27th Jan 2018 St Johnstone 1 Partick Thistle 3 (SPFL Premiership - game 24)

matches:2017-18: ← 32game 3334 →

Match Information

			Tommy Wright		Alan Archibald			40y, 6m, 14d
					Paul McGinn; Callum Booth; Martin Woods; Chris Erskine; Steven Lawless
					Mustapha Dumbuya; James Penrice; Blair Spittal; Andy McCarthy; Ryan Edwards
Liam Craig (2-1, pen 74 mins)					Steven Lawless (1-0, 13 mins); Conor Sammon (2-0, 64 mins); Ryan Edwards (3-1, 90+4 mins)
none (2-1, pen 74 mins)					Miles Storey (1-0, 13 mins); Ryan Edwards (2-0, 64 mins); none (3-1, 90+4 mins)
Steven MacLean; Joe Shaughnessy					Tomáš Černý
Steven MacLean (David McMillan, 57 mins); Denny Johnstone (Chris Kane, 57 mins); David McMillan (Blair Alston, 78 mins)					Chris Erskine (Ryan Edwards, 62 mins); Steven Lawless (Adam Barton, 83 mins)
			Zander Clark		Tomáš Černý			32y, 9m, 17d
			Joe Shaughnessy		Paul McGinn			27y, 3m, 5d
			future Jag Steven Anderson		Callum Booth			26y, 7m, 28d
			Aaron Comrie		Baily Cargill			22y, 6m, 22d
			Keith Watson		Niall Keown			22y, 9m, 22d
			Chris Millar		Abdul Osman			30y, 11m, 0d
			David Wotherspoon		Martin Woods			32y, 0m, 26d
			Stefan Scougall		Chris Erskine			30y, 11m, 19d
			Liam Craig		Conor Sammon			31y, 2m, 21d
			Steven MacLean		Steven Lawless			26y, 9m, 15d
			Denny Johnstone		Miles Storey			24y, 0m, 23d
								28y, 0m, 4d
			Alan Mannus		Ryan Scully			25y, 2m, 29d
			future Jag Blair Alston		Mustapha Dumbuya			30y, 5m, 20d
			Jason Kerr		Blair Spittal			22y, 1m, 8d
			David McMillan		Kris Doolan			31y, 1m, 16d
			Kyle McClean		Adam Barton			27y, 0m, 20d
			Liam Gordon		Danny Devine			25y, 4m, 20d
			Chris Kane		Ryan Edwards			24y, 2m, 10d

notes

Both sides generally in playing order. The stats network (including SPFL and BBC) misses the 84th minute yellow card for Joe Shaughnessy.

Match Report

TTA report

On the front foot from the start, Thistle went ahead when Lawless clipped in a Storey cut-back (13) then Saints had a goal disallowed (foul). Edwards' cut-back was knocked home by Sammon (64) then a pen (foul by Cerny) gave Saints hope (74). Edwards' 70-yard run and cool finish (94) was icing on the cake.

Media report

Kenny Crawford, 27-Jan-2018, bbc.com

Conor Sammon scored again as Partick Thistle held on against St Johnstone to record their first away Premiership victory in 17 attempts. The Jags took an early lead when Miles Storey set up Steven Lawless to finish a good move, then Sammon got his fifth goal in four games after the break. Saints replied through Liam Craig's penalty after Tomas Cerny had fouled debutant David McMillan. But Edwards ran half the length of the pitch to cement Thistle's win in style. Second-bottom Thistle move six points clear of Ross County and to within three of St Johnstone, who are eighth.

The Perth side had not tasted victory at home since 23 September and Alan Archibald's visitors quickly went about trying to ensure it stayed that way. Brimming with first team players back from injury, within the opening minute the Jags had Chris Erskine putting a low cross on a plate for either Sammon or Niall Keown to tap in, yet between them they failed to complete the task. At the other end of a windy McDiarmid Park, Keith Watson nearly netted with a deflected effort on what was his first Saints appearance in nearly a year following a loan stint at Hartlepool United. A few Premiership defences will testify to the fact that Storey's pace is outrageous. He continued a nice passing move by tearing down the left and cutting back for Lawless to side-foot high into the right corner for his fourth goal of the season. St Johnstone were nearly level instantly, and had the ball in the back of the net from David Wotherspoon's free-kick, but the referee spotted a push in the box and disallowed it. The visiting team's sitting midfield pairing of captain Abdul Osman and Martin Woods was proving to be a steady hub, letting Jags talisman Erskine express himself and test Saints goalkeeper Zander Clark, before later flighting a perfect long pass to Sammon, who cut inside and curled a left-foot shot just wide of the far post.

