The Thistle Archive

Jamie Durent, 01-Apr-2023, Press & Journal

A dire Cove Rangers performance underlined their current woes as they were beaten comprehensively by Partick Thistle 5-0. Goals from Scott Tiffoney and Steven Lawless put Partick two clear at the break, with Brian Graham, Kevin Holt and Danny Mullen finding the net in the second. It continues Cove’s plummet towards the bottom of the Championship – they have one once in 14 – with Paul Hartley’s side only handed a reprieve by Hamilton’s drubbing at Dundee.

Played through on goal by Mitch Megginson early, Leighton McIntosh had the first opportunity after three minutes but goalkeeper David Mitchell blocked his shot. Luis Longstaff shot well over from the rebound. Just when they were needing a settling-in period, Cove found themselves behind. The ball was played into Graham’s feet and he turned it immediately into Tiffoney’s path, with the winger escaping the attentions of Jason Naismith to score. It took seven minutes for Partick to extend their lead and again it was a Cove player at fault. Ross Docherty hooked a high ball into the box and Scott Fox, coming through a crowd of players, failed to grasp it. After a brief scramble, Lawless fired through the bodies to double the visitors’ advantage. Partick came close to putting a third past a beleaguered Cove on 27 minutes. Jack McMillan was played in down the right and while his attempt was parried by Fox, the ball fell to Kyle Turner. He headed goalwards but Morgyn Neill recovered to clear off the line. Substitute Cieran Dunne, who came on in the first period to replace an injured McIntosh, summed up Cove’s luck of late, hitting the inside of the post when he was rolled in by Connor Scully. Fox kept out Lawless, Graham and Tiffoney before the interval to keep the deficit at two. Cove needed a lifeline to get themselves back in the game at the start of the second half but instead found themselves four down just after the hour. First, Graham was inexplicably allowed to collect Turner’s pass [note: it was Tiffoney's pass] and meander 40 yards through the Cove defence and finish. Then Holt got across his man to meet Turner’s free-kick and glance the ball into the far corner. Partick got their fifth in the closing stages as Mullen met Zander MacKenzie’s cross to head home.

The ease of which Cove have been conceding goals of late has been frightening and again it was their undoing. They were beaten comfortably eight days ago down at Ayr, with defensive errors contributing to their downfall that night. History continued to repeat itself here. Naismith should have done better with the first goal, not tracking Tiffoney’s run and then not getting to grips with him as he went past. The second was poor play from Fox, who ought to have let the defenders in front of him deal with the high ball but only got the slightest of touches on the ball before Lawless scored. For the third, Graham picked up the ball 10 yards into the Cove half and the defence backed away, allowing him to carry and carry until he reached the penalty area. There was a half-hearted attempt to block his shot, with the deflection wrong-footing Fox. It has become a broken record repeating this flaw over recent weeks but it is the main reason why Cove are heading in the wrong direction. The fluidity of Partick’s front three proved difficult for Cove to deal with. Lawless, Turner and Tiffoney were constantly on the move, searching for pockets of space and offering passing lanes for their midfield. Their decision-making was crisp and they kept the ball moving, not allowing Cove to settle in their shape. It is the kind of attractive, enterprising play which became a hallmark of Cove’s play coming through the leagues. Sadly that has been lacking this season as the Aberdeen side have struggled for performances and results on their Championship debut.

Cove Rangers assistant manager Gordon Young:

It was a tough game as we expected, but it's taken for us to almost give away a goal to give a team a lift that we can't really afford to do. It's 7 games it's taken for us to do that, for a team to break us down. And we threw everything at Inverness, if you look at the team that's on at the end, we've thrown the kitchen sink at them. I felt if we'd got one we'd probably have went on and got a second, but they defended well and threw everything in front of the ball as you'd expect them to do. We just couldn't get that equaliser and we can't ask any more and it's about getting a reaction now in the next game, which I'm sure the boys will.

ptfc.co.uk

Delighted obviously to score 5 goals and it could have been more actually. It just shows what we're capable of, and it's another clean-sheet as well. We asked for that performance, we asked for that reaction off the back of last week and knew we would get it because their professionalism has been great. We've left a marker in terms of the way we can play, both defensively and going forward as well. There was a lot of good movement in the front four today, with good fluidity. They're smart players who can pick up different areas and they can all be a threat. Even in the second half when we make changes the guys who're coming on can impact the game as well; you can change shape, you can stick with the same shape, but ultimately they give us the options. Young Zander MacKenzie, 17-year-old comes on and sets up a goal. Really important that we have that depth and we will require that full squad.

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GOALDEN OLDIES

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