17th Feb 2018 Partick Thistle 1 Dundee 2 (SPFL Premiership - game 27)

matches:2017-18: ← 36game 3738 →

40y, 7m, 4d	Alan Archibald	Neil McCann

Mustapha Dumbuya; Niall Keown; Abdul Osman; Conor Sammon; Miles Storey		Mustapha Dumbuya; Niall Keown; Abdul Osman; Conor Sammon; Miles Storey
Paul McGinn; Danny Devine; Adam Barton; Blair Spittal; Kris Doolan

Conor Sammon (1-0, 42 mins)		Simon Murray (1-1, 84 mins); Simon Murray (1-2, 90 mins)
Ryan Edwards (1-0, 42 mins)		A-Jay Leitch-Smith (1-1, 84 mins); none (1-2, 90 mins)


Chris Erskine (Blair Spittal, 70 mins); Miles Storey (Kris Doolan, 81 mins)		Sofien Moussa (A-Jay Leitch-Smith, 67 mins); Roarie Deacon (Lewis Spence, 80 mins)

32y, 10m, 7d	Tomáš Černý	Elliot Parish
30y, 6m, 10d	Mustapha Dumbuya	Cameron Kerr
26y, 8m, 18d	Callum Booth	Steven Caulker
22y, 7m, 12d	Baily Cargill	Jon Aurtenetxe
22y, 10m, 12d	Niall Keown	Josh Meekings
30y, 11m, 21d	Abdul Osman	Glen Kamara
32y, 1m, 16d	Martin Woods	Mark O'Hara
24y, 3m, 0d	Ryan Edwards	Paul McGowan
31y, 3m, 11d	Conor Sammon	Roarie Deacon
24y, 1m, 13d	Miles Storey	Sofien Moussa
31y, 0m, 9d	Chris Erskine	Simon Murray

28y, 1m, 15d

25y, 3m, 19d	Ryan Scully	Jérémy Malherbe
22y, 1m, 29d	Blair Spittal	Darren O'Dea
31y, 2m, 6d	Kris Doolan	A-Jay Leitch-Smith
26y, 10m, 5d	Steven Lawless	Faissal El Bakhtaoui
27y, 1m, 10d	Adam Barton	Lewis Spence
25y, 5m, 10d	Danny Devine	Jesse Curran
19y, 1m, 26d	James Penrice	Jack Lambert

notes

Both sides generally in playing order.

TTA report

Sammon poked home an Edwards knock-down (42) to finish a half Thistle controlled. Chances were scorned and proved costly as Thistle sat deeper and deeper. Failure to see the game out led to a goal close in from a wayward shot (84) and a nod home from a deflected shot (90). They only had themselves to blame.

Media report

17-Feb-2018, bbc.com

Dundee dramatically snatched all three points from Partick Thistle as Simon Murray scored a 90th-minute winner. The striker had already equalised for the visitors in the 84th minute with his first goal since moving on loan to Dundee from Hibernian. Partick were in front at half-time thanks to Conor Sammon's eighth goal of the season. Dundee move up to eighth in the Premiership table. Partick Thistle remain in 10th.

The home side started confidently, and there was an early opportunity for Sammon to strike, only for Dundee defender Josh Meekings to brilliantly get himself in the Irishman's way just as he looked set to finish off a flowing Thistle move. Thistle were making all the running in the opening stages but it was Dundee midfielder Glen Kamara's mistake which almost presented them with the opener on 27 minutes. The former Arsenal trainee took a heavy touch as he tried to control Miles Storey's cross but Martin Woods could not take advantage as his first-time effort flew straight at Dundee goalkeeper Elliott Parish. The visitors eventually got going as the half-hour mark ticked by. Murray could not beat Tomas Cerny with a lob, while the Partick Thistle goalkeeper was just as alert to deny Mark O'Hara after he had robbed Callum Booth. Roarie Deacon was next to threaten for Neil McCann's side as his pile-driver fizzed just wide, but it was the hosts who grabbed the half-time lead as Sammon continued his hot streak. Mustapha Dumbuya sent a cross to the back post which was knocked down by Ryan Edwards for Sammon, who bundled it over the line before Parish could claw away the danger.

