28th Jul 2024 Motherwell 0 Partick Thistle 0 (League Cup Group G - game 4)

matches:2024-25: ← 04game 0506 →

	Stuart Kettlewell	Kris Doolan	37y, 7m, 17d

		Mason McCready; Harry Milne; Daniel MacKay; Scott Robinson
		David Mitchell; Daniel O'Reilly; Lee Ashcroft; Logan Chalmers



Shane Blaney		Wasiri Williams

Filip Stuparević (Dylan Wells, HT); Shane Blaney (Marvin Kaleta, 60 mins); Zach Robinson (Moses Ebiye, 70 mins); Andy Halliday (Mark Ferrie, 84 mins); Ewan Wilson (Steve Seddon, 84 mins)		Scott Robinson (Ben Stanway, 72 mins); Robbie Crawford (Logan Chalmers, 83 mins); Wasiri Williams (Zander MacKenzie, 90+2 mins)

	Aston Oxborough	Mason McCready	21y, 4m, 23d
	former Jag Stephen O'Donnell	Wasiri Williams	24y, 3m, 27d
	Shane Blaney	Harry Milne	27y, 8m, 29d
	Liam Gordon	Luke McBeth	24y, 10m, 19d
	Dan Casey	Aaron Muirhead	33y, 10m, 28d
	Lennon Miller	Kyle Turner	26y, 8m, 18d
	Davor Zdravkovski	Robbie Crawford	30y, 1m, 6d
	Filip Stuparević	Daniel MacKay	23y, 3m, 9d
	Zach Robinson	Brian Graham	36y, 8m, 5d
	Andy Halliday	Scott Robinson	32y, 4m, 17d
	Ewan Wilson	Aidan Fitzpatrick	23y, 4m, 8d

			27y, 8m, 14d

	Krisztián Hegyi	Luis Cameron	17y, 3m, 18d
	Steve Seddon	Logan Chalmers	24y, 4m, 4d
	Kofi Balmer	Daniel O'Reilly	29y, 3m, 17d
	Tom Sparrow	Lee Ashcroft	30y, 10m, 29d
	former Jag Paul McGinn	Ben Stanway	19y, 10m, 8d
	Marvin Kaleta	James Lyon	21y, 9m, 1d
	Moses Ebiye	Zander MacKenzie	18y, 11m, 0d
	Dylan Wells	Sallu Turay	17y, 9m, 4d
	Mark Ferrie	Ricco Diack	19y, 2m, 21d

notes

Both sides generally in playing order.
In the 81st minute, Thistle attempted to introduce Ricco Diack to try and win the game and thereby make progress in the cup. Unbelievably, the 4th official, Greg Soutar, denied them, saying that Diack wasn't on the teamsheet! It turns out, he was hiding on page 2 on the SFA's "COMET" system and therefore the official missed it. Of course, all 4 of Ricco's goals to date have been scored within 7 minutes of him being on the park. You couldn't make it up! There wasn't so much as a public aopology from either the SPFL or the SFA, what a rotten episode…

TTA report

The teams shared spells on top but a clinical finish remained elusive. Graham and MacKay spurned good chances. McCready (his first start) had some fine saves, including a penalty in the totally meaningless shoot-out for a bonus point (Thistle won 3-1). A good performance against premiership Motherwell but defeat by Clyde proved their downfall.

TTA man of the match

Pre-match, there was a fair degree of pressure on MASON McCREADY making his first competitive start away to top-flight opposition, but he acquitted himself brilliantly. He looked big, commanded the cross balls, and pulled off some terrific saves to keep Thistle alive, not to mention another which helped win the penalty shoot-out bonus point.

Media report

28-Jul-2024, motherwellfc.co.uk

A draw was enough for Motherwell to claim top spot in group G and progress into the last 16 of the Premier Sports Cup. For the second time in this competition the Fir Park men faced a penalty shoot-out. Thankfully, the group was decided before Thistle converted three penalties to collect the bonus point. After converting all five against Montrose, ‘Well were less efficient from the spot this time, with only Ebiye hitting the back of the net, while Seddon, O’Donnell and Wells all missed, as Oxborough’s two saves proved pointless. With the SPL kick-off next up Stuart Kettlewell possibly considered his line-up with the visit of Ross County next Saturday in mind. While the ‘Well boss still debated on his first choice ‘keeper, Aston Oxborough was back in goal. And Harry Paton’s long term injury allowed Andy Halliday a midfield spot, while up front Filip Stuparevic was paired with Zach Robinson.

