22nd Mar 2022 Dunfermline Athletic 4 Partick Thistle 1 (SPFL Championship - game 30)

matches:2021-22: ← 41game 4243 →

	John Hughes	Ian McCall	57y, 5m, 20d

		Richard Foster; Scott Tiffoney
		Tunji Akinola; Kyle Turner

Lewis Mayo (1-1, og 10‎ mins); Matty Todd (1-2, 22 mins); Josh Edwards (1-3, 27‎ mins); Dom Thomas (1-4, 82 mins)		Ross Docherty (1-0, 5‎ mins)‎
Matty Todd (1-1, og 10‎ mins); Dom Thomas (1-2, 22 mins); Dom Thomas (1-3, 27‎ mins); Dan Pybus (1-4, 82 mins)		Robbie Crawford (1-0, 5‎ mins)‎
Kevin O'Hara		Kevin Holt; Richard Foster

Dom Thomas (Ryan Dow, 85 mins); Liam Polworth (Nikolay Todorov, 85 mins); Kevin O'Hara (Paul Allan, 85 mins); Matty Todd (Aaron Comrie, 89 mins); Coll Donaldson (Rhys Breen, 89 mins)		Ciaran McKenna (Stephen Hendrie, HT); Juan Alegría (Connor Murray, HT); Cammy Smith (Kyle Turner, 59 mins); Richard Foster (Tunji Akinola, 65 mins); Scott Tiffoney (Steven Bell, 72 mins)

	Deniz Mehmet	Jamie Sneddon	24y, 6m, 16d
	Matty Todd	Ciaran McKenna	23y, 11m, 25d
	Josh Edwards	Richard Foster	36y, 7m, 19d
	Efe Ambrose	Lewis Mayo	22y, 0m, 3d
	Coll Donaldson	Kevin Holt	29y, 1m, 25d
	Joe Chalmers	Stuart Bannigan	29y, 6m, 5d
	Dan Pybus	Ross Docherty	29y, 1m, 27d
	former Jag Steven Lawless	Robbie Crawford	27y, 9m, 0d
	Kevin O'Hara	Juan Alegría	19y, 9m, 16d
	Liam Polworth	Cammy Smith	26y, 6m, 26d
	Dom Thomas	Scott Tiffoney	23y, 6m, 24d

			26y, 7m, 9d

	Neil Alexander	Andy Firth	25y, 5m, 24d
	Aaron Comrie	Kyle Turner	24y, 4m, 12d
	Lewis Martin	Steven Bell	37y, 0m, 26d
	Nikolay Todorov	Connor Murray	24y, 10m, 26d
	Ryan Dow	Tunji Akinola	23y, 4m, 1d
	former Jag Rhys Breen	Ben Stanway	17y, 6m, 2d
	Paul Allan	Stephen Hendrie	27y, 2m, 14d
	former Jag Leon Jones
	former Jag Reece Cole

notes

Both sides generally in playing order.
Thistle filled only 7 of their 9 allocated bench slots.
Originally scheduled for Saturday, 19th February, 2022. Changed to Friday 18th February as a live game for BBC Scotland, but that too was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
The 'network' credits Cammy Smith with the assist for Thistle's goal, but video evidence clearly shows it was Robbie Crawford.

TTA report

A curling shot by Docherty (5) put Thistle ahead but an OG by Mayo (10) and a header (22) put bottom club Pars ahead. It got worse with a shot across the keeper (27). Docherty and Tiffoney went close but Thistle were largely clueless as Dunfermline sat in. A break from half-way left Sneddon helpless (82). 2nd best in every department.

Media report

22-Mar-2022, bbc.com

Dunfermline Athletic climbed off the foot of the Scottish Championship by roaring back to beat Partick Thistle. The hosts fell behind to Ross Docherty's fine early curler, but soon responded with three first-half goals. Lewis Mayo spooned into his own net, before Matthew Todd and Josh Edwards were teed up by Dom Thomas. It was Thomas who sealed Dunfermline's first win in seven games late on, moving them three points clear of Queen of the South, while Thistle sit fourth. This was a damaging third straight defeat for Ian McCall's men, three days after the 4-0 trouncing dished out by Hamilton Academical, and four before travelling to league leaders Kilmarnock.

They were motoring along so well early in the game, when Edwards' misplaced header allowed them to steal in behind the home defence, and Scott Tiffoney teed up captain Docherty to bend delightfully beyond Deniz Mehmet. Their lead evaporated five minutes later, the first of a triple gut-punch delivered by John Hughes' reinvigorated troops. Todd's cross was shanked hideously into the Thistle net by Mayo. Then Thomas grabbed things by the scruff, proving a constant pest down the left flank. His bamboozling footwork and terrific cross was expertly placed on to the head of Todd, who thundered home. Thomas was as it again soon after, cutting back for Edwards to drive in the third. And it should have been 4-1 before the interval when Steven Lawless saw his deflected shot held by Jamie Sneddon at the second attempt.

The new half was less incident-packed, though Kevin O'Hara was booked for diving when the impressive striker hit the deck in the away box. Thomas put the icing on a juicy Dunfermline cake late on, burning away on the counter and fizzing a left-foot howitzer through Sneddon. A stoppage-time injury to Lawless was the only blight on the Fife side's evening, and they almost bagged a fifth at the death, Nikolay Todorov rounding Sneddon but trundling too far wide to direct his shot on target.

Reaction

Partick Thistle manager Ian McCall (speaking to the BBC):

The first goal was an own goal; Lewis' position was really good, and he's just got to clear it, but Dunfermline deserved to win. Simple as that. There was nothing in the game second half but we didn't make a chance. We did at the end of the first half, I thought the last 10 minutes. The only plus point, we got (Scott) Tiffoney 75 minutes, and he came through it fine, but there aren't many plus points. But, I've got to say, let's have a bit of perspective here. We're chasing promotion through the play-offs; Dunfermline, a similar sized club, are trying to stop going down. A wee bit of perspective is maybe needed. I think the players have been fantastic. Is it a coincidence that three, certainly two, very poor results have come at the end of 10, 11 games? I don't know. That's for other people to decide. I thought we started the game really well, scored a goal, and then made a mistake. The first half, apart from the last 10 minutes, it was just littered with mistakes from us, in dangerous areas. Dunfermline really deserved to win. Whether it was 4-1, I'm not so sure, but they deserved to win.

Dunfermline Athletic John Hughes (speaking to the BBC):

It's not just tonight, it's been a long time coming, a long time before this. 4-1, we've always said that we'll score goals, and tonight, they've went in. The difference tonight was our crossing was very very good, and I felt in the first half, our passing was really, really good in terms of just cutting it in. As I say, when you score the goals, it gives you a hand. I'm delighted. At this football club, since I've come, from the boardroom right down, there's a real, collective togetherness, and everybody wanting the same thing, the same objective. We're all on the same path. We know where we are. We're not getting carried away with the result tonight, we know where we are. We know the consequences, we have to win football matches,but I just feel it. Right from the top, there's a real collective spirit and we're all helping each other. I think the boys have signed up for that and the environment which we're trying to create. When you give the fans that entertainment, then it's a good place to be. I keep saying that it's difficult when you feel that you're doing a lot of things right in the games, and it's been like that for a while now. You need to keep believing in the process, what we're doing and the philosophy, carry on what we have been doing.

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