8th Feb 2025 Falkirk 5 Partick Thistle 2 (SPFL Championship - game 24)

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matches:2024-25: ← 30game 3132 →

	John McGlynn	Kris Doolan	38y, 1m, 28d

		Luke McBeth; Scott Martin; Ben Stanway; Terry Ablade
		Harry Milne; Kyle Turner; Scott Robinson; Aidan Fitzpatrick

Scott Arfield (0-1, 39 secs)‎; Gary Oliver (2-2, 35 mins)‎; Scott Arfield (2-3, 40‎ mins)‎; Scott Arfield (2-4, pen 60 mins)‎; Leon McCann (2-5, 76‎ mins)‎		Logan Chalmers (1-1, 10‎ mins); Brian Graham (2-1, 24 mins)‎
none (0-1, 39 secs)‎; none (2-2, 35 mins)‎; Ethan Ross (2-3, 40‎ mins)‎; none (2-4, pen 60 mins)‎; Calvin Miller (2-5, 76‎ mins)‎		Terry Ablade (1-1, 10‎ mins); Logan Chalmers (2-1, 24 mins)‎
		Brian Graham; Luke McBeth; Aaron Muirhead
		Brian Graham (@ 2-2, 37‎ mins)
Luke Graham (Leon McCann, 60 mins); Dylan Tait (Finn Yeats, 72 mins); Coll Donaldson (Darragh O'Connor, 72 mins); Scott Arfield (Aidan Nesbitt, 72 mins); Gary Oliver (Barney Stewart, 79 mins)		Scott Martin (Kyle Turner, 66 mins); Kanayo Megwa (Robbie Crawford, 66 mins); Ben Stanway (Aidan Fitzpatrick, 66 mins); Terry Ablade (Zander MacKenzie, 77 mins); Lee Ashcroft (Aaron Muirhead, 83 mins)

	Nicky Hogarth	David Mitchell	34y, 10m, 4d
	Keelan Adams	Kanayo Megwa	20y, 11m, 3d
	Ethan Ross	Daniel O'Reilly	29y, 9m, 28d
	Luke Graham	Luke McBeth	25y, 4m, 30d
	Liam Henderson	Lee Ashcroft	31y, 5m, 10d
	Coll Donaldson	Stuart Bannigan	32y, 4m, 22d
	Dylan Tait	Scott Martin	27y, 10m, 7d
	Brad Spencer	Ben Stanway	20y, 4m, 19d
	Gary Oliver	Brian Graham	37y, 2m, 16d
	Calvin Miller	Logan Chalmers	24y, 10m, 15d
	Scott Arfield	Terry Ablade	23y, 3m, 27d

			28y, 0m, 17d

	Ross Munro	Luis Cameron	17y, 9m, 29d
	Finn Yeats	Aaron Muirhead	34y, 5m, 9d
	Leon McCann	Kyle Turner	27y, 2m, 29d
	Tom Lang	Daniel MacKay	23y, 9m, 20d
	former Jag Aidan Nesbitt	Robbie Crawford	30y, 7m, 17d
	Alfredo Agyeman	Aidan Fitzpatrick	23y, 10m, 19d
	Barney Stewart	Zander MacKenzie	19y, 5m, 11d
	Darragh O'Connor	Matthew Falconer	17y, 11m, 16d
	Sean Mackie

notes

Both sides generally in playing order.
Thistle filled 8 of their 9 allocated bench slots.
Originally scheduled for Tuesday 25th February @ 7.45pm, but brought forward as both clubs were due to be idle on this Scottish Cup Saturday.

TTA report

Poor defending (1) led to the opener. Ablade set up Chalmers with an excellent pass to find the far corner (10). A low cross was flicked in by Graham (24). Mitchell parried a pen but the rebound was slotted home (35) then Graham's soft 2nd yellow saw him sent off (37). A strike from the edge of the box (40), a pen (handball, 60) and a header (76) saw the 10 men off.

TTA man of the match

LOGAN CHALMERS is coming on to a great game lately and is looking dangerous on both flanks, which is very useful to the team. Great goal and terrific assist, just a pity they count for nowt.

Media report

Ben Kearney, 08-Feb-2025, Falkirk Herald

Scott Arfield wrote his own fairytale script on his Falkirk return as he netted a hat-trick to send his beloved Bairns back to the top of the William Hill Championship. The veteran ex-Rangers midfielder, 36, returned to his boyhood club on transfer deadline day – and he was handed an immediate starting spot by John McGlynn as his side sealed a 5-2 win over ten-man Partick Thistle in front of a packed home crowd.

