19th May 2023 Partick Thistle 3 Ayr United 0 (SPFL Premiership play-off Semi Final, 1st leg)

matches:2022-23: ← 51game 5253 →

36y, 5m, 9d	Kris Doolan	Lee Bullen

no changes
no changes

Jack McMillan (1-0, 16 mins); Brian Graham (2-0, 50 mins); Brian Graham (3-0, 72 mins)
Steven Lawless (1-0, 16 mins); Scott Tiffoney (2-0, 50 mins); Aidan Fitzpatrick (3-0, 72 mins)
Jack McMillan		Josh Mullin; Ben Dempsey

Aidan Fitzpatrick (Zander MacKenzie, 73 mins); Brian Graham (Danny Mullen, 79 mins); Scott Tiffoney (Anton Dowds, 79 mins); Steven Lawless (Cole McKinnon, 83 mins)		Josh Mullin (Jayden Mitchell-Lawson, 55 mins); Michael Hewitt (Nick McAllister, 55 mins); Daire O'Connor (Sam Ashford, 77 mins); Chris Maguire (Paul Smith, 73 mins); Mark McKenzie (Fraser Bryden, 84 mins)

33y, 1m, 15d	David Mitchell	Charlie Albinson
25y, 5m, 1d	Jack McMillan	Michael Hewitt
30y, 3m, 24d	Kevin Holt	Paddy Reading future Jag
29y, 1m, 9d	Darren Brownlie	Frankie Musonda
32y, 8m, 19d	Aaron Muirhead	Sean McGinty former Jag
30y, 3m, 26d	Ross Docherty	Andy Murdoch
25y, 6m, 9d	Kyle Turner	Ben Dempsey
32y, 1m, 7d	Steven Lawless	Josh Mullin
35y, 5m, 26d	Brian Graham	Mark McKenzie
24y, 8m, 23d	Scott Tiffoney	Chris Maguire
22y, 1m, 29d	Aidan Fitzpatrick	Daire O'Connor

29y, 2m, 6d

25y, 8m, 13d	Jamie Sneddon	Aidan McAdams
26y, 6m, 0d	Anton Dowds	Jayden Mitchell-Lawson
20y, 3m, 20d	Cole McKinnon	Alex Kirk
28y, 2m, 18d	Danny Mullen	Nick McAllister
19y, 11m, 13d	Billy Owens	Reece McAlear
17y, 8m, 21d	Zander MacKenzie	Sam Ashford
17y, 9m, 20d	Ji Stevenson	Fraser Bryden
		Paul Smith
		Carter Jenkins

notes

Both sides generally in playing order.
Thistle filled only 7 of their 9 allocated bench slots.

TTA report

Jittery defending early on was soon replaced by fine play. McMillan was set up by Lawless on a tight angle for 1-0 (16). It should have been more by half-time. Fitzpatrick rattled the bar then Graham finished off a Tiffony cut-back for 2-0 (50). He scored again from a Fitzpatrick cross (72). Ayr hit the bar from a free-kick inside the “D“ (90+4).

Media report

James Cairney, 19-May-2023, The Herald

Partick Thistle took a huge step towards the cinch Premiership play-off final as Kris Doolan’s side recorded a 3-0 win over Ayr United that extended the Jags’ unbeaten run to nine matches ahead of Friday night’s second leg at Somerset Park. The visitors were without the services of Dipo Akinyemi – the second tier’s Player of the Year – but they didn’t allow that to dampen their spirits as they looked to seize the early initiative in Maryhill in front of a crowd of 7012 – the Jags’ highest attendance in years.

Thistle were a little slow out of the traps and it was Ayr who were in the ascendancy early on. A corner for the away side was initially headed clear but the ball sat up favourably for Chris Maguire to rifle a first-time rocket at goal, and David Mitchell showed good awareness to tip the ball over his bar. Slowly, though, their hosts grew into the game. Scott Tiffoney, playing in a central role as Kyle Turner dropped into central midfield role to fill in for the injured Stuart Bannigan, found some space out right, beat his man and drilled a low shot toward the far post, only to be denied by the outstretched glove of Charlie Albinson. A few minutes passed and then Doolan’s men took the lead. A superb through ball from Stevie Lawless sent Jack McMillan through on goal and although the angle was narrow, Albinson could do nothing to stop the full-back’s effort that rifled into the back of the net. Ayr were fortunate to avoid conceding a second midway through the first half. A long ball played back towards goal forced Albinson out of his box with Tiffoney bearing down on him; the Ayr goalkeeper won the initial challenge to send the ball spiraling into the air once again, and was caught in no man’s land when the ball fell to Brian Graham, who couldn’t find the target with his first-time shot from distance. Thistle’s tails were up now as they sought to double their advantage. They really should have made it 2-0 on 38 minutes when Aidan Fitzpatrick showed good skill to beat his man out on the left wing and drilled an excellent ball in towards Graham just a few yards out, but the centre-forward somehow skewed his effort wide of goal. With just a few minutes of the opening 45 left to play, some neat footwork from Lawless on the opposite flank allowed the winger to curl in an inviting cross towards Graham, but his header lacked direction and the ball trundled wide of the far post.

