12th Oct 2024 Partick Thistle 1 Falkirk 1 (SPFL Championship - game 9)

matches:2024-25: ← 14game 1516 →

37y, 10m, 1d	Kris Doolan	John McGlynn

Scott Robinson
Ricco Diack

Brian Graham (1-1, 61 mins)		Ethan Ross (0-1, 59 mins)
Scott Robinson (1-1, 61 mins)		Aidan Nesbitt (0-1, 59 mins)
Luke McBeth; Ricco Diack

Robbie Crawford (Logan Chalmers, 66 mins); Luke McBeth (Stuart Bannigan); Kyle Turner (Ben Stanway, 78 mins); Scott Robinson (Ricco Diack, 78 mins); Lee Ashcroft (Aaron Muirhead, 90 mins)		Ethan Ross (Alfredo Agyeman, 71 mins); Calvin Miller (Ryan Shanley, 78 mins); Gary Oliver (Michael McKenna, 78 mins); Dylan Tait (Finn Yeats, 86 mins)

22y, 10m, 3d	Myles Roberts	Nicky Hogarth
20y, 7m, 7d	Kanayo Megwa	Keelan Adams
27y, 11m, 13d	Harry Milne	Leon McCann
29y, 6m, 1d	Daniel O'Reilly	Luke Graham
31y, 1m, 13d	Lee Ashcroft	Liam Henderson
25y, 1m, 3d	Luke McBeth	Dylan Tait
30y, 3m, 20d	Robbie Crawford	Brad Spencer
26y, 11m, 2d	Kyle Turner	Calvin Miller
36y, 10m, 19d	Brian Graham	Gary Oliver
32y, 7m, 1d	Scott Robinson	Aidan Nesbitt former Jag
23y, 6m, 22d	Aidan Fitzpatrick	Ethan Ross

27y, 11m, 10d

21y, 7m, 7d	Mason McCready	Owen Hayward
34y, 1m, 12d	Aaron Muirhead	Finn Yeats
32y, 0m, 25d	Stuart Bannigan	Alfredo Agyeman
24y, 6m, 18d	Logan Chalmers	Michael McKenna
20y, 11m, 14d	Liam Smith	Ryan Shanley
20y, 6m, 13d	Charlie Sayers	Flynn McCafferty
20y, 0m, 22d	Ben Stanway	Calean McCrone
21y, 11m, 15d	James Lyon
19y, 5m, 5d	Ricco Diack

notes

Both sides generally in playing order.
Falkirk filled only 7 of their 9 allocated bench slots.
Originally scheduled for Tuesday 29th October 2024. Brought forward to a Saturday with both teams having been eliminated from the Challenge Cup.

TTA report

Top of the league Falkirk were clearly the better team. Their shooting boots were missing however and along with several slices of luck, the woodwork and excellent saves by Roberts, Thistle earned a point. A dinked ball over the central defenders was coolly slotted home (59) but Graham found the bottom corner from 20 yards (61).

TTA man of the match

Alas, he was denied a new clean-sheet record, but with a string of crucial saves MYLES ROBERTS ensured that the unbeaten home league run continued.

Media report

James Cairney, 12-Oct-2024, The Herald

The Jags came from behind to grab a point at home to William Hill Championship leaders Falkirk. Thistle struggled to fashion opportunities throughout the contest, particularly in the first half, and the home side could have few complaints when Ethan Ross nudged the visitors in front shortly before the hour mark. Brian Graham would level things up a few minutes later with the Jags’ only real sight at goal from the entire game – and Doolan admits his side must create more if the promotion hopefuls are to kick-start their campaign.

Falkirk attempted to seize the initiative early on, with the visitors dominating possession during the game’s opening exchanges. John McGlynn’s men really ought to have taken the lead on 10 minutes when a neat passing move resulted in Aidan Nesbitt being slipped through, only for the midfielder to drag his shot wide of goal. The away side would keep up the early momentum and very nearly opened the scoring via a corner kick on 18 minutes. The ball was swung in towards the back post where centre-half Liam Henderson rose highest to meet it. The defender connected well with the ball, which struck the top of the bar before bouncing behind for a goal kick. Thistle have struggled to create chances lately, particularly during the first half of games, and this was no exception. By the time the half-time whistle rang out and the two sets of players trudged off the park, the Jags had failed to register a single shot on target, and there were one or two boos as the home supporters made their feelings known.

Falkirk came out for the second half and once again looked far more threatening than their hosts. Calvin Miller had a great opportunity minutes after the restart when he hit a direct free-kick 25 yards from goal, but he was unable to keep his shot down. Then, shortly before the hour mark, Falkirk got the goal that their play deserved. A neat flick from Nesbitt caught out Thistle’s high line. Ross latched onto the through ball and kept his composure to coolly slot the ball past Myles Roberts. Thistle might well have been down, but they were not out. Barely two minutes later, Doolan’s men equalised with their first shot on target. It all started with a powerful run from left-back Harry Milne, who charged forward before playing the ball inside where it was intercepted. Scott Robinson won it back for the Jags, nudging the ball into the path of Graham on the edge of the box, and the veteran striker found the bottom corner with a fine first-time drive to register his first league goal of the campaign. Falkirk remained on the front foot and racked up a series of corners. Twice Gary Oliver went close: the first close-range header was denied by an excellent reaction stop from Roberts; while the second was glanced just wide of the far post. There was still time for the visitors to hit the woodwork one last time. Substitute Alfredo Agyeman used his pace to buy a yard of space out wide and rifled a low cross into the box where Keelan Adams nicked in ahead of his marker, but his effort rebounded off of the near post as both sides settled for a point apiece.

Reaction

Kris Doolan has called for his Partick Thistle side to be more adventurous in the final third:

When things aren’t coming off for you and confidence levels go down, people stop taking risks. Previously we would be quite risky and we lost a lot of goals, which was to our detriment. We maybe would have mounted a better title challenge against Dundee United [last season] if we hadn’t conceded as much because we scored plenty. It’s about finding that balance. Maybe this year because we’re not scoring we are putting more pressure on our defenders to defend, but I still feel that as a team we seem very solid. I think if we are a wee bit more adventurous in the final third – which we are trying to be – and we take the shackles off. There is still a wee step to go with that – but if you can’t win the game, don’t lose it. I think on the balance of play a point for us because they had most of the ball. They seem to be more threatening. But defensively, we still looked strong enough and I think we scored a good goal. Again, we can still maybe do more in the final third. But I thought second half we looked a bit more adventurous in terms of getting forward. But on the balance of play, we'll take a good point.

John McGlynn was naturally disappointed not to have clinched another three points, but he was very impressed with his team’s all-round display:

I thought the boys played exceptionally well. I think if you're a purist there, you walked in and watched us play football, you would have been raving about the way that Falkirk played. The football we played was amazing. I think if we do that more often than not, we're going to win. They must have only had one look at the goal, never mind shot at the goal, and the big man [Graham] stuck it away. I'm glad for our players. They put so much into the game and I think we should be walking out of here with three points.

match hubs

match

The Thistle Archive

Partick Thistle stats and stories 1876 to date