6th May 2025 Partick Thistle 0 Ayr United 1 (SPFL Premiership play-off Quarter Final, 1st leg)

matches:2024-25: ← 43game 4445 →

37y, 5m, 13d	Brian Graham	Scott Brown
40y, 11m, 1d	Mark Wilson

Stuart Bannigan; Steven Lawless
Sean Kelly; Ben Stanway

		Jamie Murphy (0-1, 55 mins)
		Connor McLennan (0-1, 55 mins)
Aidan Fitzpatrick; Kyle Turner; Robbie Crawford; Brian Graham; Daniel O'Reilly		George Oakley; Lenny Agbaire; Jay Henderson; Josh Clarke

Robbie Crawford (Terry Ablade, 61 mins); Aidan Fitzpatrick (Ben Stanway, 84 mins)		Nick McAllister (Dylan Watret, 10 mins); Marco Rus (Ethan Walker, 71 mins); Jamie Murphy (Jay Henderson, 76 mins); George Oakley (Curtis Main, 76 mins)

35y, 1m, 2d	David Mitchell	Josh Clarke
21y, 2m, 1d	Kanayo Megwa	Nick McAllister
30y, 0m, 25d	Daniel O'Reilly	Patrick Reading
25y, 7m, 27d	Luke McBeth	Lenny Agbaire
31y, 8m, 7d	Lee Ashcroft	Scott McMann
32y, 7m, 19d	Stuart Bannigan	Ben Dempsey
27y, 5m, 26d	Kyle Turner	Marco Rus
30y, 10m, 14d	Robbie Crawford	Mark McKenzie
37y, 5m, 13d	Brian Graham	George Oakley
34y, 0m, 24d	Steven Lawless	Connor McLennan
24y, 1m, 16d	Aidan Fitzpatrick	Jamie Murphy

30y, 0m, 9d

22y, 10m, 17d	Lewis Budinauckas	Robbie Mutch
18y, 0m, 26d	Luis Cameron	n-a
23y, 6m, 24d	Terry Ablade	Jake Hastie former Jag
20y, 7m, 16d	Ben Stanway	Jay Henderson
19y, 8m, 8d	Zander MacKenzie	Ethan Walker
18y, 2m, 13d	Matthew Falconer	Curtis Main
18y, 0m, 17d	Nick Lockhart	Dylan Watret

notes

Both sides generally in playing order.
Thistle listed 2 sub goalies and filled only 7 of their allocated bench slots, whilst Ayr United filled only 6 of theirs.

TTA report

Apart from a few Graham headers (one well saved) this was a match devoid of chances ruined by an inconsistently poor referee. He blew for 29 fouls and issued 9 bookings (some of which weren't even fouls). Neither side won a corner. A near post header finished off a fine cross (55) to put Ayr ahead for the 2nd leg. Thistle were weakened by injury and running on fumes.

TTA man of the match

It was a night with no outstanding candidates, but LUKE McBETH was not wanting for effort and at least injected a bit of positivity, having a go as central defender, attacking midfielder and even centre forward at one point.

Media report

James Cairney, 06-May-2025, The Herald

Partick Thistle have it all to do ahead of Friday night’s Premiership play-off second leg after Ayr United sealed a 1-0 win at Firhill in the first quarter-final meeting between the two second-tier sides. A tense encounter in Maryhill – played in front of 5250 supporters – was ultimately settled by Jamie Murphy’s second-half header in what was a game of few chances. There were two changes to the Thistle XI that triumphed 1-0 away to Livingston on Friday night: Stephen Kelly, who picked up an injury at Almondvale, dropped out of the squad altogether and was replaced by Stevie Lawless; and Ben Stanway was replaced by Stuart Bannigan, who returned after a one-game suspension. The Jags’ shape changed too. Out went the 3-5-2 that has proved so difficult to break down in recent weeks, and in came a 4-3-3 formation. It was likely a decision made through necessity, given the home side’s scarcity of bodies at the back. Their bench didn’t feature a single defender, and only two outfield players – Terry Ablade (23) and Stanway (20) – were not teenagers. Scott Brown made six changes to the starting line-up that defeated Airdrieonians 1-0 in their previous outing as Nick McAllister, Scott McMann, Mark McKenzie, Connor McLennan, Murphy and Marco Rus.

