29th Jul 2017 Partick Thistle 1 Stranraer 0 (League Cup Group H - game 4)

matches:2017-18: ← 04game 0506 →

40y, 0m, 16d	Alan Archibald	Stevie Farrell

Abdul Osman; Stuart Bannigan; Kevin Nisbet
James Penrice; Ryan Edwards; Kris Doolan

Christie Elliott (1-0, 87 mins)
none (1-0, 87 mins)


Kevin Nisbet (Kris Doolan, 53 mins); Stuart Bannigan (Ryan Edwards, 69 mins); Steven Lawless (Neil McLaughlin, 80 mins)		Grant Anderson (Paul Woods, 61 mins); Stephen Okoh (Scott Agnew, 74 mins); Kyle Turner (Danny Stoney, 83 mins)

32y, 3m, 19d	Tomáš Černý	Max Currie
26y, 2m, 3d	Christie Elliott	Scott Robertson
26y, 1m, 29d	Callum Booth	Liam Dick
24y, 10m, 22d	Danny Devine	David Barron
26y, 6m, 22d	Adam Barton	Morgyn Neill
30y, 5m, 2d	Abdul Osman	Steven Bell future Jag
21y, 7m, 10d	Blair Spittal	Jamie Hamill
24y, 10m, 12d	Stuart Bannigan	Grant Anderson
20y, 4m, 21d	Kevin Nisbet	Kyle Turner future Jag
30y, 5m, 21d	Chris Erskine	Ryan Thomson
26y, 3m, 17d	Steven Lawless	Stephen Okoh

26y, 4m, 16d

24y, 9m, 0d	Ryan Scully	Ryan McLaren
22y, 3m, 24d	Niall Keown	Paul Woods
30y, 7m, 18d	Kris Doolan	Scott Agnew
23y, 8m, 12d	Ryan Edwards	Chris McGowan
18y, 7m, 7d	James Penrice	Danny Stoney
18y, 9m, 9d	Andy McCarthy	Jai Holland
18y, 8m, 23d	Neil McLaughlin	Zak Simpson

notes

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

TTA report

Despite the bulk of possession and chances, the Stranraer keeper was seldom tested, his main claim to fame being his unpunished, blatant time-wasting. Thistle lacked flair to break down massed defensive ranks and their shooting was wayward apart from a low shot by Elliott from the edge of the box (87).

Media report

Lindsay Herron, 29-Jul-2017, The Scottish Sun

It had been nearly three years since Elliott last netted – November 8, 2014 – but he came up trumps three minutes from time. Stranraer failed to clear Neil McLaughlin’s ball into the box and he pounced to drive a low left foot shot past Blair Currie. It was relief as much as celebration for boss Alan Archibald who knows his side were not at their best. Other than a Stevie Lawless free-kick which was pawed away by Currie in 17 minutes, Thistle had not cutting edge in the first half. They had more chances after the break, especially after Kris Doolan came on. He had a shot blocked in 54 minutes while Chris Erskine missed two chances and Ryan Edwards came close. Then Elliott popped up with his priceless goal that takes Thistle into the draw. Although they defended for most of the game, Stranraer had a couple of decent chances of their own with Stephen Okoh heading over just before the break and Tomas Cerny spilling a Jamie Hamill shot in 62 minutes.

Reaction

A relieved Alan Archibald spoke to The Sun and said:

Were just glad to be through. We did what we had to do, – we won the game – even if we made heavy work of it. There have been a few surprises in this competition and big teams have lost games but we have got through so we will take the positives from it. Credit to Stranraer, I thought they were very good in their shape and their structure. But I was disappointed we didn’t pose them enough problems. In the first half we were very pedestrian and our players seemed to take an extra touch rather than playing an early penetrative pass which we should have been doing. The second half was better because we played at a higher tempo and we got our full backs higher up the pitch. It’s not easy to break teams down but eventually we got the goal. We were concerned it wouldn’t come but we just had to find a way to win. Thankfully Neil came on and played a great ball into the box and we got the break from it. It’s not always going to click among the front four. Sometime the one-touch, two-touch won’t work and you need to be a wee bit uglier and just put balls in the box and make teams defend. That’s the way it happened for the goal so we have to recognise that. We’re not seeded so hopefully the draw is kind but we were seeded last year and went out to Dundee United so maybe it doesn’t matter.

Speaking to the Sun, proud boss Stevie Farrell said:

I thought the players were great. I thought we restricted them to long range efforts at goal. We created some good chances and maybe if we had taken one of them it would have been a different day.

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