29th Oct 2016 St Johnstone 1 Partick Thistle 2 (SPFL Premiership - game 11)

matches:2016-17: ← 19game 2021 →

	Tommy Wright	Alan Archibald	39y, 3m, 16d

		Thorsten Stuckmann
		Ryan Scully

Steven MacLean (1-1, 18 mins)		Kris Doolan (1-0, 17 mins); Abdul Osman (2-1, 90+1 mins)
David Wotherspoon (1-1, 18 mins)		Danny Devine (1-0, 17 mins); David Amoo (2-1, 90+1 mins)
Graham Cummins		Adam Barton; Liam Lindsay; Abdul Osman

Graham Cummins (Chris Kane, 64 mins); Danny Swanson (Michael Coulson, 72 mins); David Wotherspoon (Blair Alston, 80 mins)		Kris Doolan (Chris Erskine, 73 mins); Ade Azeez (David Amoo, 87 mins)

	Zander Clark	Thorsten Stuckmann	35y, 7m, 12d
	future Jag Steven Anderson	Christie Elliott	25y, 5m, 3d
	Steven MacLean	Callum Booth	25y, 4m, 29d
	David Wotherspoon	Liam Lindsay	21y, 0m, 17d
	Danny Swanson	Danny Devine	24y, 1m, 22d
	Joe Shaughnessy	Adam Barton	25y, 9m, 22d
	former Jag Paul Paton	Abdul Osman	29y, 8m, 2d
	future Jag Richard Foster	Ryan Edwards	22y, 11m, 12d
	Brian Easton	Kris Doolan	29y, 10m, 18d
	Liam Craig	Ade Azeez	22y, 9m, 21d
	Graham Cummins	Sean Welsh	26y, 7m, 14d

			26y, 3m, 22d

	Alan Mannus	Conor Cullen	19y, 8m, 9d
	future Jag Blair Alston	David Amoo	25y, 6m, 16d
	Chris Millar	Chris Erskine	29y, 8m, 21d
	Michael Coulson	David Wilson [ii]	22y, 1m, 23d
	Liam Gordon	Declan McDaid	20y, 11m, 7d
	Chris Kane	David Syme	19y, 4m, 6d
	Aaron Comrie	Ziggy Gordon	23y, 6m, 6d

notes

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

TTA report

Neat, patient build-up by both teams made it an even game but too often shots went wide or high. Doolan touched in a back-post header (17) but within a minute trickery in the box made it 1-1. Late sub Amoo made an impact and he left his defender for dead to set up Osman who smashed in his cut-back (91).

Media report

John Barnes, 29-Oct-2016, bbc.com

Abdul Osman blasted a late winner for Partick Thistle to prevent St Johnstone moving into second place in the Scottish Premiership. Kris Doolan touched home at the back post after a free-kick to give Thistle the lead after 17 minutes. But Saints swept to the other end from the restart and Steven MacLean fired in the equaliser from eight yards. Ade Azeez and Ryan Edwards had already gone close for Thistle before Osman found the top corner from 16 yards. Thistle's second away victory of the week on their travels east - they beat Dundee on Wednesday - moves Alan Archibald's side up to seventh. Saints, meanwhile, drop to fifth having been brought back down to earth after their fine 1-1 draw away to Rangers in midweek.

Thistle would have taken the lead with just over a minute played had it not been for quality defending from Brian Easton. Azeez produced a neat piece of skill to set himself up for a shot eight yards out, but just as he pulled his foot back to strike the ball, Easton slid in with a timely tackle to clear the danger. Danny Swanson produced the best piece of early skill for the home side, on their 600th competitive match at McDiarmid Park, when he nutmegged Edwards at the edge of the area before releasing a shot that goalkeeper Thorsten Stuckman did well to save. However, the visitors did make the break through after Liam Craig was penalised for a needless foul midway inside his own half on Azeez. From the resultant free kick delivered by Sean Welsh, Danny Devine rose highest at the back post and his headed effort was turned home from close range by the merest of touches from Doolan. It was another example of the striker's poacher instincts that produced massive celebration from the visiting players, but their joy was short lived. Less than 60 seconds after the restart, Saints were back on level terms. After neat play down the left, they manoeuvre themselves inside the Thistle box. David Wotherspoon turned and found MacLean with a square pass and, from eight yards, he slotted the ball behind Stuckman for his seventh goal of the season. Christie Elliott came close to regaining the lead for Thistle when his shot from the right edge of the box took a deflection off Easton, but Zander Clark's quick reaction touched it round for a corner. Saints had a couple of early ventures forward in the second half when Paul Paton had a shot that went wide and Wotherspoon's cross clipped the top of the bar.

