23rd Oct 2021 Partick Thistle 0 Dunfermline Athletic 0 (SPFL Championship - game 10)

matches:2021-22: ← 18game 1920 →

57y, 0m, 23d	Ian McCall	Peter Grant

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Cammy Smith (Connor Murray, 64 mins); Zak Rudden (Jake Hastie, 70 mins); Brian Graham (Ross MacIver, 83 mins)		Ryan Dow (Iain Wilson, 60 mins); ‎Kevin O'Hara (Kai Kennedy, 72 mins); ‎Craig Wighton (Nikolay Todorov, 80 mins)

24y, 1m, 17d	Jamie Sneddon	Owain Fôn Williams
36y, 2m, 22d	Richard Foster	Aaron Comrie
28y, 8m, 28d	Kevin Holt	Josh Edwards
21y, 7m, 4d	Lewis Mayo	Mark Connolly
22y, 11m, 2d	Tunji Akinola	Vytas Gašpuitis
29y, 1m, 6d	Stuart Bannigan	Dan Pybus
28y, 9m, 0d	Ross Docherty	Paul Allan
26y, 1m, 29d	Cammy Smith	Dom Thomas
33y, 11m, 0d	Brian Graham	Craig Wighton
21y, 8m, 17d	Zak Rudden	Kevin O'Hara
23y, 1m, 27d	Scott Tiffoney	Ryan Dow

26y, 11m, 11d

18y, 7m, 18d	Mason McCready	Deniz Mehmet
23y, 11m, 13d	Kyle Turner	Kyle MacDonald
23y, 5m, 7d	Shea Gordon	Kai Kennedy
23y, 6m, 28d	Ciaran McKenna	Nikolay Todorov
24y, 5m, 29d	Connor Murray	Rhys Breen former Jag
22y, 7m, 25d	Ross MacIver	Lewis McCann
22y, 7m, 5d	Jake Hastie	Iain Wilson

notes

Both sides generally in playing order.

TTA report

Thistle (in '71 anniversary colours) dominated all afternoon but failed to capitalise. A tremendous save thwarted Docherty but too often crosses were wasted or shots blocked. As winless Dunfermline sensed their opponents had run out of ideas they became more adventurous and a late flurry saw Sneddon's blocked save avert disaster.

Media report

Jordan Carlisle, 23-Oct-2021, nottheoldfirm.com

On the 50th anniversary of their famous League Cup triumph, Partick Thistle drew 0-0 with Dunfermline Athletic at Firhill. The game started slowly and was only jolted into life in the 19th minute when Scott Tiffoney forced a save from Owain Fon Williams with an effort from distance. The hosts were the better side for the remainder of the half but weren’t able to test Williams again and the score remained 0-0 at the interval.

Thistle started the second period full of intent, with Kevin Holt and Brian Graham both going close before Williams produced a stunning one-handed stop to keep out Ross Docherty’s curling shot from 25 yards. The visitors had their first genuinely promising spell in the lead-up to the hour mark and Craig Wighton almost broke the deadlock, curling an effort from the edge of the area just wide of the top corner with Jamie Sneddon rooted to the spot. Wighton would have the best chance of the game around ten minutes later but he could only fire straight at Sneddon when clean through on goal. The hosts had a big chance to win it in the final minute when Tiffoney released substitute Jake Hastie in behind, but he lost control of the ball under pressure from a defender and the points were shared, much to the frustration of the majority of the 3,333 fans inside Firhill. Three things we learned:

Thistle trying to play an attacking brand of football: Thistle have been free-scoring of late and manager Ian McCall is certainly giving his team every chance of hurting opponents with his tactics. Selecting two strikers, picking creative players on both flanks and giving the full-backs license to get forward means they tend to create plenty of opportunities. However, there wasn’t enough quality in the final third in this fixture and after a strong start to the second half, they lost their way, allowing a winnable game to peter out into a draw.

Tiffoney the standout: Tiffoney was a standout player in League One after joining on loan from Livingston during the second half of last season and he’s now shining in the second tier after signing on a permanent deal in the summer. After a dull opening period, it was the winger who sparked the game into life with a strong run and shot and he continued to cause the Dunfermline defence problems for the remainder of the half. The 23-year-old wasn’t quite as lively after the break, but he still looked the player most likely to create something and he almost set up a late winner with a brilliant swivel and ball in behind to release Hastie. Jags skipper Docherty also had a strong game, but Tiffoney was deserving of his Man of the Match award.

Pars struggling to create: Peter Grant’s side had only scored three goals in their previous five Championship matches and their attacking woes continued here. Despite starting with two up top, they created little of note in the first half, with their only real openings coming from defensive lapses. Wighton had the best chance of the game midway through the second period but he didn’t show enough conviction when through on the keeper. Still rooted to the bottom of the table, they need to find a way to score goals and win games, and they need to do it quickly.

Reaction

Partick Thistle manager Ian McCall (speaking to Jagzone):

I didn’t think we really hit the levels of the last couple of games to be completely honest but we still dominated most of the game. We lacked something in the final third; the crossing was poor and we were slack with passes but it still felt like one we could have just nicked. They came here and seemed to be playing for a point, certainly in the first half, but we could have done more to break them down. Scott Tiffoney had a couple of moments where he looked like he was going to break through but they always closed the gaps pretty quickly and they were throwing their bodies on the line to make blocks. Tunji was excellent today apart from one moment where he gave the ball away in our box but then Jamie Sneddon steps up and makes a huge save. It was great to see Jamie make that save. He made some mistakes earlier in the season and I’ve spoken to him about that but recently he’s been more consistent. He came and caught a few difficult crosses as well in that second half so we’re just hoping he continues at his current level.

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