28th Feb 2025 Partick Thistle 1 Livingston 1 (SPFL Championship - game 27)

matches:2024-25: ← 33game 3435 →

37y, 3m, 5d	Brian Graham	David Martindale
40y, 8m, 23d	Mark Wilson

Luke McBeth; Scott Martin
Ben Stanway; Kyle Turner

Brian Graham (1-0, 25 mins)‎		Robbie Muirhead (1-1, 78 mins)
Logan Chalmers (1-0, 25 mins)‎		Stephen Kelly (1-1, 78 mins)
Scott Martin; Ben Stanway; Kyle Turner		‎Tete Yengi; Michael Nottingham; Stevie May; Jamie Brandon

Robbie Crawford (Ben Stanway, 73 mins); Scott Martin (Kyle Turner, 90+2 mins); Stuart Bannigan (Zander MacKenzie, 90+5 mins)		Macaulay Tait (Daniel Finlayson, HT); Cristian Montaño (Robbie Fraser, 59 mins); Tete Yengi (Andrew Shinnie, 59 mins); Stevie May (Reece McAlear, 66 mins); Jamie Brandon (Stephen Kelly, 66 mins)

22y, 8m, 9d	Lewis Budinauckas	Jérôme Prior
20y, 11m, 23d	Kanayo Megwa	Michael Nottingham
22y, 9m, 25d	Josh Reid	Cristian Montaño
29y, 10m, 17d	Daniel O'Reilly	Danny Wilson
31y, 5m, 30d	Lee Ashcroft	Ryan McGowan former Jag
25y, 5m, 19d	Luke McBeth	Macaulay Tait
32y, 5m, 11d	Stuart Bannigan	Jamie Brandon
27y, 10m, 27d	Scott Martin	Scott Pittman
37y, 3m, 5d	Brian Graham	Stevie May
30y, 8m, 6d	Robbie Crawford	Robbie Muirhead former Jag
24y, 11m, 4d	Logan Chalmers	Tete Yengi

27y, 10m, 15d

34y, 10m, 24d	David Mitchell	Jack Hamilton
31y, 3m, 27d	Sean Kelly	Matthew Clarke
27y, 3m, 18d	Kyle Turner	Reece McAlear
28y, 6m, 1d	Alex Jakubiak	Stephen Kelly
23y, 4m, 16d	Terry Ablade	Robbie Fraser
23y, 11m, 8d	Aidan Fitzpatrick	Lewis Smith
20y, 5m, 8d	Ben Stanway	Daniel Finlayson
19y, 6m, 0d	Zander MacKenzie	Meshack Ubochioma
18y, 0m, 5d	Matthew Falconer	Andrew Shinnie

notes

Both sides generally in playing order.
Originally scheduled for 3.00pm on Saturday 1st March, brought forward for BBC Scotland.
The OPTA network contends that it was Aidan Fitzpatrick who came on for Stuart Bannigan deep into injury time, but in reality it was Zander MacKenzie.

TTA report

Changing to 3 at the back seemed to surprise Livingston. Thistle were on top for an hour. An excellent Chalmers pass set up Graham at the far post (25). His header hit the post after h-t and a fine save denied him. Eventually Livingston got on top and slack defending was punished by a header close in (78). Much improved and lots of positives.

TTA man of the match

It was a night of many contenders and both wingbacks were excellent, but ultimately JOSH REID was closest to the complete performance. He came out the traps strongly and really set a confident tone as well as putting in some good challenges in the later stages.

Media report

James Cairney, 28-Feb-2025, The Herald

Brian Graham and Mark Wilson are still searching for their first win as the interim management team at Partick Thistle after the Jags spurned a one-goal lead against Livingston at Firhill on Friday night. A victory for David Martindale’s men would have lifted them to the very top of the Championship standings – for the best part of 24 hours, at least – but it would prove to be a missed opportunity for the men from West Lothian. Graham opened the scoring midway through the first half to give the Jags the early advantage, and Livi offered little in the way of a response until Robbie Muirhead restored parity late on in the second half. Graham and Wilson made two changes to the starting XI that drew 1-1 at home to Airdrieonians last weekend. Luke McBeth and Scott Martin replaced Ben Stanway and Kyle Turner in midfield, while this week’s new arrivals – Alex Jakubiak and Sean Kelly – were granted a place on the bench.