The match had only kicked off for a matter of seconds before there was a lengthy delay after Thistle’s Dan O’Reilly clashed heads with Nick McAllister. Both players received treatment pitchside before returning to the fray, but the Ayr man only lasted another five minutes before being replaced by Dylan Watret. It was a cagey start to proceedings and rather stop-start, with neither side truly clicking into gear. The game’s first opportunity fell the way of the visitors, Rus showing neat footwork to fashion a sight at goal, but his shot was tame and easily held by David Mitchell in the hosts’ goal. Aidan Fitzpatrick and George Oakley both found themselves in the book early on; neither could have any complaints. It was emblematic of the match, which was a stop-start affair that was steadily punctuated by the peep of the ref’s whistle. It took until the 30th minute until Thistle forced Josh Clarke into action when Brian Graham powered a header at goal from eight yards out following some fine wing play from Fitzpatrick, but the Ayr keeper produced a tremendous reaction stop to deny the 37-year-old a 99th Thistle goal. Moments later, Robbie Crawford hit the deck in Ayr’s box under pressure from Lenny Agbaire, causing the home support to erupt in howls of protest. Referee David Dickinson, however, was unmoved. Graham connected well with a deep free-kick from Kyle Turner but failed to hit the target with his header minutes before the break, and Oakley blazed over when a half-chance presented itself to him before the curtain came down on a drab first half at Firhill. There was also a questionable yellow flashed in Graham’s direction for a supposed high boot.

The contest opened up upon the restart. Clear-cut chances remained hard to come by, but both sides started to settle into their rhythm and demonstrate some attacking intent. Ayr would get their reward on 55 minutes. Agbaire hoofed the ball out to the right wing where McLennan was afforded the freedom of Maryhill. The former Aberdeen attacker had all the time in the world to take a touch and whip in a teasing delivery towards Murphy, whose glanced close-range header gave Mitchell no hope of keeping it out. Ablade, who scored a dramatic 97th-minute winner into Falkirk a fortnight ago, was brought on shortly afterwards to give Thistle another dimension in attack as Crawford made way. The on-loan Fulham striker quickly made his presence felt, using his electric pace to stretch the visitors’ back line. Ayr seemed fairly content with a one-goal lead to take back to Somerset Park for Friday night’s second leg, focusing more on retaining possession and keeping their defensive shape intact. Thistle, meanwhile, upped the tempo in search for that all-important equaliser, attacking directly when the opportunity presented itself. McLennan could have doubled the Honest Men’s lead with 20 minutes to go, only to screw his shot from an angle wide of the near post. As the match entered stoppage time, Graham steered a header just wide of the far post. Little of note occurred in between the two incidents. The Thistle fans were on their feet demanding a spot-kick once again when substitute Stanway took a tumble in the box, but Dickinson was once again disinterested as he awarded a goal kick to Ayr. They were apoplectic a few moments later when the official awarded a throw-in to Ayr for a clear foul on Stanway. That was the last notable action of the match. Try as they might, the home side were unable to truly trouble Clarke in the away goal as Ayr saw out the victory with a measured display in the closing stages.

Reaction

Partick Thistle interim co-manager Brian Graham:

There wasn't really a lot in the game. I thought their movement in midfield was probably a bit better than us in the first half, connecting the play. I thought some of our play was a bit rushed. But going into Friday, we need to be better. It's as simple as that. We didn't play particularly well on the night. It could have been worse, but it wasn't. So it's 1-0 in the tie and still all to play for going into Somerset. I think [the goal] is probably the first time we're caught out. I think Dan's in too close to Ashcroft. I think Dan actually clears the first one, and then we're too slow getting out to stop the cross. But take nothing away from them. If you actually look at that goal, it's a fantastic cross. Jamie Murphy starts at the back post, going right across our defenders, and it's just a glanced-in header. It's a great goal from their point of view. Disappointing from ours, but at the same time, we've got to regroup. We've got to be positive. And nothing's done yet. We can't play any worse than that on Friday, that's for sure. We've got to be positive. Our mindset's got to be positive. We've said that to the boys in there. It's only 1-0. [The second leg] could be 90 minutes, it could be 120 minutes. Who knows what's going to happen on Friday night. But we need to go into the game, and we need to start better. It's still only half-time, that's all I'll say.

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