There was a brief delay before the second half could get underway as a Thistle supporter hurdled the pitchside advertising hoarding and ran across the turf brandishing a red smoke bomb, but once he was removed and the firework burned out, the action resumed. The home side started the second period in the same manner they finished the first: on the front foot and looking to press home their advantage. Two corner kicks were won in quick succession, one on either side, but neither resulted in a serious attempt at goal. A few minutes elapsed and Fitzpatrick opted to have a go from distance, only to be denied by the crossbar. Barely thirty seconds had passed and the Jags were 2-0 up. Tiffoney wriggled his way down the right, drilling a low ball across the face of goal and in towards Graham, lurking just a few yards from goal. This time, the striker made no mistake as he coolly slotted the ball home to put his side in the driving seat. The momentum was well and truly with the hosts now. Kyle Turner had a pop from distance and Fitzpatick was denied in a one v one with Albinson as the chanting from the home fans in the John Lambie Stand grew louder and louder as their belief grew and grew. The home crowd wanted more and Graham got his second with 15 minutes to go, turning in Fitzpatrick’s whipped delivery from close range to give his side an unassailable lead on the night. The three-goal advantage they take to Ayrshire next week that leaves Doolan’s men with an excellent chance of reaching their first Premiership play-off final since the format was introduced in 2013.

Reaction

Partick Thistle manager Kris Doolan (speaking to Jagzone):

We got what we deserved. Mitch for me makes some terrific saves throughout the game, he makes one early on he tips over the bar and then late on in the game he keeps it at three nil. It just shows you how important the goalkeeper is, and then that gives you something to build on. After that, we get the first goal, and we spoke about that - we want to kill the spirits of them, and you do that by scoring again. We kept peppering their box until we got the goals, which is great to see. Our attacking play was brilliant, but also our defenders - Brownline, Muirhead, Holt - stood up to a physical test and they dealt with everything perfectly. I just felt as if it was a good display both going forward and defensively. We wont rest on our laurels at all, the boys will rest up over the weekend and they'll come back ready to go again next week. We'll go to Ayr to win and that's the mentality we need - this is tournament football and if you win you're through, so you play that way in every single game.

RAMPANT

● The attendance of 7,012 is the largest non Old-Firm Thistle crowd at Firhill since 7,122 bore witness to an insipid play-off defeat to Livingston almost 5 years to the day.

● For the first time since 2006 (when Thistle were promoted via the play-offs) Thistle have scored in SEVEN consecutive first halves.

● Incredibly, it's now 10 direct goal involvements in his last 8 games for the rampant Scott Tiffoney.

● With his first goal of the night Brian Graham becomes the 46th Jag to hit the 50 competitive goals milestone. A magnificent achievement in just over 3 years at the club.

● Kris Doolan's Jags have now scored two or more goals in six consecutive competitive matches. You need to rewind to February 2000 to find a longer run (7, by John Lambie's boys).

● With his second goal of the night Brian Graham becomes the first Jag since (promotion winning) Mark Roberts in 2005-06 to hit the TWENTY competitive goals mark in any given season. He's the only the 4th Jag to hit that mark within the 40 most recent seasons.

● Now with 8 goals against Ayr United, the talismanic Brian Graham needs just one more to become the club's all-time joint-highest scorer against the Honest Men, with John Torbet and Johnny Ballantyne currently sitting on 9 apiece.

● Kris Doolan becomes just the second Thistle manager in history to begin his tenure unbeaten in 7 competitive games in Maryhill. The impressive club-record was set in 2013 when Alan Archibald began his managerial tenure with 11 unbeaten games at Firhill.

● Partick Thistle become the first club to win three successive games in the Premiership play-offs in any given season.

● With 11 goals already, Partick Thistle become the highest scoring club in the Premiership play-offs of any given season. The previous record (9) was held by Dundee United in 2016-17.

ongoing sequences:

● 7 competitive home games without defeat; 4th Mar 2023 to date. (Longest run since: 7 games; 20th Mar 2021 to 29th Apr 2021. Club-record: 24 games; 5th May 2001 to 17th Aug 2002.)

● 9 competitive games without defeat, 1st Apr 2023 to date. (Longest run since: 9 games, 15th Oct 2021 to 4th Dec 2021. Joint club-record: 16 games, 15th Nov 1975 to 21st Feb 1976 & 30th Sep 2000 to 13th Jan 2001.)

● 49 consecutive competitive appearances for Jack McMillan, 9th Jul 2022 to date, a new personal best. (Longest run since: James Penrice - 51 games, 7th Sep 2019 to 10th Apr 2021. Club-record: Johnny Jackson - 313 games, 28th Aug 1926 to 25th Mar 1933.)

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