It took just 45 seconds for Arfield – who came through Falkirk’s famed academy before moving down south – to make his mark and find the opening goal of the game. The experienced Canadian international has made a name for himself as a goal threat from late runs, and he popped up in a crowded penalty box and found the bottom corner with ease. At that point it felt like the match was going one way. But in truth, Falkirk were a little bit disjointed with the returning Luke Graham at left-back in a untried Bairns’ backline. Thistle levelled after 11 minutes when Terry Ablade’s inch-perfect through pass caught the Falkirk defence out, with Logan Chalmers staying composed to fire past Nicky Hogarth. And the visitors were looking the more likely team in attack despite the home team having more of the ball. Veteran striker Brian Graham turned the game on its head after 25 minutes when he flicked home a brilliant Chalmers cross at the near post. Thistle at this point were buoyed, but the tide turned when Graham was ordered off by referee Ross Hardie for a second bookable offence just ten minutes after scoring.

Falkirk were now playing against ten men, and that certainly gave them the lift they needed. Keelan Adams went on a darting run and he won a penalty kick when he turned into the box shortly after the sending off. And although Brad Spencer’s decent effort was saved by David Mitchell, his team-mate Gary Oliver came to the rescue on the rebound. Arfield then grabbed his second goal of the game to hand the Bairns a crucial lead five minutes before half time. Once again, it was a trademark moment from the midfielder, as he sweetly struck home after a neat lay-off. In the second half, Falkirk started with purpose and pace as they looked to wrap up the three points and their spot at the summit. And it was returning hero Arfield who grabbed the fourth – sealing a hat-trick in the process when he slammed home from the penalty spot on the hour mark. It was easy street from here on in. The Bairns put a shine on the three points when substitute Leon McCann headed home his first goal of the campaign with fifteen minutes remaining.

Reaction

Kris Doolan (speaking to The Herald) believes his Partick Thistle side were the better team for the majority of the first half during their 5-2 defeat against Falkirk before Brian Graham’s dismissal turned the game on its head:

When you come here you don’t want to concede any goals, and conceding within the first minute makes it a lot harder. But after that we get back in the game and take the lead – deservedly so. John McGlynn said we were the better team until the referee changes the game. At 2-2 it becomes a great game between two teams who are going at it. And then you lose a player and it becomes a really uphill task. A team as good as Falkirk will move you around, tire you out and then pick you off and that’s what they did. The second yellow [for Graham], absolutely no chance. Brian gives the referee a chance to book him, which isn’t great from Brian, and then he’s walking a tightrope. But the second yellow is a toe poke, there’s no force in it. It’s not a reckless challenge and I think we will see a lot more reckless challenges than that. And if that’s what we are deeming reckless then you can’t tackle at all.

Falkirk manager John McGlynn (speaking to The Herald) was delighted with Arfield’s impact and the victory, which lifts Falkirk back to the top of the Championship standings:

You couldn’t have written the script for Scotty to score within the first minute. The fans were always going to be brilliant with him but how do you beat a hat-trick in his first game? We started well and scored our goal but then it was 1-1 with a really good finish from Logan Chalmers. Then it goes 2-2 and I thought, 'My god, what's happening?'. It was a brilliant game at that point but the sending off changed things. We managed go get our noses in front by half-time and then it's a hard job for Partick to get back into it. It was a professional job from us and we are delighted go get back to the top of the table which sets us up nicely for next week against Ayr.

THE McGLYNN HOODOO CONTINUES

● 27-year-old Scott Martin plays his first game for Thistle.

● In 'All Games' it's goal # 101 for Brian Graham and it's a bit of a milestone as he moves into the All-Time Top 10 Thistle goalscorers, alongside Sandy Hair.

● Brian Graham sees red for the 4th time in his Thistle career. He's joint-5th in the all-time list behind Bobby Law (7), Alan Archibald (6), Aaron Muirhead (5) and Stuart Bannigan (5).

● After conceding just 6 first half goals in the first 19 league games, Jags have conceded 9 in the opening 5 halves of 2025.

● David Mitchell has conceded as many league goals (14) in 5 weeks as Myles Roberts did in 5 months.

● It's 4 penalties against Thistle in his 5 games for referee Ross Hardie. His 80% ratio is now the highest in our history (min. 5 games), beyond the 75% (6 in 8) of Willie McLeish back in the 1980s. In percentage terms, Hardie's abnormal crime count in Thistle games currently sits at 13-87 to Thistle's detriment.

● 0-17 is (jointly) the 2nd heaviest defeat in the "crime count" table (1 pt. first-yellows, 4 pts. reds, 5 pts. penalties), matching the 0-17 vs. Hearts (31-Oct-2015). The record reverse (1-21) was set vs. Arbroath (05-Dec-1998).

● Incredibly, it's now just 3 wins in 22 managerial bouts for Partick Thistle versus John McGlynn. Doolan has yet to win in 4 attempts, McNamara registered 1 win in 5, whilst McCall had 2 wins after 13 attempts.

ongoing sequences:

● 30 consecutive competitive appearances for Kyle Turner, 13th Jul 2024 to date. (Longest run since: Aidan Fitzpatrick - 48 games, 4th Nov 2023 to 26th Oct 2024. Club-record: Johnny Jackson - 313 games, 28th Aug 1926 to 25th Mar 1933.)

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