Dundee should have hit back five minutes after the restart, however. Sofien Moussa's attempted overhead kick was never any threat to Cerny but it did drop for strike partner Murray, who completely missed the target from just three yards out. Thistle also wasted the chance to double their lead after 60 minutes when Chris Erskine calmly brought down Storey's cross in the box, but his spin and shot was kept out by Parish's legs. But with the clock ticking towards 90 Dundee launched a cavalry charge. Murray grabbed the leveller on 84 minutes as he pounced at the back post to turn home an A-Jay Leitch-Smith effort. He had the ball in the net again seconds later only to be flagged offside, while Leitch-Smith rattled a post. However, Dundee refused to settle for a point and landed their winner in the 90th minute as Steven Caulker's deflected strike broke for Murray, who climbed above a ruck of players to nod home.

Reaction

Speaking to the BBC, Partick Thistle manager Alan Archibald was frustrated that his players could not hold on to their lead with six minutes remaining:

We were comfortable enough, we played very well, we deserved our goal when we got it, and I thought we should see the game out. Abdul [Osman] was fouled in the build-up to their first goal and we don't get that. The only negative was our game management when Dundee were trying to get back into the game. The positives are we're creating chances, but we've got to keep the back door closed.

Dundee boss McCann was pleased that his players reacted positively to losing to 10-man Kilmarnock in midweek:

It's a huge win for us, considering we're coming off a very poor result in midweek. I felt the first half was reflective of how we felt after Tuesday night. We sat too deep, our midfield was too close to our defence, but we adjusted that in the second half and I felt we were the better side. I'm pleased because we didn't panic, continued to play and it was two fantastic goals. I'm so delighted for Simon Murray, you could see what it meant to him to score for the club he grew up supporting. He maybe snatched at a few and I said to him to relax a wee bit. He was maybe hunting for the goal so badly because it meant so much to him. He got his first and the second one he was just in the right place at the right time. We weren't just content in going for the point, which pleased me. It's a great feeling in the dressing room just now.

POINTS SLIPPING AWAY

● Thistle's 8 matches of 2018 have now seen an incredible 42 changes to the starting eleven.

● With an average age of 28y, 1m, 15d, this starting line-up resets the bar as the oldest of Alan Archibald's managerial career.

● Conor Sammon scores his 7th goal in the last 7 games in which he has appeared. The goal now places him as our outright top-scorer in this season's League campaign, with a tally of 5 goals.

● Thistle retire with a half-time lead at Firhill for the 7th time in 14 League outings, 6 of which have been in the last 8. In the Premiership this term, Celtic are the only other side to have at least a 50% half-time home-win ratio.

● Amazingly, Thistle (with 23 "pts" from 14 games) are second only to Celtic in this season's half-time home League table.

● Only 40% of Thistle's League goals have came in the second half, by far the lowest percentage in our League. The Premiership average is 56.6%.

● Thistle's tally of scoring 0.926 goals-per-game (25 in 27) in this season's League, is on course to be the club's 3rd lowest return of all-time, and the worst since the relegation season of 1995-96 (29 in 36).

● Thistle's tally of 0.889 pts-per-game in this season's League is on course to be the club's 8th lowest return of all-time, and the worst since relegation in 2003-04.

ongoing sequences:

● 10 competitive games since a home draw, 14th Oct 2017 to date. (Longest run since: 11 games; 21st Jan 2015 to 9th Aug 2015. Club-record: 26 games; 11th Mar 1899 to 13th Oct 1900 & 4th Mar 1944 to 5th May 1945.)

● 30 consecutive competitive appearances for Ryan Edwards, 8th Aug 2017 to date. (Longest run since: Adam Barton - 54 games; 28th Dec 2016 to 3rd Feb 2018. Club-record: Johnny Jackson - 313 games; 28th Aug 1926 to 25th Mar 1933.)

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

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