21st Nov 2020 Partick Thistle 2 East Fife 0 (SPFL League One - game 5)

matches:2020-21: ← 12game 1314 →

56y, 1m, 22d	Ian McCall	Darren Young

Mouhamed Niang; Ross Docherty; Brian Graham
Rhys Breen; Shea Gordon; Blair Spittal

Brian Graham (1-0, pen 17 mins); Brian Graham (2-0, 78 mins)
none (1-0, pen 17 mins); Darren Brownlie (2-0, 78 mins)
Joe Cardle		Patrick Slattery; Jack Hamilton; Stewart Murdoch; Ross Davidson; Aaron Dunsmore

Connor Murray (Shea Gordon, 80 mins)		Danny Denholm (Liam Watt, 79 mins); Scott Agnew (Liam Newton, 79 mins); Aaron Dunsmore (Danny Swanson, 79 mins); Kevin Smith (Thomas Collins, 85 mins)

21y, 7m, 20d	Kieran Wright	Jordan Hart
24y, 8m, 7d	Ryan Williamson	Chris Higgins
35y, 3m, 21d	Richard Foster	Stewart Murdoch
26y, 7m, 11d	Darren Brownlie	Ross Dunlop
21y, 1m, 13d	Mouhamed Niang	Patrick Slattery
21y, 10m, 30d	James Penrice	Aaron Dunsmore
28y, 2m, 4d	Stuart Bannigan	Danny Denholm
27y, 9m, 29d	Ross Docherty	Scott Agnew
32y, 11m, 29d	Brian Graham	Ross Davidson
23y, 6m, 28d	Connor Murray	Kevin Smith
33y, 9m, 14d	Joe Cardle	Jack Hamilton

27y, 0m, 21d

18y, 10m, 4d	Luke Scullion	Brett Long
24y, 1m, 29d	Blair Lyons	Craig Watson
22y, 6m, 5d	Shea Gordon	Danny Swanson
18y, 11m, 16d	Charlie Reilly	Liam Watt
		Josh McConville
		Liam Newton
		Thomas Collins
		Aiden McLaughlin

notes

Both sides generally in playing order.
Thistle filled only 4 of their 9 allocated bench slots, whilst East Fife filled 8 of theirs.
Played closed-doors due to the coronavirus pandemic.

TTA report

2-0 didn't do Thistle's good play justice. Too often crosses and cut-backs weren't taken. Graham's softish pen (17) put them ahead then Penrice and Cardle went close. East Fife had a brief flurry but Wright was seldom troubled. Cardle hit the post (69). Graham's delightful chip over the keeper from 23 yards (78) sealed it.

Media report

Jordan Carlisle, 21-Nov-2020, nottheoldfirm.com

Promotion hopefuls Partick Thistle got their League One campaign back on track on Saturday afternoon with a well-deserved 2-0 win over East Fife at Firhill. Injury-ravaged Thistle were only able to name four substitutes but they started the game positively. Their first big chance fell to Ross Docherty in the 11th minute, with the midfielder inexplicably missing from two yards with the goal at his mercy, after Jordan Hart had palmed away Mouhamed Niang’s header. East Fife failed to heed that warning, though, and the hosts were in front a little over five minutes later. Connor Murray was felled by Pat Slattery in the box and Brian Graham buried the resulting penalty into the bottom left corner. Buoyed by their opener, Ian McCall’s men pressed for more in torrential rain, with James Penrice and Joe Cardle amongst those to go close prior to the interval.

The Fifers’ best spell of the game came early in the second half, but Jack Hamilton was unable to capitalise after being played in behind the makeshift Jags defence. Thistle were still the better side, though, and they doubled their advantage in the 78th minute after Docherty had earlier seen a strong penalty appeal waved away and Cardle had struck the left post. It was Graham who delivered the goods once again, lifting a sublime finish over Hart after being released through on goal. A member of the East Fife coaching staff was sent off in the closing stages as frustration boiled over in the away dugout and the Jags saw out the closing stages with relative ease to secure just their second league win of the season.

Reaction

Partick Thistle manager Ian McCall (speaking to Jagzone):

I thought we should have been out of sight in the first half to be honest. We could have had three goals and if we had stuck our chances away the second half would have been a bit easier for us but we got back on the front foot midway through the second half and it was terrific finish from Brian to make it two and that made things a touch more comfortable late on. I was very pleased for Sena; I thought he did brilliantly. He carried himself very well and didn’t look out of place at all. He needs to learn that he can’t go and win every single ball that comes his way but he was a big part of our clean sheet. As much as I thought Kieran Wright had a good game in the way he went about things, I can’t remember him having a save to make which is to the credit of the defenders. I think today was a lot closer to where we want to be. It’s a long list of important players we’re missing but looking at our last three games: we’ve won today, won on penalties against a team from the league above and then really should have beaten Falkirk so there are good signs there and we’re only going to get better as the injured guys come back.

A NEW PERSONAL BEST FOR BANNIGAN

● The injured Blair Spittal fails to appear, ending a remarkable run of 65-not-out in competitive games whilst a registered Jag.

● Referee Duncan Williams takes charge of his first Thistle game.

● After more than 10 years of service, Stuart 'suspended' Bannigan sets a new personal best run of 24 consecutive competitive appearances, 30th November 2019 to date.

● In competitive action, the last 5 penalties in Thistle games have been awarded in favour of the Jags. You need to rewind to the 8-in-a-row from our last third-tier season (2005-06) to find another example of this most un-Thistle-like stat.

● Brian Graham scores in a fourth consecutive home League match.

● For the first time since January, 2020, Thistle retire with a half-time lead in competitive action.

● Thistle register their first League clean-sheet of the season.

● Historically, statistics show that good disciplinary records are synonymous with the most succesful teams. For the first time since March, 2013, Thistle register a fourth consecutive win in the discipline stakes. Hats off to Stuart 'non-suspended' Bannigan ; - )

● On match day 5 Thistle move into a play-off position (4th) for the first time this term.

ongoing sequences:

● 7 competitive home games without defeat; 3rd Mar 2020 to date. (Longest run since: 13 games; 19th Jan 2013 to 27th Aug 2013. Club-record: 24 games; 5th May 2001 to 17th Aug 2002.)

● 16 away games without a clean-sheet in the League; 3rd Aug 2019 to date. (Longest run since: 16 games; 22nd Oct 1977 to 29th Apr 1978. Club-record: 40 games; 1st Feb 1908 to 17th Sep 1910.)

● 39 consecutive competitive appearances for James Penrice, 7th Sep 2019 to date. (Longest run since: James Penrice - 50 games, 14th Jul 2018 to 20th Jul 2019. Club-record: Johnny Jackson - 313 games, 28th Aug 1926 to 25th Mar 1933.)

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