The Thistle Archive

Kris Doolan scored twice as Partick Thistle fought back from behind to beat Ross County at Firhill. County's Marcus Fraser headed off the crossbar before Craig Curran gave the visitors the lead with a curled a left-foot shot. But Doolan rifled in an equaliser with a powerful shot, his 100th goal for Partick Thistle. And he added to that tally when he slipped between two defenders and fired past goalkeeper Scott Fox. Thistle had been in fine form before the recent international break, their unbeaten league run extending to five games. But aside from a couple of slick passing moves, their play was sluggish in the first period, with Chris Erskine typifying that. Erskine is frequently Thistle's classiest operator but he was off the boil against County, as his passes too often ran astray, though he was unfortunate to see his best effort well saved by Fox. As fate would have it, no sooner had he been substituted than Doolan swivelled on the edge of the box to lash in his 100th goal for the club. If Erskine is generally Thistle's creator-in-chief, no-one has proved a more reliable goal-getter than the industrious Doolan.

With Thistle now very much in the ascendancy, Liam Lindsay - also good for a goal - was denied twice in quick succession, firstly by Fox and then a brave block as the home side looked for the winner. When it did materialise, it was little surprise that Doolan again provided the clinical finish. A delightful one-two on the edge of the box with Adam Barton put the striker in on goal and he showed terrific poise to fire past Fox for the second time. Jim McIntyre, in the County dugout, must have wondered how his side had allowed their stranglehold on the game to slip away. Although their record coming into the game was wretched - just one win in eight - they enjoyed marginally the better of a poor first half. They might have taken the lead on the stroke of half-time but Fraser, having made a marauding run up field from centre-back, ultimately headed against the crossbar. They were good value for the opening goal though and it was Curran who grabbed it after Thistle had failed to deal with a Martin Woods cutback. But inexplicably they took their foot off the gas and slumped to another poor result, which does nothing for their hopes of steering clear of a relegation battle.

Partick Thistle manager Alan Archibald:

I was his (Kris Doolan's) team-mate as well, he's one of the hardest working players and a real team player. Any of our young lads could pick Kris as a role model. He doesn't get the credit he deserves because he's at a club like Partick Thistle but he's very much appreciated with the fans and everybody at the club. We didn't really get going but we were much better in the second half. We showed great character to come back and see the game out. We know the run we've got coming up, we've got Celtic, Motherwell and Rangers coming up, but we'll go into these games with confidence.

Ross County manager Jim McIntyre:

I was pleased with the way we approached the game and we were the better team in the first half. I thought the second half was quite even, but the free-kick which leads to the first goal is not a free-kick and he's got to give a penalty when Liam Lindsay has grabbed Alex Schalk's hand and spun him, so them two decisions went against us. The second goal is atrocious from our point of view. We've put so much into the game but come away with nothing, and that's killed our top six hopes.

bbc.com

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KRIS DOOLAN HITS #1

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