The Thistle Archive

Andrew Southwick, 12-Feb-2022, bbc.co.uk

Ian Harkes' first-half goal was enough for Dundee United to scrape past a battling Partick Thistle and into the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup. The midfielder's strike arrived against the run of play as the Premiership side struggled on the muddy Firhill pitch. And the Championship hosts had plenty of chances, with United goalkeeper Benjamin Siegrist making saves from Kevin Holt and Cammy Smith. But Thomas Court's men held on despite late pressure from Thistle. Dundee United will find out their last-eight opponents on Monday after the Peterhead v Dundee tie.

The muddy, sodden pitch was never going to be conducive to free-flowing football, and United struggled to adapt, especially in the early stages. Siegrist had to tip over a Scott Tiffoney effort, while Brian Graham tried to add to his midweek hat-trick with a goal-bound shot that was deflected wide. But with their first real opportunity, United took the lead. A cross was poorly dealt with by Robbie Crawford, who put it into the path of Harkes, and he lashed into the far corner of the net.

The first half had been quiet, but the second would turn into a thriller. Siegrist, after spilling a free-kick, had to push a Holt shot over the bar, then Graham looked certain to level only for a defender to nudge the ball away from him close to goal. Tony Watt had the chance to make it 2-0 to United, but lifted his shot over the bar despite being left unmarked in the box. A similar chance fell to Thistle captain Ross Docherty with the same result as the ball spun off the top of his foot. Siegrist was kept busy again, making a fine one-handed stop to deny Cammy Smith, and as Thistle threw everything at the visitors late on Tiffoney had a close-range shot blocked. But despite a spirited effort, Ian McCall's side could not force extra time.

Partick Thistle manager Ian McCall:

We were miles, miles better than Dundee United. The pitch is hard, I get that, but we played a lot of football. Our midfield were so dominant. We didn't make a lot of chances in the first half but the goal which was a great strike from Harkes came against the run of play and then in the second half we just battered them. But you know it's ultimately a cup tie and you just want to win and good luck to Dundee United in the quarter-final.

Dundee United manager Tam Courts:

We anticipated the pitch was going to be tricky and once we arrived we saw how difficult the conditions were and in the first 45 minutes we got caught thinking 'can we play on this surface or can't we?' The times we did try and play we got caught but the key thing for us is we got the breakthrough, we quickly acclimatised and we saw the job through but it wasn't a classic by any stretch of the imagination. Partick Thistle will maybe feel they had some of the best chances in the game and we looked a bit of a tired team. We've had eight games in 23 days and we probably looked a bit tired but I am really delighted to get into the next round.

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OUT TO DUNDEE UNITED AGAIN

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