10th Feb 2024 Partick Thistle 2 Livingston 3 (Scottish Cup 5th Round)

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matches:2023-24: ← 32game 3334 →

Match Information

37y, 1m, 30d			Kris Doolan		David Martindale
Ben Stanway; Brian Graham
Tomi Adeloye; Scott Robinson
Kerr McInroy (1-0, 27 mins); Aidan Fitzpatrick (2-0, 61 mins)					Joel Nouble (2-1, 66 mins); Joel Nouble (2-1, 82 mins); Tete Yengi (2-3, 120 mins)
Lewis Neilson (1-0, 27 mins); Kerr McInroy (2-0, 61 mins)					none (2-1, 66 mins); Andrew Shinnie (2-1, 82 mins); Jamie Brandon (2-3, 120 mins)
Aaron Muirhead; Harry Milne; Ricco Diack; Tomi Adeloye					Mohammed Sangare; Tete Yengi
Brian Graham (Tomi Adeloye, 63 mins); Steven Lawless (Ricco Diack, 63 mins); Jack McMillan (Wasiri Williams, 71 mins); Kerr McInroy (Blair Alston, 87 mins); Aidan Fitzpatrick (Kieran Ngwenya, 87 mins); Aaron Muirhead (Zander MacKenzie, 99 mins)					Scott Pittman (Andrew Shinnie, 33 mins); Shaun Donnellan (Mohammed Sangare, 37 mins); Daniel MacKay (Bruce Anderson, 63 mins); Mohammed Sangare (Sean Kelly, 104 mins)
26y, 5m, 4d			Jamie Sneddon		Michael McGovern
26y, 1m, 23d			Jack McMillan		Michael Nottingham
27y, 3m, 12d			Harry Milne		Jamie Brandon
20y, 8m, 26d			Lewis Neilson		Shaun Donnellan
33y, 5m, 11d			Aaron Muirhead		Ayo Obileye
31y, 4m, 24d			Stuart Bannigan		Scott Pittman
19y, 4m, 21d			Ben Stanway		Jason Holt
32y, 9m, 29d			Steven Lawless		Joel Nouble
36y, 2m, 18d			Brian Graham		Tete Yengi
23y, 5m, 10d			Kerr McInroy		Stephen Kelly
22y, 10m, 21d			Aidan Fitzpatrick		Daniel MacKay
27y, 6m, 23d
28y, 10m, 0d			Ross Stewart		Shamal George
33y, 10m, 6d			David Mitchell		n-a
23y, 10m, 9d			Wasiri Williams		Bruce Anderson
21y, 4m, 16d			Kieran Ngwenya		Steven Bradley
31y, 10m, 18d			Blair Alston		Mohammed Sangare
21y, 3m, 14d			James Lyon		Andrew Shinnie
18y, 5m, 13d			Zander MacKenzie		Sean Kelly former Jag
18y, 9m, 3d			Ricco Diack		Calan Ledingham
27y, 11m, 24d			Tomi Adeloye		Sam Culbert
					Samson Lawal

notes

Both sides generally in playing order. Thistle listed 2 substitute goalkeepers.

Match Report

TTA report

McInroy's 30-yarder (27) put Thistle ahead. Fitzpatrick shot home at the near post (61) but Livingston gradually pushed Thistle back and a corner (that was actually a goal kick) was touched home (66). A blistering close-in shot (82) meant ET. Adeloye smacked the post then a 6-yard header with 15 seconds remaining put Thistle out.

TTA man of the match

It was a demanding shift for STUART BANNIGAN mentally and physically, and he was very much up for it.

Media report

Andrew Petrie, 10-Feb-2024, bbc.com

Livingston crowned a memorable comeback with a 120th-minute winner to knock out Partick Thistle and secure a place in the Scottish Cup last eight. Kerr McInroy's 30-yard thunderbolt and a powerful Aidan Fitzpatrick effort gave second-tier Thistle a seemingly comfortable cushion with under half an hour left. But Joel Nouble's double, a tap-in and then a toe-poke, brought the visitors level to force extra time before Tete Yengi's header gave the Premiership bottom side a dramatic win. Livingston will feature in Sunday's quarter-final draw live on BBC One Scotland's Sportscene (16:30 GMT).

