

ptfc.co.uk

SIX-IN-A-ROW DOOLAN EDGES CLOSER TO CLUB-RECORD

● Thistle kick-off the competitive season with a Friday evening fixture for the fourth time. By amazing co-incidence, The Diamonds were defeated 5-2 by The Jags in the 1st Round of The Exhibition Cup on the evening of Friday 10th August 1888! Strangely, Thistle played Hibs at Tynecastle to open up season 1924-25 on a Friday night. The third occurrence was, of course, the showcase Firhill encounter with Dundee United which marked our return to the top-flight in season 2013-14.

● Thistle's 71st League Cup campaign gets underway.

● Resurrecting a tradition which began away back in 1947, Thistle kick-off the competitive season with a League Cup group match for the 28th time. We're on a run of 5 consecutive wins in these circumstances in 1974, 1975, 1981, 1982 and now 2016.

● 23-year-old Ziggy Gordon makes his Thistle debut.

● Goalie David Crawford registers his only clean-sheet for Thistle.

● Kris Doolan scores for Thistle for the ninth season-in-a-row. He's the first player to do that since Billy Cunningham in 1968-69.

● Kris's goal means that he has now scored in six consecutive competitive games for Thistle. Only Jimmy Walker (7-in-a-row in both 1949 and 1950) and Scott McLean (8-in-a-row in 2000) have been beyond this point.

● Thistle have won 8 of the last 10 games against Airdrie, all in competitive action.

● Thistle's glorious run of avoiding defeat on the opening competitive game of the season continues, unbeaten in the 21st century and now sitting at 17 games. Livingston were the last side to inflict defeat upon the Jags in such circumstances, winning 2-0 in the Motorola Cup Semi-Final on 17th July 1999. The current run is the greatest in the club's history, surpassing the 11 season run between 1940 and 1950.

ongoing sequences:

● 41 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.)

● 49 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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