2nd Jan 2023 Queen's Park 2 Partick Thistle 0 (SPFL Championship - game 20)

matches:2022-23: ← 30game 3132 →

Match Information

			Owen Coyle		Ian McCall			58y, 3m, 3d
					Ross Docherty
					Stuart Bannigan
Simon Murray (0-1, 5 mins); Patrick Jarrett (0-2, 76 mins)
Grant Savoury (0-1, 5 mins); Tommy Robson (0-2, 76 mins)
Josh McPake					Darren Brownlie; Steven Lawless; Brian Graham; Harry Milne
Dom Thomas (Patrick Jarrett, 70 mins); Simon Murray (Scott Williamson, 82 mins); Grant Savoury (Aaron Healy, 89 mins); Josh McPake (Louis Longridge, 89 mins)					Darren Brownlie (Kevin Holt, HT); Cole McKinnon (Lee Hodson, HT); Aidan Fitzpatrick (Danny Mullen, 68 mins); Brian Graham (Anton Dowds, 68 mins); Ross Docherty (Tony Weston, 77 mins)
			Calum Ferrie		Jamie Sneddon			25y, 3m, 27d
			Jake Davidson		Jack McMillan			25y, 0m, 15d
			former Jag Tommy Robson		Harry Milne			26y, 2m, 4d
			Lee Kilday		Darren Brownlie			28y, 8m, 23d
			Charlie Fox		Aaron Muirhead			32y, 4m, 3d
			Malachi Boateng		Ross Docherty			29y, 11m, 10d
			Jack Thomson		Cole McKinnon			19y, 11m, 4d
			Dom Thomas		Steven Lawless			31y, 8m, 21d
			Simon Murray		Brian Graham			35y, 1m, 10d
			Grant Savoury		Kyle Turner			25y, 1m, 23d
			Josh McPake		Aidan Fitzpatrick			21y, 9m, 13d
								27y, 4m, 20d
			Jacques Heraghty		David Mitchell			32y, 8m, 29d
			Jason Naismith		Kevin Holt			29y, 11m, 8d
			Louis Longridge		Anton Dowds			26y, 1m, 14d
			Scott Williamson		Cammy Smith			27y, 4m, 9d
			Aaron Healy		Lee Hodson			31y, 3m, 0d
			Alex Bannon		Tony Weston			19y, 3m, 16d
			Patrick Jarrett		Danny Mullen			27y, 10m, 1d
			Lennon Connolly		James Lyon			20y, 2m, 6d
			Stephen Eze		Zander MacKenzie			17y, 4m, 5d

notes

Both sides generally in playing order.

Match Report

TTA report

A goal in 5 minutes from a cut-back caught Thistle cold but they rallied and enjoyed long spells of possession and good chances. Too few were on target however. second half pressure continued and Hodson hit the post but a 2nd goal on the break (76) and strong defending in the last 15 minutes saw Queens home (and go top).

Media report

02-Jan-2023, queensparkfc.co.uk

The New Year has begun with Queen’s Park enjoying a new position at the top of the Championship table as a result of a 2-0 win over visitors Partick Thistle thanks to goals from Simon Murray and Pat Jarrett. For his first team selection of 2023 Head Coach Owen Coyle brought Josh McPake back into the starting line-up after illness kept him out of the 4-1 success at Arbroath just two days before Christmas. New signing Aaron Healy from Arthurlie was listed as a substitute. After a minutes’ applause to mark the life of Pele, Queen’s kicked off shooting towards the terraced end of Ochilview that housed the visiting fans from the Firhill club.

The hosts earned a corner after 90 seconds and after a deep cross from Dom Thomas had been cleared, McPake looked to manufacture space for an attempt at goal however he was crowded out and the ball was cleared. Thomas did get a shot in with three minutes played however Jamie Sneddon was well-placed to stop his low effort with the Thistle shot-stopper excelling shortly afterwards as he pushed away a drive from Lee Kilday who had broken forward and created danger. Coyle’s side continued to press and with five minutes gone they took the lead when Grant Savoury darted from right to left and picked out Tommy Robson who slipped a return pass to the attacker. Savoury darted towards the by-line before picking out MURRAY with a low left foot cross and the skipper applied a first-time side-foot finish from four yards. Thistle were stung by the loss of the goal and Charlie Fox had to clear off the line on eight minutes after Calum Ferrie had partially stopped a shot from Aidan Fitzpatrick who found himself in space on the left and had beaten Kilday to the ball. The play was soon back at the other end and McPake was not too far away with a drive that flashed past Sneddon before travelling wide. The pace continued to be fast as McPake exchanged passes with Murray on 12 minutes before being crowded out with appeals for a foul on the striker just as he was about to shoot ignored by referee Steven Kirkland. Thistle had the next chance when Harry Milne whipped in a cross for Brian Graham with the striker sending a header inches over Ferrie’s bar. On 16 minutes Ferrie left two Partick attackers for dead as he dribbled out of his box before sliding a pass upfield to set up an attack that ended when Thomas fired just off target. Three minutes later Ferrie used his hands to great effect as he got down low to push away a Graham header from a Jack McMillan chipped cross. It was the visitor’s turn to appeal to whistler Kirkland on 26 minutes when Milne tumbled to the turf with Kilday in close attendance on the host’s 18-yard line however nothing was given. Thistle enjoyed a good spell of pressure around the half-hour mark and a Savoury foul added to that as it allowed Turner to fire over a cross that caused a scramble at the far-post before being cleared. Queen’s enjoyed a foray into their opponents’ half on 36 minutes and, after Malachi Boateng had been fouled 25 yards out, Murray tried his luck from the set-piece however the ball drifted wide as did a shot from Jack Thomson a minute later. Three minutes from the break the visiting Darren Brownlie was booked for a crunching challenge on McPake with Steven Lawless then yellow-carded for failing to retreat ten yards as Thomas looked to take the resulting free-kick which was cleared for a fruitless corner. Graham found himself in the book as well before the break with the teams trooping off with the Black and White hosts leading by Murray’s goal.

