 Media report |
Partick Thistle advanced to the League Cup quarter finals after a convincing 2-0 win over Ayr United at the Wyre Stadium at Firhill. Thistle looked to return to winning ways in the Premier Sports Cup, a competition which has seen Mark Wilson’s side maintain a 100% record so far. The Jags made two changes to the side that drew with Greenock Morton last week, with Cammy Logan making way for Ben McPherson who made his first start for the Harry Wraggs. Ts’oanelo Lets’osa came into the starting line-up at the expense of Luke McBeth while striker Alex Samuel started on the bench, after signing earlier in the week. There were familiar faces in the Ayr United line-up, with midfielder Stuart Bannigan and goalkeeper David Mitchell amongst their starting XI. Bannigan was making his competitive debut for the Honest Men, and his first ever competitive game played whilst not on the books at Partick Thistle having left the club in the summer after 16 years of service.
Both teams started full of energy, with Thistle getting the upper hand in a high-tempo opening period. On the ten minute mark, Aidan Fitzpatrick found his way through the Ayr defence. His effort cracked off the post, before Chalmers sliced the rebound and Ayr knocked it out for a corner. The resultant corner ended in controversy as Tony Watt was first to it, heading towards goal. Upon closer inspection, the ball looked to have crossed the line before David Mitchell clawed it away, however, Aidan Fitzpatrick was judged to have impeded the ‘keeper from an offside position and the assistant’s flag was raised. Ayr United suffered an early setback when Shaun Want was forced off with an injury. With four outfield players on the bench, Curtis Main came on to replace him. Robbie Crawford, Ben Stanway and Tony Watt all came close as Thistle continued to press for the opener to no avail. Mark Wilson’s men made a deserved breakthrough on 41 minutes. A corner from Chalmers was swung in towards the path of Dan O’Reilly at the back post and the defender looped a header past keeper Mitchell to give Thistle the lead. Moments later, Stuart Bannigan turned back the clock with a crunching foul on Lets’osa which saw referee Ryan Lee reach for his pocket. Bannigan’s yellow card was greeted with nostalgic affection from the home faithful. Seconds later, it was 2-0 Thistle. Logan Chalmers hit a thunderous effort from 25 yards out which flew in past David Mitchell. Tony Watt tried to claim it, citing a clip off him as it hurtled in, but the Dubious Goals Panel were giving it to Chalmers until Referee Ryan Lee confirmed after the game that it was Watt’s goal!
After the restart, Thistle kept the pressure up, with Chalmers in particular looking to kill his former club off. Cometh the hour, Chalmers slinked himself in on goal, only for former Jag David Mitchell to deny him, pawing his shot behind for a corner. Aidan Fitzpatrick then went close, breaking through one-on-one, before sending his ball a shade wide of goal. Fitzpatrick was unlucky not to earn a penalty when he was taken down inside the Ayr box, but referee Lee waved play on. Ayr immediately tried to catch Thistle on the counter, with Josh Clarke being forced to stop a good effort from striker George Oakley. New signing Samuel soon made his debut, coming on for a cameo in place of Tony Watt fifteen minutes from time. Despite some good play, the Welshman was unable to open his Thistle account as the game petered out and the Jags ran out 2-0 winners. The Jags will hope to take confidence from the win when they travel up to Dingwall next Saturday to face Ross County for the second time in a month. Shortly after the game, the draw for the Quarter Finals of the Premier Sports Cup was drawn, with Thistle drawing Celtic at home. The tie is due to be played on the weekend of September 20/21.
 Reaction |
Partick Thistle manager Mark Wilson (speaking to the media c/o
'The Thistle' 
):
Ayr are a good team. I’ve got all the respect in the world for Scott and what he's done over the past couple of years. But, to be honest, I think the way that we've been building this over pre-season, all the pre-season friendlies and then in this cup, that's the kind of performance level we came to expect. So, against St Johnstone, hugely disappointing. We did a lot wrong on that day. And against Morton, we were just off it again. But the level of control we had [against Ayr], it's exactly what we want from our team. And, again, when you've got players at the top end, like Logan [Chalmers], Fitzy [Fitzpatrick], Tony [Watt] and wee T [Lets’osa] in there who's so mobile, and Craw [Crawford], then you'll always get chances. If I'm nitpicking, we should have made it more comfortable in the end. Letsosa's brilliant. What a character. Have you ever got to speak to him as well? He lights up a room and he lights up a pitch with the way he moves with the ball. When he came in, we could see, session one, just the way he rolls and how smooth he is. He covers the ground quickly. He's got a great schooling, great background through the Celtic academy and he obviously chose to go away to Belgium. So, he improves as a player there and as a person. But he was terrific today. You could see how much ground he covers and his data backs that up as well. But he's got real quality. So, when he's on top of his game, he's going to be hard to better in this division in terms of player. And you're right, he sparks up for us and the rest chip in. But you need the rest to chip in as well on a hot day like today. And I thought everybody played their part.
Ayr United manager Scott Brown (speaking to the BBC):
An injury early doors [to Shaun Want] never really helps, but it's more personal pride than anything, you've got to turn up, win battles, and have desire, they had more desire today, which was a little bit disappointing. You can see their front three's willingness to run but also to do their defensive duties, that's where we slacked off a little bit. We didn't threaten their goal. [We made] poor decisions on the ball today. It's a disappointing performance overall. I take the blame, I've got to take the blame, I put that team out.
Ben McPherson
Cammy Logan
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