The Thistle Archive

JACK Storer introduced himself to the Partick Thistle support by scoring one of the best goals Firhill has witnessed in a very long time. The midfielder, who signed just this month, needed only 16 minutes of his home debut to make everyone, Morton fans included, go "wow". Blair Spittal’s cross from the left was headed clear by Morton’s Jack Iredale, or so he thought, and while the ball did sit up nicely for the Englishman to have a crack at goal, he was a good 35-plus yards out and had to take his shot on the volley and first time. Storer put everything into his left-foot effort, which was still gathering speed as it nestled in the top corner. If it’s not goal of the season then the eventual winner is going to be something out of this world. This was a new-look Thistle and, on this evidence, they are at least a level or two above a Morton team who waited 45 minutes before coming to life. Another new addition to the Thistle ranks, central defender Tom O’Ware, was booed early on by the Morton fans for the crime of moving from Greenock to Maryhill, presumably for a pay rise. He played well and will be a fine addition. There was a minute’s applause for Davie McParland – there will also be a tribute on Thistle’s first home league game – and his passing, coming so close after the death of John Lambie, must be hard for the Jags faithful to accept. Getting the club back to the Premiership is what those two legends would have wanted.

After Storer’s big moment, Thistle took control of the game and made it 2-0 just before the half hour. Good play down the right wing, a theme of the first-half, gave Chris Erskine the chance to send a low cross into the Morton six-yard box, both defenders and attackers missed the ball, and it fell kindly to left-back James Penrice. The 19-year-old academy graduate kept the head at the back post and got his first goal for the club. O’Ware hit the post with a header, which would not have gone down well with his old pals, as Morton struggled to do much with any possession they had.

However, Ray McKinnon’s side greatly improve after the break. The pressing and energy which was missing before could be seen all over the Morton team. Indeed, Thistle keeper Cammy Bell was forced into a smart save by Morton striker Bob McHugh on 55 minutes. There were too many bad touches, misplaced passes and crosses which sailed ten feet over their intended target, but we will be kind and put it down to the time of year. Erskine showed up well and was unfortunate to see a shot go wide, as was Morton’s Chris Millar whose low drive from 25 yards was hit well but was a margin off target. However, Morton did get a goal when Reghan Tumilty, who signed the day before, found the bottom corner on 73 minutes with a fine effort from outside the box. The Cappielow men finished strongly and Bell’s late save denied Ross MacLean an equaliser. That’s two wins for Thistle from their first two games. It’s a decent start for Alan Archibald.

Evening Times

ptfc.co.uk

In the first half we used the ball well, moved it quickly and created some decent chances. Like Saturday, I felt we could have been a bit better with our final ball but you can’t complain too much when you’re two goals up at half time. Despite that, we fell away in the second half. Morton came out with a renewed optimism and confidence, which we let grow throughout the second half. In the end, they could have easily nicked an equaliser which is disappointing when you consider the dominant position we were in at the break. [re Jack Storer:] Jack’s a talented lad and he has that in his locker. He’s still young and has plenty to learn but we definitely feel that he has plenty to offer for us and hopefully we’ll see more of that as the season progresses. [re the squad building:] We know our business is far from finished. We’re still light on numbers and ideally we’d have a better bench to help us towards the end of game’s like tonight’s but the squad isn’t done yet. We are actively looking but you want the right fit. You want guys with hunger and a desire to play and those players aren’t always easy to find.

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TWO FIRST-TIME SCORERS WIN THE 3 POINTS

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