28th Oct 2017 Partick Thistle 1 St Johnstone 0 (SPFL Premiership - game 12)

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matches:2017-18: ← 18game 1920 →

40y, 3m, 15d	Alan Archibald	Tommy Wright

Conor Sammon
Kris Doolan

Miles Storey (1-0, 14 mins)
Jordan Turnbull (1-0, 14 mins)
		Liam Craig

Conor Sammon (Kris Doolan, 81 mins); Blair Spittal (Martin Woods, 85 mins)		Stefan Scougall (Michael O'Halloran, 20 mins); Brian Easton (Scott Tanser, 25 mins); Liam Craig (Steven MacLean, 71 mins)

32y, 6m, 18d	Tomáš Černý	Zander Clark
27y, 0m, 6d	Paul McGinn	Joe Shaughnessy
26y, 6m, 16d	Steven Lawless	Steven Anderson future Jag
22y, 11m, 28d	Jordan Turnbull	Aaron Comrie
22y, 6m, 23d	Niall Keown	Brian Easton
25y, 1m, 21d	Danny Devine	Murray Davidson
26y, 9m, 21d	Adam Barton	David Wotherspoon
21y, 10m, 9d	Blair Spittal	Paul Paton former Jag
30y, 11m, 22d	Conor Sammon	Stefan Scougall
23y, 11m, 11d	Ryan Edwards	Liam Craig
23y, 9m, 24d	Miles Storey	Graham Cummins

25y, 10m, 1d

24y, 11m, 29d	Ryan Scully	Alan Mannus
30y, 10m, 17d	Kris Doolan	Scott Tanser
26y, 10m, 15d	Milan Nitrianský	Blair Alston future Jag
20y, 7m, 20d	Kevin Nisbet	Steven MacLean
23y, 3m, 26d	Gary Fraser	Michael O'Halloran
31y, 9m, 27d	Martin Woods	Denny Johnstone
		Ally Gilchrist

notes

Both sides generally in playing order.
Thistle filled only 6 of their 7 allocated bench slots. Although 7 were initially listed, Chris Erskine withdrew prior to kick-off, having picked up an injury during the warm-up.

TTA report

Cerny blocked a shot (1) but a surging run and shot across the keeper on the angle by Storey (14) put Thistle ahead. The game got poorer after that with scrappy play and few chances in the blustery wind. Saints pushed Thistle back towards the end but solid defending protected the slender lead in added time.

Media report

Kenny Crawford, 28-Oct-2017, bbc.com

Miles Storey's fine first-half run and finish brought Partick Thistle victory against St Johnstone. The Englishman skilfully sped down the left and confidently placed a low effort across goalkeeper Zander Clark. It means the Jags have taken seven points from nine in their past three games and move off the foot of the Premiership. St Johnstone, on the other hand, have not scored or won in their past five matches.

With 13 goals at Inverness Caledonian Thistle in season 2015-16, Storey was signed up by Aberdeen last year but netted just twice for the Dons before moving to Glasgow. And in the space of a week the front man has shown signs of recapturing his form with the Highlanders, having sealed Thistle's first win over the season last week against Dundee. Against St Johnstone, Storey used more than the last third of the pitch to show his pace and composure, picking up the ball near halfway and setting off on an ultimately fruitful run down the left. It culminated in him beating Joe Shaughnessy and calmly stroking beyond Clark into the far corner. The 23-year-old was clearly buoyed and continued to pester the visiting defence, on one other occasion dispossessing Shaughnessy as he tried to clear.

It certainly had not been all one way, with Jags goalkeeper Tomas Cerny having to be sharp to deny both David Wotherspoon and Murray Davidson from close range. Blair Spittal arrowed a rising shot from distance by the post before St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright had to deal with first-half injuries to Stefan Scougall and Brian Easton by bringing on Scott Tanser and Michael O'Halloran. St Johnstone had not scored or won in their previous four outings and evidence of their lack of end product in front of goal came in the second half when Wotherspoon neatly played in Aaron Comrie, only for the young right-back to muster a weak effort straight at Cerny. Clark had to work harder at the other end to keep out Spittal's effort that was destined for squeezing in at the near post before a strong hand pushed it wide.

Reaction

Partick Thistle manager Alan Archibald (speaking to the BBC):

Really delighted with the manner of the win and getting another clean sheet - it's rounded off a good week. A win gives confidence and I think we saw that with the players after the Dundee game. Credit to them, they dealt with the pressure and got points on the board. But there's more to come from them. St Johnstone cut us open a couple of times in the first half but we regrouped and the goal settled us down. Our big three centre-backs headed away most things that came into our box.

St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright (speaking to the BBC):

In 2013-14 we went something like nine games without a win and 2014-15 was the same and the last two seasons we've had these runs. That's what this league is like but we'll not panic. It's incredible we're still in sixth and we still have a good opportunity to maintain top six. But yes, we have to start scoring goals or we're not going to win games. I'm angry, but it's a different type of angry because we've played well, so I'm angry for them that they didn't do enough with the ball.

W-L-W-L-W-L-W-L-W

● 31-year-old Martin Woods makes his Thistle debut.

● An unprecedented H2H run of 4 consecutive competitive matches in Perth is broken with this Maryhill clash.

● Adam Barton racks up his 40th consecutive competitive appearance and is bidding to be an ever-present in the caldendar year, 2017.

● Jordan Turnbull registers his first assist as a Jag.

● Miles Storey scores for the second succesive match at Firhill.

● For the first time in this League campaign, Thistle retire with no yellow cards against.

● All in League action, Thistle have now played 262 minutes without conceding a goal whilst St Johnstone have now played 456 minutes without scoring one!

● The remarkable H2H story between these sides continues with a NINTH succesive alternating win in competitive action. Surprisingly, it's only the second longest streak in all of our H2H relationships. Between 1915 and 1923, Partick Thistle and Raith Rovers played out 12 alternating wins - every one on home territory. The sequence would have stretched to 14 had the venue order not been switched in season 1923-24!

● There have now been 13 consecutive Jags v Saints competitive matches without a draw, a H2H record.

● The last 10 Firhill clashes between these two have ended with a nil in the scoreline.

ongoing sequences:

● 10 away League games without a win; 18th Mar 2017 to date. (Longest run since: 14 games; 11th Sep 2004 to 9th Apr 2005. Club-record: 26 games; 20th Mar 1935 to 29th Aug 1936.)

● 40 consecutive competitive appearances for Adam Barton, 28th Dec 2016 to date, a new personal best. (Longest run since: Ade Azeez - 46 games; 15th Jul 2016 to 21st May 2017. Club-record: Johnny Jackson - 313 games; 28th Aug 1926 to 25th Mar 1933.)

● 67 away League games without a penalty award, 1st Mar 2014 to date. (A new club-record.)

Stats Watch adheres to our stated definitions of League, League Max, Major Competitive, Competitive or All Games. Where there is no written qualification, you should presume that the Stat in question is compiled from the All Games criteria.

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