The Thistle Archive

Danny Swanson's penalty earned St Johnstone victory over Partick Thistle and confirmed European football for the Perth side next season. Swanson netted after he was fouled by Niall Keown, beating Partick keeper Tomas Cerny, who denied Liam Craig and Richard Foster with excellent saves. The win sealed a third successive fourth-place finish for Saints and confirms a Europa League spot. The Perth men are nine points clear of fifth-placed Hearts with two to play. There are plenty of St Johnstone supporters who feel manager Tommy Wright does not receive the plaudits he deserves for his achievements in recent years. Working with one of the lowest budgets in the Scottish Premiership, he has once again led his team into continental competition. Wright has built a squad that can battle for results when necessary but can play a bit as well. Swanson was the key man against Partick, superbly winning the penalty and converting it himself to ensure the three points stayed in Perth. The little midfielder, who has scored 15 goals this season, also drew a fantastic second-half stop from Cerny after a powerful run from the half-way line. Swanson, however, is heading to Hibernian in the summer and the task for Wright over the next few weeks is to try to find a replacement.

Partick have suffered consecutive Premiership defeats but the Firhill faithful have little to fear ahead of next season if Alan Archibald can keep this squad together. The Jags may not have been at their best against Saints but in players such as Adam Barton and Liam Lindsay, they have real quality. The movement up front of Kris Doolan can also pose problems for defences but chances were few-and-far between for the striker. Lindsay, though, would have scored a last-gasp equaliser had it not been for a goalline clearance by Saints' Tam Scobbie. Thistle have two home matches left this season - against champions Celtic and second-placed Aberdeen. Few will give them much hope of taking anything but with the home crowd behind them, you can never right them off.

The attendance at McDiarmid Park for the visit of Thistle was 3,630 and it begs the question: what does it take for Saints fans to turn up in greater numbers? The Perth men have finished in the top six for six consecutive seasons and qualified for Europe in each of the last four. Add in a Scottish Cup win in 2013/14, and there are many fans up and down the country that would give their eye teeth for such a record. Their success on the park can by-and-large be put down to the shrewdness of boss Wright in the transfer market and the solidity of the Saints board, with Steve Brown carrying on the sterling work of his father Geoff. They may not have many fans turning up but they are an outstanding model of how a club should be run.

St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright:

At the start of the season, just getting into the top six would have been great, but to finish above a club the size of Hearts, having been behind them and now ahead, is all credit to the players. That's four seasons I've been in charge and I keep thinking at the end of each season, 'Can they get better, can we maintain it?' And they do. They respond and they go again. They have been magnificent again this season and deserve to get into Europe. They are the fourth best team in the country. My team has been brilliant all season. There's quite a few teams below us with bigger budgets as well but we recruit well and don't have to bring many in each season. We will have to replace Danny (Swanson), so we're looking at bringing in three players maximum. We have a good steady squad and we have good players. Let's see if we can win two games and break the 60-point mark.

Partick Thistle manager Alan Archibald:

St Johnstone deserved it over the piece. Our performance level dropped massively, individually and collectively, compared to last week when we were up on every second ball and the passing was crisp and good. We never ticked one of the boxes today - we were out-battled and out-played.

bbc.com

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