15th Mar 2025 Partick Thistle 2 Ayr United 0 (SPFL Championship - game 29)

matches:2024-25: ← 35game 3637 →

37y, 3m, 20d	Brian Graham	Scott Brown
40y, 9m, 10d	Mark Wilson

Kyle Turner
Scott Martin

Logan Chalmers (1-0, 19‎ mins); Luke McBeth (2-0, 27 mins)‎
Brian Graham (1-0, 19‎ mins); none (2-0, 27 mins)‎
Robbie Crawford; Kyle Turner; Josh Reid; Stuart Bannigan; Luke McBeth		Cole McKinnon

Brian Graham (Alex Jakubiak, 62 mins); Robbie Crawford (Aidan Fitzpatrick, 62 mins); Josh Reid (Sean Kelly, 70 mins); Logan Chalmers (Zander MacKenzie, 82 mins)		Mark McKenzie (Frankie Musonda, HT); Lenny Agbaire (Jay Henderson, HT); Marco Rus (Cole McKinnon, HT); Scott McMann (Dylan Watret, 70 mins); Curtis Main (Ethan Walker, 72 mins)

22y, 8m, 24d	Lewis Budinauckas	Josh Clarke future Jag
21y, 0m, 10d	Kanayo Megwa	Mark McKenzie
22y, 10m, 12d	Josh Reid	Paddy Reading future Jag
29y, 11m, 4d	Daniel O'Reilly	George Stanger
31y, 6m, 14d	Lee Ashcroft	Lenny Agbaire
25y, 6m, 6d	Luke McBeth	Scott McMann
32y, 5m, 26d	Stuart Bannigan	Connor McLennan
27y, 4m, 5d	Kyle Turner	Ben Dempsey
37y, 3m, 20d	Brian Graham	George Oakley
30y, 8m, 21d	Robbie Crawford	Marco Rus
24y, 11m, 19d	Logan Chalmers	Curtis Main

27y, 10m, 9d

34y, 11m, 11d	David Mitchell	Harry Stone former Jag
	n-a	Liam Russell
31y, 4m, 14d	Sean Kelly	Nick McAllister
28y, 6m, 16d	Alex Jakubiak	Frankie Musonda
23y, 5m, 3d	Terry Ablade	Jake Hastie former Jag
23y, 11m, 23d	Aidan Fitzpatrick	Jay Henderson
19y, 6m, 15d	Zander MacKenzie	Ethan Walker
18y, 0m, 20d	Matthew Falconer	Dylan Watret
17y, 10m, 24d	Nick Lockhart	Cole McKinnon former Jag
16y, 7m, 27d	Liam Rooney

notes

Both sides generally in playing order.
Ayr United listed 2 sub goalies.

TTA report

Improvements continued as Thistle deservedly beat 3rd placed Ayr United. A delightful back heel by Graham set up Chalmers to find the far corner (19). A defensive clearance fell nicely for McBeth who scored his first league goal for the club (27). Ayr changed their formation in the 2nd half but even with more of the ball they seldom troubled Budinauckas.

TTA man of the match

On the night of one of the best team performances of the season it's not easy to pick out a man-of-the-match but LUKE McBETH was something else, strolling forward from central defence like he owns Maryhill. How he - and we - loved that left-foot piledriver that arrowed into the net to make sure of the three points.

Media report

David Forrest, 15-Mar-2025, ptfc.co.uk

Partick Thistle continued their run of good form with a fine 2-0 win over Ayr United at The Wyre Stadium at Firhill. Goals from Logan Chalmers and Luke McBeth saw the Jags continue to stake their claim for a place in the promotion play-offs, extending their lead over Greenock Morton and Raith Rovers to seven points, with both of them having a game in hand over Thistle. Today’s match was the third annual fixture dedicated to the Her Game Too (HGT) campaign. HGT aims to tackle sexism in football and allow women to feel more included and welcome at matches. Thistle boasted a 100% record in previous HGT-dedicated fixtures, having bested Raith Rovers in 2023 and Inverness last season, and were keen to keep the streak alive against Scott Brown’s Ayr United side who sit third in the Scottish Championship table. Scott Martin was the only change to the starting line-up, having sustained an injury in Tuesday’s win over Queen’s Park. Much like at Hampden, Kyle Turner replaced him. Two Academy players, Nick Lockhart and Liam Rooney, received their first call ups to the matchday squad, with fellow youngsters Matthew Falconer and Zander MacKenzie also featuring on the bench.

After a period of sustained pressure, Thistle took the lead on twenty minutes. A ball was played through to Brian Graham, who cheekily flicked it with his backheel through to Chalmers. Ayr keeper Josh Clarke rushed out as Chalmers took a touch, before firing past Clarke to make it 1-0. Seven minutes later. The Jags doubled their lead. Chalmers swung a cross in off a free kick, but it was headed away by Ayr defender Lenny Agbaire. The ball fell to McBeth who floated the ball in from 15 yards out for an excellent goal.

Desperately looking for a way back into the game, Ayr rang the changes at half time. Marco Rus, the aforementioned Agbaire and Mark McKenzie all made way, with Cole McKinnon, Frankie Musonda and Jay Henderson coming on in their place as Ayr changed their shape to try and cut Thistle open more. With the exception of a chance for McKinnon a few minutes after the restart, the changes did not seem to give Ayr much of a foothold in the game, as Thistle continued to shut them out. On 68 minutes, Thistle nearly added a third, after Josh Reid found himself in space and launched a shot towards the goal. Keeper Clarke was powerless to stop the ball as it flashed by, with Scott McMann forced into a clearance off the line to stop Reid’s effort from going in. Today’s Man of the Match, chosen by the Partick Thistle Charitable Trust, was awarded to Luke McBeth for his imperious play at the back, and his well taken goal in the first half. Thistle’s defence continued to marshal the game into the final stages, with Ayr unable to break through before the final whistle, as Partick Thistle’s Her Game Too streak lives for another year.

Reaction

Speaking to the Herald, Brian Graham, who is one half of Thistle’s interim management team alongside Mark Wilson, was delighted as his side extended their unbeaten run under his leadership to four games:

The defence deserve a lot of credit. Poor Budinauckas – in the four games he’s played he’s not had much to do. We’re disappointed it’s not been four wins but you need to take the positives and that is a fantastic result today. In the first two games under me and Mark, we didn’t get the second goal against Airdrie when we were so dominant in the first half and it came back to bite us. And against Livingston, we were so good for 70 minutes but didn’t get the second goal and it came back to bite us. The win the other night got that monkey off our back and I felt like you saw a complete team performance today. We knew they would put pressure on us second half but we were strong and resolute.

Scott Brown (speaking to the Herald) was justifiably unimpressed with his team’s display as he all but conceded his side’s title tilt may be over:

We picked a team to go and battle because we knew the pitch was brutal, and the team that I picked to battle didn’t battle. That team selection is on me and I take full responsibility. We made three changes at the break and we could have made more. The nine-point gap with league leaders Falkirk is humungous now. The momentum is not with us. In the last two games we should have picked up points and we didn’t pick up any. Where we are in the league is because we didn’t win those two games.

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