The Thistle Archive

PARTICK THISTLE rounded off their summer schedule with a 2-1 defeat against Dumbarton as they finalised their preparations for the Betfred Cup campaign. Goals from Christian Nade and Jordan Allan either side of Kevin Nisbet’s equaliser clinched the win for the Sons in a competitive affair at the Rock. Thistle will now turn their attentions to the clash with Livingston this weekend as they look to build some momentum in the cup before the new Premiership term. The Jags side was a mixture of youth and experience as Archibald handed starts to Academy graduates James Penrice, Neil McLaughlin and Nisbet. There was also a place for summer signing Blair Spittal, while Stuart Bannigan continued his recovery from the injury that kept him out of action for 15 months.

The midfielder has been a regular feature for Thistle so far this summer and got another 58 minutes under his belt here as he looks to play a key role for Archibald’s side once again next term. The loss of Mustapha Dumbuya to injury and departure of Ade Azeez has left Thistle light at both ends of the park. Further activity is expected at Firhill as Archibald finalises his squad for the coming campaign but this was a chance for his Jags to stake their claims for the trip to Livingston on Saturday. Thistle started brightly and dominated in the opening minutes before a mistake from Adam Barton gave Nade a chance. Ryan Edwards recovered well, though. It was a sign of things to come from Barton in an uncharacteristically sloppy showing and he had keeper Ryan Scully to thank as he denied Nade after 11 minutes. Just seconds later, the striker got his goal as he connected with Tom Walsh’s cross from the left and converted from close range to give Dumbarton a surprise lead. Thistle continued to see their fair share of the ball but clear chances were hard to come by for Archibald’s side. Bannigan’s effort was blocked after the ball dropped to him in the area, while Ryan Edwards forced Scott Gallagher into action on the half hour mark.

Dumbarton were determined to add to their advantage and Scully had to make a smart save to deny Mark Stewart after former Firhill midfielder David Wilson burst forward and found the striker on the right of the area. Archibald turned to his bench at the break as Kris Doolan and Chris Erskine both entered the action, with McLaughlin and Spittal making way from the Thistle attack. The night was also over for Stewart as former Rangers and St Mirren forward Calum Gallagher entered the action. It was one of his fellow Auchenhowie graduates, Tom Walsh, who had the first shot after the interval but he couldn’t curl his effort inside the far post. The second goal of the night soon arrived and it was Nisbet who got it as Thistle equalised. Christie Elliott got by Gallagher down the flank and the 20-year-old was in the right place at the right time to fire the ball home. It was the start of a promising spell for the Jags as Stevie Lawless twice tried his luck from range and Erskine was denied by Gallagher as he rushed from his goal. With 15 minutes remaining, Nisbet almost doubled his tally for the night but a sweetly struck free-kick came crashing back off the bar as Dumbarton breathed a sigh of relief. Doolan was then denied from a tight angle as the Jags pushed for a winner. It was Dumbarton that got it, though, as trialist Allan slotted the ball home from close range with just five minutes remaining to earn Stevie Aitken’s side the victory.

Evening Times

Partick Thistle manager Alan Archibald (speaking to ptfc.co.uk):

It was closer to a training session than to a competitive game in all honesty. That’s partly down to the fact that we were low on numbers with a lot of the development squad lads getting a chance and also because we don’t want to pick up any more injuries when the Betfred Cup is just days away. They’ll be more than ready by the weekend. I think the boys are just eager for the competitive football to come back. In pre-season games you’ll see certain players take more risks as they know the consequences aren’t as great so I think there will be a different feel and tempo to Saturday’s mach compared to the friendlies we’ve played.

Dumbarton manager Stevie Aitken (speaking to Sons TV):

We knew that they [Partick Thistle] were going to work the ball, they were going to make the park big, which means we had to show a lot of energy to cover the ground and I thought we did that, the first half especially. I thought we were really strong on the counter-attack and scored a good goal with Christian and good play by Tom. I thought we were a threat… credit to the players, they worked hard which was pleasing… overall, it's been a good workout.

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21st CENTURY JAG

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