The home fans, led by the ultras in the John Lambie Stand, were vociferous from the very first kick, generating a rowdy atmosphere under the Firhill lights. The Jags started positively as the contest unfolded at a fine pace from the get-go. A swift and well-executed counter-attack from Thistle inside the first few minutes resulted in Martin drilling a low ball across the face of goal that was hastily hacked clear; an early warning from the hosts, even if it did not produce an effort on Livingston’s goal. In the ninth minute – when else? – there was also a touching moment as the supporters in the Lambie paid tribute to Kris Doolan, making it clear that although his management stint at Firhill ended in disappointment, his legacy as a Partick Thistle great remains secure. A banner which read ‘Thank you Kris Doolan – player, leader legend’ was unfurled, accompanied by a rendition of ‘Here’s to you Kris Doolan, Thistle loves you more than you will know’. Back on the park, the two sides wrestled for supremacy but neither team was able to seize it. There was no shortage of endeavour, but the two sets of players struggled to break each other down. A rare sight of goal presented itself to Logan Chalmers 20 minutes in around 20 yards from goal, but the winger’s effort blazed harmlessly over the bar. Neither goalkeeper had been called into action when almost precisely midway through the first half, the Jags took the lead through Graham. Chalmers collected the ball on the right, cut inside onto his favoured left foot as he is wont to do and floated a terrific delivery towards the back post where Graham was lurking. His marker missed his header, and the Thistle skipper slammed the ball home first time to hand his side the lead. Chances remained at a premium, although Graham will have been disappointed not to at least have tested Jerome Prior in the visitors’ goal 10 minutes before the break. Chalmers was again the provider, picking out the centre-forward from a free kick out wide, only for Graham to volley over from 15 yards.

When the half-time whistle rang out, Livi could have few complaints about the scoreline. They had competed well and the defence was proving difficult to breach – this is a Martindale team, after all – but they had failed to lay a glove on their opponents. In truth, they’d barely had a whiff of goal. Martindale clearly concurred as he made a change at the break, with Daniel Finlayson coming on for Hearts loanee Macaulay Tait. The second half began in much the same way the first ended, with the Jags’ relentless pressing from the front preventing Livi from really getting going. Graham came within inches of grabbing his second goal of the evening when he rose highest to meet an inviting cross 10 minutes after the restart, only for the ball to strike the outside of the post and trickle behind for a goal kick to the visitors’ relief. The Jags continued to push for a second and Graham came close with another close-range header that Prior did well to keep out. At the other end, home goalkeeper Lewis Budinauckas still hadn’t made a solitary save with the best part of 70 minutes played. Muirhead fired a warning shot with a first-time effort that was deflected off-target as the match entered its closing stages, and it was not heeded by the home players. With a little over 10 minutes to go, another cross from the left met the big centre-forward, who powered his header past Budinauckas for 1-1. The momentum was now unquestionably with the away side now as they bombarded the Thistle box with cross after cross in search of that all-important winner. The home defence held firm though as the match finished one apiece, with the two teams settling for a share of the spoils.

Reaction

Partick Thistle interim co-manager Brian Graham (speaking to Jagzone):

For 60-65 minutes I thought we were outstanding. A lot of the things we'd worked on this week you could see we'd worked on it, I thought they were brilliant. We asked the back three to be brave and step into the game. They did that and that meant we could sustain attacks at the top end of the pitch. I thought our wingbacks were outstanding as well and, if I'm being really honest, we're disappointed not to win the game. The one that hit the post, I should score the goal, I think you've always got to look inwards and I'm disappointed with the manner in which we lost the goal. For a team that's going for the league and promotion they never really put our goalkeeper under any pressure.

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