Livingston's only win since October came in the Scottish Cup against Raith and provided respite from their wretched league form. They started well, but it was Thistle who opened the scoring just shy of the half-hour mark. Thirty yards out, McInroy was invited to shoot by the Livingston defence and he swiftly rocketed his shot into the bottom corner. Things got worse for Livingston as they lost Scott Pittman and Shaun Donnellan to injury before half-time, but the changes worked and they had the ball in the net. The celebrations after Yengi's header were short-lived, though, as referee Nick Walsh blew for a foul in the build-up.

Thistle made the most of that reprieve when Fitzpatrick scored the second just after the hour. Skipping on to his right, the winger powered in a shot that goalkeeper Michael McGovern could not hold. Livingston weren't dead yet. A brilliant corner from the left found the head of Ayo Obileye, and when Jamie Sneddon saved the initial header, Nouble was on hand to tap in. Thistle were shaken, Livingston were stirred. They pounded on the door looking for an equaliser, and it came when Nouble got the ball deep in the Thistle box and toe-poked into the top corner. There was a chance for Thistle to win it in the 90 minutes when Tomi Adeloye sent a dipping, curling shot at goal but it smacked the upright.

Livingston kicked on in extra time, but Jamie Sneddon produced a few fine stops to keep the scores level and set himself up to be the cup hero. Instead, it would be Yengi. The big Australian met a cross from the right with a glancing header that bounced in off the back post for a moment he will never forget.

Reaction

Partick manager Kris Doolan was gutted to lose at the death, with the match seemingly heading for spot-kicks. He said:

To lose so late, it’s a sore one. By that stage you think it’s going to penalty kicks and it can be a bit of a lottery but to lose with about 20 seconds to go is a real sore one. There are lessons for us and for me to learn. Making two subs early on in hindsight was probably too quick but I kind of knew what was coming in terms of the physicality. We tried to pre-empt that and stop that but ultimately it’s difficult, they are such a powerful side and they made it count. I’m just gutted we didn’t get through.

Livingston manager David Martindale said:

I think there’s been a lot of good performances in the league also but I just felt today the boys could have crumbled very easily and gone under at 2-0 down. We could have felt sorry for ourselves and accepted defeat but we didn’t do that. I felt the substitutes helped us in the game. I just felt our overall play was very, very good. We created a lot of chances, our entries into the final third and our passages of play, our movement and our intensity was all there. The difference between today and our other games was we actually had a better execution in the final third. We’ve made a lot of chances over the last seven or eight games and not taken them. Today we took our chances. Even at 2-1 I had a wee feeling. The longer the game went on, I was more confident. I was fairly positive we were going to come out on the positive end of the result. I’m not bothered who we get in the draw. I’d take anyone at home. Either of the Old Firm clubs away would be good financially for us but I’d like anyone at home. I’d like to take the club back to Hampden. We got there during Covid but I’d like to take the fans there.

Gallery

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

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Video Highlights

(credits: Scottish Cup )

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Stats Watch

SUCCUMB TO THE BEAT SURRENDER

● Kris Doolan takes charge of his 50th competitive game. Despite today's defeat, his 1.8 points-per-game ratio currently places him as #1 in the manager's competitive table, well ahead of Jackie McNamara (1.623).

● In terms of 'the first 50', Kris Doolan's 50% win rate is second only to Davie McParland (52%). See table below for the full historical story.

● Steven Lawless is 50-not-out in competitive action, 3 short of his personal best run in the team from more than 10 years ago.

● Kerr McInroy scores his last goal for Thistle.

● Aidan Fitzpatrick's goal was Thistle's 8th without reply in the Scottish Cup, the best streak since 2004 (8). The club-record (24) was set in 1885 and is unlikely ever to be beaten.

● For only the second time in history, Thistle surrender a two goal lead to lose a Scottish Cup tie, having previously done so against (second-tier) Dunfermline in February 1955.

ongoing sequences:

● 50 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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