Clark has consolidated his position as Saints' first choice goalkeeper in recent months and his contribution once more, in his eighth successive appearance since taking over from Alan Mannus, showed his talent as Thistle sought a second goal. Azeez was first to be denied as his 20-yard strike looked destined for the bottom corner until Clark stretched to parry. Edwards then was thwarted as he got in behind the home defence in the box to create the opening. However, one minute into stoppage time, Thistle found a way past the big goalkeeper and there was nothing he could do to prevent the Glasgow side claiming the three points. Substitute David Amoo turned Craig inside out before providing the pass for Thistle skipper Osman to blast the ball into the top corner of the net from 10 yards for his first goal of the season.

Reaction

Partick Thistle's Alan Archibald (speaking to the BBC):

I thought we were strong in the second half. I was worried because we went with the same boys again, except the goalkeeper, for the third game in a row. But the energy levels were fantastic. It's been a good week. After dropping points against Ross County at home it looked tough but we've taken seven points from three hard fixtures. We now go into a run of games which is tough again but we've given ourselves a great platform to go and perform.

St Johnstone's Tommy Wright (speaking to the BBC):

If you defend how we did for both goals then you concede goals. When you get into injury-time you should see the game out, but we didn't because we make a bad mistake and get punished for it. Rightly so. We were the architects of our own downfall. Liam (Craig) shouldn't be there, I don't know why he's there. Joe Shaughnessy can clear the ball and Liam's come into an area where he doesn't have to help.

HISTORY MADE IN PERTH

● Danny Devine gets his first assist for the club, bringing the season-spread for the category up to an impressive 11 players in all competitions.

● Kris Doolan's first-half goal means that, for the first time in the SPFL era, Thistle have netted in 4-consecutive first-halves.

● Kris moves on to 83 League goals - only 8 short of the required total to overtake Willie Sharp's record tally of 90. Should Kris's next 8 goals all come in the League, then his 100th competitive goal will be the one which sees him become #1 in our all-time League goalscorers chart.

● Match-winner Abdul Osman is on a bit of a roll; now with 2 assists and a goal in his last 4 games.

● Pleasingly, Thistle's last three visits to McDiarmid Park have ended with the same scoreline; a 2-1 away win.

● Archie's Jags are the first Thistle side in history to win 3-in-a-row away to St Johnstone.

● It's only the second time this century that Thistle have won back-to-back Top-Flight away games, both times under Alan Archibald. Willie Thornton's Jags were the last to go beyond this point, winning 4-in-a-row between October and December '67. The club-record is 5-in-a-row set in 1932 and equalled in 1959 and 1962.

● 2 Top-Flight away wins in the space of 4 days is unusual, but it's not a record. We once won 2 in the space of 3 days back in March '58; a 3-1 win at Palmerston on the Saturday being followed by a 2-1 win at Brockville on the Monday!

ongoing sequences:

● 29 consecutive competitive appearances for Ryan Edwards, 2nd Mar 2016 to date, a new personal best. (Longest run since: Steven Lawless - 53 games; 9th Aug 2015 to 15th Oct 2016. Club-record: Johnny Jackson - 313 games; 28th Aug 1926 to 25th Mar 1933.)

● 49 away League games without a penalty award, 1st Mar 2014 to date. (Longest run since the club-record: 62 games; 1st Apr 1911 to 7th Nov 1914.*)

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