St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright replaced Steven MacLean and Denny Johnstone with Chris Kane and recent signing McMillan. The Irishman almost made an immediate impression - forcing Tomas Cerny to push his goal-bound shot wide. Another substitute, Edwards, had only been on the pitch a couple of minutes before he was bursting into the box and squaring for Sammon to apply a finishing touch from six yards. Thistle might have thought the job was done but Saints found a way back into the game when Cerny rushed towards the edge of his box and clattered McMillan to concede a penalty and earn a yellow card. McMillan needed treatment on the pitch for a few minutes and was later taken off, but Craig kept his composure to send Cerny the wrong way. Kane's half-volley gave Thistle a fright near the end as St Johnstone pressed, but the Jags caught their hosts out on the counter attack, with Edwards using his renowned engine to run from his own half and finish under Clark.

Reaction

Speaking to the BBC, Partick Thistle manager Alan Archibald was delighted to record their first away league win in 17 attempts:

I thought we were outstanding right from the word go. We moved the ball quickly and caught St Johnstone a little bit cold with our start. Psychologically, not winning away in the league wasn't playing too much on our minds because we'd had a couple of good away cup wins at tough venues, but you want to get that off your back. Conor Sammon is on fire. He was a real handful today. He's taken his chance. Our bench was strong today and Ryan Edwards came on and made a right difference.

Speaking to the BBC, St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright says he has "big decisions to make":

It's obvious we need to freshen things up. You could say the gloves are off. It's the first time since I've been here that I couldn't go in and see the players after the game, because all hell might have broken loose. It's very frustrating. We put ourselves under so much pressure with how we started the game again - on the back foot. We can't go 15 minutes at the start of a game without conceding a goal, particularly at home. It's been all season and the players haven't learned so I'm going to have to make big decisions. There are young players that I might have to throw in because maybe I've been a bit loyal to too many for too long. The referee makes a ridiculous decision. I don't know why he disallows David Wotherspoon's goal. There was nobody protesting from Partick Thistle. But overall we weren't good enough. We've got three or four days of the transfer window so hopefully we can get some more people in. We'll have to see but if we get someone hopefully they'll give us a boost.

Scrapbook

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The Sun, 29th January, 2018

Video Highlights

(credit: SPFL YouTube )

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Stats Watch

'ROO FEEDS FISH @ FARMLANDS : - O

● With an average age of 28y, 0m, 4d, this starting line-up resets the bar as the oldest of Alan Archibald's managerial career. You need to rewind back to March, 2011, to find an older Thistle team.

● Connor Sammon sets a new personal best of 7 consecutive competitive appearances as a Jag.

● Steven Lawless gets his 4th competitive goal against St Johnstone; only 7 Jags in history have scored more. Surprisingly, all 4 of Stevie's strikes have came at McDiarmid Park, and Stevie becomes our all-time leading marksman at that venue. As it stands, Kris Doolan (3), Gerry Britton (2) and Ryan Edwards (2) are next in line.

● It's all going swimmingly for Connor Sammon who scores in a fourth consecutive competitive game for Thistle.

● Ryan 'Skippy' Edwards bags an assist / goal double, and is the first substitute to do such a thing since Steven Lawless did so on Tuesday, 27th August, 2013, in a 3-1 win (aet) at home to Cowdenbeath in the League Cup.

● Thistle finally end a horrid 11 month run of 16 games without an away win in the League.

● Jags and Saints have now played 14 competitive games without a draw (17.01.2015 to date), an extension of the H2H record.

ongoing sequences:

● 53 consecutive competitive appearances for Adam Barton, 28th Dec 2016 to date, a new personal best. (Longest run since: Steven Lawless - 53 games; 9th Aug 2015 to 15th Oct 2016. Club-record: Johnny Jackson - 313 games; 28th Aug 1926 to 25th Mar 1933.)

● 74 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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