The Jags kept the Spiders waiting on the pitch at the start of the second half and when they emerged it was with two substitutes coming on with Kevin Holt replacing Brownlie and Lee Hodson taken the place of Cole McKinnon. The replacements were given little time to settle as Thomas cracked over a free-kick that Kilday was only inches away from converting. Kilday was prominent in his own box shortly afterwards with a perfectly timed tackle however Queen’s struggled to clear and as Thistle pushed and probed Hodson sent a 20 yarder against the outside of a post. After a Murray run on the Thistle goal was ended with an offside flag Hodson tried his luck from distance again on 54 minutes with Boateng sliding into block with Graham sending the loose ball wide. Just after the hour mark it looked like a second goal was coming for Queen’s as Thomson looped over a cross from the left which dropped perfectly for the diving Murray six yards however Sneddon was perfectly placed to save his header. Thistle added the fire-power of Danny Mullen and Anton Dowds midway through the second half and Fox had rise high to clear away a corner with Boateng getting in the way of Mullen’s shot when the ball landed 18 yards out. With 18 minutes left Kilday cut out a cross at the expense of a corner that Ferrie did well to rise and claim. The second goal that the game deserved arrived on 76 minutes and it came from recently introduced Queen’s substitute PAT JARRETT. Tommy Robson was again involved as he played a precise pass through a wall of red and yellow shirts to the feet of Jarrett 30 yards out and the number 27 hared forward before slipping a shot under Sneddon from 10 yards. Ferrie dashed from goal to kick clear from Anthony Weston’s toes shortly afterwards with the goalkeeper relieved that a ricochet off the substitute did not create too much danger. As the visitors looked to get a goal back Weston wriggled clear on the right with the danger ending when Jake Davidson slid in with a perfectly timed tackle. Healy was given a run-out with two minutes left when he replaced Savoury with Longridge taking the place of McPake at the same time with Ferrie ensuring that the game was seen out without the loss of a goal as he made a late clutch. 2023 is off and running!

Reaction

Partick Thistle manager Ian McCall (speaking to Jagzone):

I thought the result was a bit of a travesty. We didn't start well and they got their goal but I thought we were pretty dominant in the first half. The disappointing thing for me is that I think we had about 20 shots on goal but only 5 or 6 on target, but the key to the game I think was the second half. The first half-hour of it we were really dominant, our away support was fabulous and they were right up behind the team and we've got to score in that period. We had chances to do it, we hit the post. Listen, I'm really really pleased with the performance, I thought they were excellent and sometimes that happens in football. We now need to go on another run and win another three or four in a row.

Scrapbook

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The Sun, 3rd January, 2023

Video Highlights

(credit: Queen's Park )

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UNHAPPY NEW YEAR

● 19-year-old Tony Weston plays his last game for the club.

● There's been at least one first half goal in each of the last 13 competitive Thistle matches.

● It's a miserable start to 2023 for Thistle who, for the first time since 1928, lose a third consecutive match versus Queen's Park.

● As a Jag, Ian McCall loses a 5th consecutive managerial bout to Owen Coyle. Remarkably, Coyle has now won 10 out of 13 vs. Thistle as manager.

ongoing sequences:

● 28 consecutive competitive appearances for Jack McMillan, 9th Jul 2022 to date, a new personal best. (Longest run since: Jamie Sneddon - 41 games, 28th Aug 2021 to 9th Jul 2022. Club-record: Johnny Jackson - 313 games, 28th Aug 1926 to 25th Mar 1933.)

Stats Watch adheres to our stated definitions of League, League Max, Major Competitive, Competitive or All Games. Where there is no written qualification, you should presume that the Stat in question is compiled from the All Games criteria.

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