10th Sep 2016 Partick Thistle 0 St Johnstone 2 (SPFL Premiership - game 4)

matches:2016-17: ← 12game 1314 →

39y, 1m, 28d	Alan Archibald	Tommy Wright

Sean Welsh
Ryan Edwards

		Steven Anderson (0-1, 21 mins); Steven MacLean (0-2, 64 mins)
		Danny Swanson (0-1, 21 mins); Danny Swanson (0-2, 64 mins)
		Danny Swanson

Tomáš Černý (Ryan Scully, 39 mins); Ade Azeez (Ryan Edwards, HT); Sean Welsh (David Amoo, 65 mins)		Chris Kane (Graham Cummins, 59 mins); Danny Swanson (David Wotherspoon, 71 mins)

31y, 5m, 0d	Tomáš Černý	Alexander Clark
23y, 4m, 18d	Ziggy Gordon	Steven Anderson future Jag
25y, 3m, 11d	Callum Booth	Chris Millar
20y, 10m, 29d	Liam Lindsay	Steven MacLean
24y, 0m, 3d	Danny Devine	Danny Swanson
29y, 6m, 14d	Abdul Osman	Joe Shaughnessy
22y, 8m, 2d	Ade Azeez	Paul Paton former Jag
26y, 5m, 26d	Sean Welsh	Richard Foster future Jag
29y, 8m, 30d	Kris Doolan	Brian Easton
29y, 7m, 2d	Chris Erskine	Chris Kane
25y, 4m, 29d	Steven Lawless	Liam Craig

26y, 2m, 22d

23y, 10m, 12d	Ryan Scully	Alan Mannus
25y, 4m, 28d	David Amoo	Blair Alston future Jag
25y, 8m, 3d	Adam Barton	David Wotherspoon
25y, 3m, 15d	Christie Elliott	Michael Coulson
22y, 0m, 4d	David Wilson [ii]	Joe Gormley
22y, 9m, 24d	Ryan Edwards	Graham Cummins
20y, 9m, 19d	Declan McDaid	Aaron Comrie

notes

Thistle generally in playing order, opposition in squad number order.

TTA report

Lethargic performance. A bright start faded once Saints went ahead (21) from an oblique angle at the far post. Build-up from the back was too slow. Sub Edwards made a difference but when he gave the ball away, a fine strike killed Thistle off (64). Virtually no shots on target, another injury to Cerny. Down to the bottom.

Media report

Kenny Crawford, 10-Sep-2016, bbc.com

Goals from Steven Anderson and Steven MacLean gave St Johnstone their second Premiership win of the season against Partick Thistle at Firhill. Centre-back Anderson met Danny Swanson's hanging cross with a remarkable finish from a tight angle. Swanson was also the provider for the second goal after the break, feeding veteran striker MacLean, whose 20-yard strike flew into the top-left corner. Thistle wasted several chances as they slipped to a third loss in four games. The hosts, who are now bottom of the Premiership, were forced to replace goalkeeper Tomas Cerny with Ryan Scully late in the first half after the Czech stopper damaged his foot in a one-on-one collision with Saints' Chris Kane. Without a Premiership victory since the opening day of the season, both teams were eager to get back to winning ways. For St Johnstone, there was also the aim of rectifying a poor recent record against Thistle, who had won the previous four meetings between the sides.

The hosts were not dreadful. In the first half they had as many, if not more, chances than their visitors, but everything they sent towards goal was either wayward or tame. Anderson's goal was admirable in a variety of ways. Firstly there was the quality of the finish, turning in from the tightest of angles at the back post with the side of his left foot when the busy Swanson swung in a deep cross. But 60 seconds before the goal, a slightly exposed Anderson had intelligently thwarted a threatening-looking run by the jinking Partick striker Ade Azeez. Anderson, 30, is a loyal one-club man who has spent n his whole senior career with Saints to date. That's over 330 appearances since 2004 for the centre-back, which is a rarity in the era of short-term contracts and players who frequently move thinking the grass will be greener on the other side. Nominally playing on the right wing, but scampering here, there and everywhere, Swanson continued to show his worth for the away side. Not only has he scored seven goals so far this season, but he is creating them on a regular basis too. In addition to the delivery for Anderson's opener, it was Swanson who snapped up a loose pass in midfield to feed MacLean on the edge of the box for St Johnstone's second. Veteran striker MacLean still had a lot to do, but he spun and fired the ball high past substitute goalkeeper Scully for his fifth of the season. In a statistical quirk, Anderson and MacLean were also the two scorers when Saints won the Scottish Cup final in 2014.

Reaction

Partick Thistle boss Alan Archibald (speaking to the BBC):

It's bitterly disappointing that we didn't do enough in the game. In the first half we started brightly enough but we didn't win individual battles today. We were second to most things all over the pitch. We didn't look as creative and sharp as we have done. Sometimes it works but the front four didn't quite work today, didn't quite click. I think that was down to further back in the pitch - not winning individual battles and giving those guys a platform to play. There was a flatness after the Tomas Cerny injury. It's a recurrence of his foot injury and we thought it would have been cleared up by now, so it's a concern.

St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright (speaking to the BBC):

We deserved the win and weren't under real pressure for any sustained periods in the game. I still don't know how Anderson's done it [scored the goal from a tight angle] but what makes the finish is that he doesn't give up and maybe the defender thinks the ball is going out. It was a great finish from an acute angle. MacLean's goal was a sublime finish into the top corner. I'm pleased that he got one from outside the box because he doesn't always do that. Danny Swanson provides us with that bit of spark and quality. When Danny's in that form, he gives us something extra in the final third.

SCULLY MATCHES A CLUB-RECORD

● New signing from Portsmouth, Adam Barton, becomes the 24th player to be listed on a competitive team-sheet for 2016-17, but doesn't make his debut.

● Ryan Scully comes on as a substitute 'keeper for the third time in competitive action for Thistle, thereby matching the existing club-record which was set by Paul Gallacher in February, 2015.

● Thistle lose both halves of a competitive match for the first time since April.

● Thistle lose their 4th consecutive competitive match and consequently slump to the bottom of the League. Co-incidentally, the last time we lost 4-in-a-row was last September (the run went on to 6), and that also resulted in our hitting the bottom spot.

● Kris Doolan has now played 8 consecutive competitive games without scoring - remarkable in that it comes on the back of his personal best run of scoring in 6 consecutive competitive games. The longest barren spell of his 8-season Thistle career is 14 competitive appearances without a goal, set in 2013-14.

ongoing sequences:

● 4 consecutive competitive defeats, 9th Aug 2016 to date. (Longest run since: 6 defeats, 22nd Aug 2015 to 26th Sep 2015. Club-record: 14 defeats, 3rd Jan 1898 to 15th Oct 1898.)

● 9 competitive games without a draw. (Longest run since: 9 games; 2nd Feb 2016 to 19th Mar 2016. Club-record: 27 games; 18th Feb 1899 to 23rd Dec 1899.)

● 45 away League games without a penalty award, 1st Mar 2014 to date. (Longest run since: 46 games; 5th Dec 1914 to 24th Mar 1917. Club-record: 62 games; 1st Apr 1911 to 7th Nov 1914.*)

● 49 consecutive competitive appearances for Steven Lawless, 9th Aug 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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