29th Dec 2023 Dundee United 3 Partick Thistle 0 (SPFL Championship - game 18)

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matches:2023-24: ← 26game 2728 →

Match Information

			Jim Goodwin		Kris Doolan			37y, 0m, 18d
					Stuart Bannigan
					Blair Alston
Tony Watt (0-1, 7 mins); Tony Watt (0-2, 86 mins); Tony Watt (0-3, 89 mins)
none (0-1, 7 mins); Chris Mochrie (0-2, 86 mins); Glenn Middleton (0-3, 89 mins)
Louis Moult					Ben Stanway; Lewis Neilson; Aaron Muirhead
Declan Gallagher (Ross Graham, 66 mins); Louis Moult (Chris Mochrie, 79 mins)					Ben Stanway (Blair Alston, 68 mins); Kerr McInroy (Ricco Diack, 77 mins)
			Jack Walton		Jamie Sneddon			26y, 3m, 23d
			Liam Grimshaw		Jack McMillan			26y, 0m, 11d
			Scott McMann		Harry Milne			27y, 2m, 0d
			former Jag Kevin Holt		Lewis Neilson			20y, 7m, 14d
			former Jag Declan Gallagher		Aaron Muirhead			33y, 3m, 29d
			Craig Sibbald		Stuart Bannigan			31y, 3m, 12d
			Jordan Tillson		Ben Stanway			19y, 3m, 9d
			Kai Fotheringham		Steven Lawless			32y, 8m, 17d
			Louis Moult		Brian Graham			36y, 1m, 6d
			Tony Watt		Kerr McInroy			23y, 3m, 28d
			Glenn Middleton		Aidan Fitzpatrick			22y, 9m, 9d
								27y, 2m, 8d
			Jack Newman		Mason McCready			20y, 9m, 24d
			Oliver Denham		Wasiri Williams			23y, 8m, 28d
			Ross Graham		Scott Robinson			31y, 9m, 17d
			former Jag Declan Glass		Blair Alston			31y, 9m, 6d
			Kieran Freeman		James Lyon			21y, 2m, 2d
			Flynn Duffy		Zander MacKenzie			18y, 4m, 1d
			Chris Mochrie		Ricco Diack			18y, 7m, 22d
			Mathew Cudjoe		Tomi Adeloye			27y, 10m, 12d
			Owen Stirton

notes

Both sides generally in playing order. Thistle filled 8 of their 9 allocated bench slots. Originally scheduled for Saturday, 30th December, 2023. Brought forward as a live game for BBC Scotland.

Match Report

TTA report

2nd top United bossed virtually the whole game, denying Thistle time and space and forcing basic errors. They went ahead when a loose ball was smashed home (7) and missed a number of chances. A switch to 4-4-2 helped to produce better fare after h-t but the home keeper was seldom in action. Poor defending led to goals 86 and 89 to rub it in. Both teams got what they deserved.

TTA man of the match

There were flashes of good form from HARRY MILNE, but these were mere crumbs of comfort on a humbling night when Thistle were beaten in every way all over the park from a Dundee United side who weren't at their best.

Media report

29-Dec-2023, bbc.com

Tony Watt marked his 30th birthday with a hat-trick as Dundee United swept past Partick Thistle at Tannadice to move two points behind Championship leaders Raith Rovers. The United captain slammed in the first from close range as the hosts came haring out of the traps. Late in the game, he took advantage of a hobbling Aaron Muirhead to skip past the ailing defender and drill home. The third came from a header, with Glenn Middleton providing the cross. Craig Sibbald almost made it four in stoppage-time but Jamie Sneddon was able to touch away the midfielder's ferocious strike.

Thistle were fortunate not to be further behind during a strong opening from Jim Goodwin's side but did have chances to level, the best of which fell to Aidan Fitzpatrick, who shot over the top just before the interval. The Glasgow side remain third but are now nine points behind United, having played a game more. Watt headed wide, while Louis Moult and Kai Fotheringham blazed too high before the star of the show settled the home fans' nerves to complete his treble. Dundee United captain Tony Watt: "Before the game I said I need to do it for the manager. He puts his faith in me every week and he has been brilliant. He is giving us a good game plan and we need to start being consistent. He was getting the stick after [the draw away to] Queen's Park but we all need to take it. The game plan is right and we have just not been executing it properly."

Reaction

Partick Thistle manager Kris Doolan:

I felt as if for most of the second half we were in command. We had a go at them. We took our chance to go after them and it nearly paid off. We had nothing to lose but, unfortunately, it didn't go our way. We know the Championship, things always change between now and the end of the season. We always believe and we will keep at it. One bump in the road doesn't put the wheels off.

Dundee United manager Jim Goodwin:

We have struggled to score in the last couple of games and we have been very frustrated but tonight was a decent all round performance. There has never been any anxiety or nervousness from our point of view. We asked for an increase in the intensity and the tempo whilst keeping that quality. We started the game really brightly and that set the tone.

Gallery

© Donald Wilson. All rights reserved. View the hi-res original album directly on flickr

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Video Highlights

(credit: Dundee United )

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Stats Watch

A DOUBLE MILESTONE

● 22-year-old Aidan Fitzpatrick becomes the 200th Partick Thistle player to hit the 100 competitive appearances mark. He's the youngest to do so since 21-year-old James Penrice hit the mark in November, 2020.

● Kevin Holt and Tony Watt of Dundee United make it back-to-back hat-tricks for Dundee United versus Partick Thistle. In competitive action, such an occurrence has only been seen twice against Thistle in the last 50 years; in the springtime of 1982 Davie Dodds scored back to back hat-tricks for Dundee United and early in 1974 Donald Ford and Drew Busby did likewise for Hearts. Historically, there's now been ten streaks of two in total, and two streaks of three (Rangers 1898-1899 and Celtic 1898-99).

● Dundee United's last 3 hat-tricks have all been registered against Partick Thistle (Watt 2023, Holt 2023 & Shankland 2020). Bizzarely, this applies to 5 out of their last 8, a run which started back in 2013.

● Partick Thistle have never registered a 2nd tier win at Tannadice, now with 5 attempts since 2018.

● At the halfway point in the league, Thistle have conceded 30 goals in 18 games (relegation form) yet remain clear in 3rd place. This is due to the extra-ordinary number of high scoring games, with the combined ratio totalling 3.556 goals-per-game. You need to rewind back to 1900-01 (3.682 gpg) to see such a high total in a second tier season.

ongoing sequences:

● 44 consecutive competitive appearances for Steven Lawless, 18th Feb 2023 to date. (Longest run since: Jack McMillan - 52 games, 9th Jul 2022 to 4th Jun 2023. 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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