After a brief flurry around the home goal Mason McCready made his first routine save gathering a low shot from Lennon Miller. The best chance of an opening gaol came at the other end. From four yards Danny MacKay should have side footed Fitzpatrick’s cross beyond Oxborough. He almost made amends minutes later when his pass across the six yard box slid beyond the stretching Brian Graham. After 27 minutes the Thistle ‘keeper made two superb save to keep the scores level. A steady build up ended with Robinson collecting the ball at the edge of the box and his curled shot was heading for the top right-hand corner until McCready leapt to palm the ball against his crossbar before taking a thump from Miller as he tried to no home the rebound. From Halliday’s corner the ‘keeper produced great reflexes this time palming Liam Gordon’s powerful header over the bar. Just before half-time Aaron Muirhead’s challenge on Robinson at the edge of the box was ignored by referee David Dickenson, amidst loud claims for a penalty, as the half finished with ‘Well unable to find the opening goal.

The ‘Well boss was hoping that a half-time change would help break the deadlock, with Dylan Wells replacing Stuparevic. First chance of the half came seven minutes later. Stephen O’Donnell’s cut back found Ewan Wilson but on his wrong foot as he blazed the ball wide of target. A quick break from the visitor’s found MacKay cutting in from the right wing but Oxborough stood big to block the angled shot. That gave the Firhill men a lift as they started to press towards the ‘Well goal in search of a goal that would take them to the top of the group. On the hour mark Marvin Kaleta made his debut as Shane Blaney made way. With 68 minutes played Wilson curled a tempting ball towards the six yard area. But having found its way to the unmarked Robinson his attempt at a diving header failed miserably. That was the striker’s last chance to find the net as Moses Ebiye was given the opportunity to add to his goal tally. Best chance, though, came at the opposite end. Mackay opened up the home defence and his cut back to Graham eight yards in front of goal begged a finish and put the visitor’s in the driving seat but the Thistle captain scooped the ball over the bar. With the prospect of penalties looming Kettlewell sent on Mark Ferrie and Steve Seddon. And the former Oxford United full back made an immediate impact with a run and cross which found Ebiye in front of goal only to see his header pushed away by McCready. With neither team able to find a winner the game headed for a penalty decider and earning Thistle a bonus point which was not enough to overtake Motherwell at the top of group G.

Reaction

Partick Thistle manager Kris Doolan (speaking to The Sun):

We showed that we're capable at this level of performing and performing well, but on the other side I'm a bit angry. The fact that I went to put a striker on and I was told I couldn't because he wasn't on the team lines. Only for it to turn out that he was actually on the team lines and it was an error. We're obviously putting a striker on to try and win the game. We were then told that we couldn't list him on the teamsheet so we couldn't put him on. We thought that was our error, but after the game we found out that he was on the teamsheet from our side. It's all done online now, it's all done via an app, and unfortunately eight names out of the nine [substitutes] were screenshot and the ninth one was cut off. So the referees didn't actually know that Ricco was on the team lines. We're looking to try and win the game, it's worth a lot of money to the club and it's a good chance for us to go through and get that money. Unfortunately an error on the part of, a common system, has thrown that out of the park for us. I feel we have to speak to the SPFL about the decision, it's really disappointing.

Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell (speaking to Premier Sports / BBC):

Anybody that thinks that is an acceptable performance is going to get a rude awakening. I thought we were slack all day and didn't play with any energy or aggression. We did fashion some chances and, if you want to be mediocre in your thinking, you could say we got a clean sheet. But I was animated because I never really saw that coming, that kind of performance. And that is not to take anything away from Partick Thistle. They won the penalty shootout, and rightly so, but the shootout probably epitomised what we were as a team today. If you play like that in the Premiership, you are not going to win many games. I'll not hide from that point and I have told the players that straight. [re Diack…] I've seen a team line with his name on it, but it's not in the place where the rest of the subs are. We know he is a promising young player. We know he is someone who can come on and add something to their front line. I can understand Kris' frustration if it was down to something as simple as an admin error.

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