16th Dec 2023 Dunfermline Athletic 1 Partick Thistle 2 (SPFL Championship - game 16)

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matches:2023-24: ← 24game 2526 →

	James McPake	Kris Doolan	37y, 0m, 5d

		no changes
		no changes

Matty Todd (2-1, 82 mins)‎		Harry Milne (1-0, 12‎ mins); ‎Brian Graham (2-0, 45‎ mins)‎
Josh Edwards (2-1, 82 mins)‎		Steven Lawless (1-0, 12‎ mins)‎; Harry Milne (2-0, 45‎ mins)‎
Owen Moffat		Ben Stanway; Harry Milne; Jamie Sneddon

Sam Fisher (Aaron Comrie, 41 mins); Joe Chalmers (Owen Moffat, 55 mins)		Blair Alston (Stuart Bannigan, 60 mins); Steven Lawless (Zander MacKenzie, 69 mins); Brian Graham (Ricco Diack, 75 mins); Kerr McInroy (Wasiri Williams, 75 mins)

	Deniz Mehmet	Jamie Sneddon	26y, 3m, 10d
	Michael O'Halloran	Jack McMillan	25y, 11m, 28d
	Josh Edwards	Harry Milne	27y, 1m, 17d
	Sam Fisher	Lewis Neilson	20y, 7m, 1d
	Chris Hamilton	Aaron Muirhead	33y, 3m, 16d
	Ewan Otoo	Ben Stanway	19y, 2m, 26d
	Joe Chalmers	Kerr McInroy	23y, 3m, 15d
	Paul Allan	Steven Lawless	32y, 8m, 4d
	former Jag Alex Jakubiak	Brian Graham	36y, 0m, 23d
	Matty Todd	Blair Alston	31y, 8m, 23d
	Lewis McCann	Aidan Fitzpatrick	22y, 8m, 26d

			27y, 2m, 14d

	Max Little	David Mitchell	33y, 8m, 12d
	Harrison Sharp	Wasiri Williams	23y, 8m, 15d
	Aaron Comrie	Stuart Bannigan	31y, 2m, 29d
	former Jag Rhys Breen	Scott Robinson	31y, 9m, 4d
	Owen Moffat	Nathan McGinley	27y, 3m, 1d
	Miller Fenton	Ben Williamson	22y, 4m, 9d
	Liam Hoggan	Zander MacKenzie	18y, 3m, 18d
	Ewan McLeod	Ricco Diack	18y, 7m, 9d
	Jake Sutherland	Tomi Adeloye	27y, 9m, 29d

notes

Both sides generally in playing order.
There's no assist registered by 'the network' for the second and third goals in this match, despite both being straight-forward cases. Harry Milne nodded the ball to Brian Graham for Thistle's second, whilst Josh Edwards cut the ball back for Matty Todd to score Dunfermline's goal.

TTA report

Milne headed in a Lawless cross at the back post (12) and when the keeper dropped a cross Graham poked the ball home for a 2-0 h-t lead (45). It was mostly about defending after h-t. Sneddon had a fine save onto the post but was beaten when a low cross was hammered home (82). The woodwork was struck again but Thistle held on for the points.

TTA man of the match

HARRY MILNE was at it from the off. Winning his early tackles set the tone for a great performance, defensively and in attack. Was right there in the six-yard box for both goals, underlining his multi-dimensional worth to the team.

Media report

Ian Collin, 16-Dec-2023, The Courier

Dunfermline missed the opportunity to close the gap on third place as they succumbed to a defeat at home to Partick Thistle. Harry Milne headed in a 12th-minute opener for Partick, who added a second from Brian Graham in the final minute of the first-half. Matty Todd scored for the second game in a row to pull one back for the Pars with eight minutes of regulation time remaining. However, a late equaliser eluded them, as their attack came up short against Thistle’s resolute resistance. Defeat leaves the Fifers still in fourth in the SPFL Championship table but now seven points adrift of their visitors. Manager James McPake took the unusual step this week of cancelling training on Thursday in a bid to keep a bug from spreading further through his squad.

Dunfermline enjoyed a bright opening against Airdrie seven days previously and were well on top through the opening 45 minutes against the Diamonds. But they failed to repeat that against Thistle and found themselves behind after just 11 minutes. The visitors had posted warning with early errant shots from Aidan Fitzpatrick and Blair Alston. And then Fitzpatrick was involved in the early breakthrough after taking a corner on the left short to Steven Lawless. The winger arrowed in a cross to the back post and Milne outmuscled marker Josh Edwards to head into the roof of the net. Dunfermline could have been level just a minute later as Jakubiak bustled his way forward after taking a pass from Michael O’Halloran. But the former Dundee striker pulled his eventual shot across goal and wide of the upright. A Paul Allan shot was blocked in the 29th minute and Ewan Otoo‘s long-range effort was too straight to really trouble Jamie Sneddon in the Thistle goal. Todd then drilled in a half-volley that was travelling at speed on target but, again, a Jags defender got in the way. Just as it seemed that Dunfermline had got themselves on top in the match, they conceded a wholly avoidable second in the 45th minute. Once more, it came from a corner on the left and once more the Pars failed to cope. Fitzpatrick hurled in the set-piece and Deniz Mehmet looked to be fully in control – until he dropped the high ball at the edge of the six-yard box. Milne kept the ball alive with a looping header and the predatory Graham pounced first to find the empty net.

Todd headed over the bar from a Paul Allan cross in the second minute of the second period before the introduction of Owen Moffat injected some urgency into Dunfermline’s attack. In the 64th minute, Todd was inches away from connecting with a wonderful Josh Edwards cross that then rebounded off the chest of Milne and dropped agonisingly wide. Todd was again the danger man on the break as he thundered in a shot that Sneddon touched onto the woodwork and behind for a fruitless corner. And there was no surprise that it was Todd who grabbed Dunfermline’s goal when it did come. Edwards fired a low cross into the box and the midfielder timed his arrival to perfection to hammer a shot in off the underside of the crossbar. But they could not find another despite a frenetic finish in which a Michael O’Halloran cross squirmed off the turf and against the post.

Reaction

Partick Thistle manager Kris Doolan (speaking to Jagzone):

It's something that we've always done well - we've always bounced back, and I think it shows the character that's there. That's why we go again with the same team; I know the character's in this team and squad. Our first touch was better today and we were better in possession, certainly in the first half. But we were also aggresive out of possession, we went up against people and didn't let them pass out from the back. You look at the guys that come on - Bannigan comes on and really helps us, the two young lads [MacKenzie and Diack] come on and really help us and they'll learn so much from such games. It was just such a brilliant all round team performance.

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