The Thistle Archive

Ben Banks, 20-Nov-2021, Daily Record

Hamilton were left ruing missed chances again after Rangers loanee Lewis Mayo's first career goal handed Partick Thistle a 1-0 Championship victory. A cagey first half had one big chance as Hamilton striker David Moyo was given the freedom of the Thistle box to shoot, but he dragged his effort wide nine minutes before half-time. Lewis Smith missed an even better chance to put Hamilton ahead after half-time, and they were soon punished as on-loan Rangers defender Mayo scored for Thistle with their first attempt at goal. It proved to be the winner as Hamilton drop to eighth in the league. Thistle remain fourth.

Hamilton made three changes to the side which lost 3-0 to Raith Rovers last weekend. Marley Redfern, Luke Matheson and Ronan Hughes made way for Moyo, Shaun Want and Scott Martin. Taylor was also a man light in the technical area as assistant manager Guillaume Beuzelin moved on by mutual consent after almost seven years at the New Douglas Park. Thistle meanwhile made one change from their impressive 4-0 win away to Ayr, Mayo coming in for Richard Foster at the back. Last time out between the pair, the Jags handed Hamilton a harsh lesson, defeating Taylor's men 6-1. They looked like ominous opposition, having not conceded a goal since Moyo's header for Hamilton five games ago.

It was a scrappy start that Accies edged the chances out of the opening 10 minutes. Moyo's good run on seven minutes earned his side a corner, but Firhill goalkeeper Jamie Sneddon easily punched clear. Thistle have proven their dangerous attacking credentials before and Scott Tiffoney sent Want sliding along the ground with a nice turn on 16 minutes. But overall it had been a low-key start to the game with few chances to write home about. Tiffoney looked set to slip in behind on 25 minutes but a good challenge from Hamilton's Hearts loanee Mihai Popescu denied him. Accies goalkeeper Joe Hilton almost made life difficult for himself on the half-hour mark by fumbling a routine cross, but made up for it a minute later by snatching the ball from Zak Rudden's feet as he approached the goal. Pace had picked up in the match as Accies broke off this, Kieran MacDonald's cross not finding anyone after a good counter. Moyo couldn't find the target with his header from the resulting corner. The goal opened up for Moyo on 36 minutes as the Zimbabwean international got through one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but he trundled his shot wide. Half-time came with little fuss as Hamilton had limited their hosts to zero shots, but hadn't registered a single shot on target themselves.

Smith should have put Accies ahead three minutes after half-time when a MacDonald cross found him free inside the box, but he could only head wide. Accies had been punished for not taking their chances in recent 1-1 draws with Morton and Arbroath, and a similar story would curse them at Firhill. Kyle Turner's pinpoint corner met Mayo free in the box, who with Thistle's first chance, headed into the corner. It was almost 2-0 three minutes later as Cammy Smith's spectacular effort crashed off the underside of the bar. The goal had put the home side in the ascendency and it became one-way traffic. Tiffoney should done better with 15 minutes to go, blasting over the bar after a slick counter-attack. Taylor's side did try and mount a comeback but attacks came with little fruition. Jags goalkeeper Sneddon did offer them a chance though, misreading a cross which Popescu took a shot from. But the Accies defender lobbed over on 88 minutes.

Partick Thistle manager Ian McCall, via ptfc.co.uk

I said at halftime that it was a horrible game and it wasn’t pleasant on the eye but at the end of the day it’s a huge three points and it could be one of our best results of the season so far considering the conditions and the opposition. The reason it was a particularly pleasing result was because it was a very hard game and we weren’t able to play the way we wanted to but still got the victory. It felt like a game that was going to be decided by a set piece or something and when you’ve got someone delivering balls like Kyle Turner does, you’re always in with a shout. I was really pleased for the fans at the end of the match as well because I think they understood that it was going to be one of those days where we’d have to grind out a result. It’s been a very impressive run for us and it’s really been the basis of the unbeaten run that we’re on. The defence have been great but it’s a real team effort and everyone has played their part. It starts up front with Zak and Brian and then the midfielders and the defenders all the way back to Jamie in goals who has been terrific.

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