27th Oct 2018 Partick Thistle 0 Ayr United 1 (SPFL Championship - game 11)

matches:2018-19: ← 18game 1920 →

36y, 6m, 15d	Gary Caldwell	Ian McCall former Jag / man.

Blair Spittal; Jai Quitongo; Andréa M'Buyi-Mutombo
Brice Ntambwe; Kris Doolan; Chris Erskine

		Michael Rose (0-1, 77 mins)
		Declan McDaid (0-1, 77 mins)
Sean McGinty		Andy Murdoch; Lawrence Shankland; Andy Geggan

Andréa M'Buyi-Mutombo (Chris Erskine, 61 mins); Jai Quitongo (Souleymane Coulibaly, 70 mins); Stuart Bannigan (Jack Storer, 80 mins)		Andy Murdoch (Alan Forrest, 66 mins); Andy Geggan (Daniel Harvie, 71 mins); Robbie Crawford (Steven Bell, 81 mins)

32y, 1m, 9d	Cammy Bell	Ross Doohan
27y, 5m, 1d	Christie Elliott	Mark Kerr former Jag
19y, 10m, 5d	James Penrice	Michael Rose
23y, 6m, 22d	Niall Keown	Andy Geggan future Jag
25y, 2m, 16d	Sean McGinty	Robbie Crawford future Jag
26y, 1m, 10d	Stuart Bannigan	Craig Moore
24y, 6m, 1d	Craig Slater	Declan McDaid former Jag
22y, 10m, 8d	Blair Spittal	Jamie Adams former Jag
21y, 1m, 13d	Jai Quitongo	Lawrence Shankland
28y, 4m, 21d	Andréa M'Buyi-Mutombo	Andy Murdoch
24y, 9m, 23d	Miles Storey	Liam Smith

25y, 0m, 30d

21y, 1m, 21d	Jamie Sneddon	Ellis Hare-Reid
31y, 8m, 19d	Chris Erskine	Daniel Harvie
20y, 9m, 25d	Jack Storer	Michael Moffat
20y, 0m, 3d	Max Melbourne	Alan Forrest
20y, 0m, 7d	Andy McCarthy	Craig McGuffie
23y, 10m, 1d	Souleymane Coulibaly	Steven Bell future Jag
25y, 5m, 28d	Brice Ntambwe	Ross Docherty future Jag

notes

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

TTA report

There was little between the teams in a match with few clear-cut chances. A shot off the bar led to a clearance off the line by Elliott and the resulting corner was headed home via Bell's gloves (77) and deemed to have gone in. 2 shots on target was all Thistle could muster. No new manager “bounce“ evident.

Media report

Stuart Wilson, 27-Oct-2018, Daily Record

Ayr United's title bandwaggon kept on rolling in Glasgow as Michael Rose's second half header earned a deserved three points for the visitors. Ian McCall's men, who saw two penalty appeals turned down, eventually gained their reward when Rose climbed to bullet home a Declan McDaid corner. It was no more than United deserved for another battling display on the road and keeps them firmly in touch with leaders Ross County at the summit.

He's been immense for Ayr at the back this season, but Michael Rose was the hero at the other end today and he climbed to power home United's deserved winner. The former Aberdeen man has formed an impressive defensive partnership with Jamie Adams - and once again the pair were fantastic at Firhill. But Rose proved his threat in the opposition box when rising to bullet home Declan McDaid's corner, coming as it did at the end of concerted Ayr pressure. Rose looks to have a bright future in the game and he deservedly gains the headlines today.

It would be fair to say Ayr boss Ian McCall and ref Bobby Madden aren't the greatest of pals. McCall made his feelings on the whistler well known after Ayr's trip to Ibrox earlier this season - and United were on the end of a string of hotly disputed calls here. Madden waved away two first half penalty shouts and angered Ayr with a number of other baffling calls which threatened to send the game past boiling point in the second half.

On a day when all eyes were on the Thistle dugout and Gary Caldwell making his home debut, Ian McCall made yet another triumphant return to his old stomping ground. Ayr's wily gaffer made two big calls in starting Craig Moore and Declan McDaid and his men responded in style with another fine performance. McCall is not afraid of the big decisions and appears to be juggling his squad to perfection at the moment, as proven by this display where his team selection and tactics proved spot on.

Reaction

Partick Thistle manager Gary Caldwell (speaking to Jagzone):

I felt that like last week, we played well for large periods of the game. Also, I felt we were much better in the attack than we were at Alloa and the game was there to be won but we give away a poor goal from a set piece which is the reason we lose the game in the end. Once again, the effort was there but I can’t accept losing games of football so there’s plenty of work still to be done. We need to be picking points up and I’ve told the players that. They can’t feel sorry for themselves. That mentality has to change. We know we have quality in this team but we’re struggling to score and that’s going to make getting points very difficult when you come up against teams like Ayr or Alloa who fight for everything.

FIRING BLANKS

● For the first time in history Thistle fail to score in a third consecutive competitive match against Ayr United. It's the first time since 1982 that we've lost 3-in-a-row against the Honest Men.

● One of the most joyless periods in Thistle's history continues; it's now SIXTY League games without back-2-back wins.

ongoing sequences:

● 5 consecutive competitive defeats, 28th Sep 2018 to date. (Longest run since: 6 defeats, 22nd Aug 2015 to 26th Sep 2015. Club-record: 14 defeats, 3rd Jan 1898 to 15th Oct 1898.)

● 5 consecutive League defeats; 28th Sep 2018 to date. (Longest run since: 8 defeats; 7th May 2017 to 26th Aug 2017. Club-record: 12 defeats; 27th Feb 1909 to 25th Aug 1909.)

● 5 consecutive away League defeats; 4th Aug 2018 to date. (Longest run since: 6 defeats; 16th Jan 2010 to 20th Mar 2010. Club-record: 14 defeats; 6th Apr 1912 to 25th Jan 1913.)

● 5 consecutive competitive away defeats; 25th Aug 2018 to date. (Longest run since: 5 defeats; 10th Feb 2018 to 3rd Apr 2018. Club-record: 11 defeats; 4th Dec 1897 to 15th Oct 1898.)

● 22 competitive games without a draw, 8th May 2018 to date. (Longest run since: 25 games; 22nd Aug 1953 to 9th Jan 1964. Club-record: 27 games; 18th Feb 1899 to 23rd Dec 1899.)

● 28 consecutive competitive appearances for Blair Spittal, 31st Mar 2018 to date, a new personal best. (Longest run since: Ryan Edwards - 35 games; 8th Aug 2017 to 3rd Apr 2018. Club-record: Johnny Jackson - 313 games; 28th Aug 1926 to 25th Mar 1933.)

● 60 games since back-to-back League wins, 11th Mar 2017 to date. (Longest run since: 71 games; 16th Apr 2013 to 14th Mar 2015. Club-record: 77 games; 2nd Nov 1912 to 5th Dec 1914.)

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