 Media report |
Partick Thistle closed the gap at the top of the William Hill Championship table with a 2-1 win over league leaders St Johnstone at the Wyre Stadium at Firhill. It was a top-of-the-table clash as second placed Thistle looked to reduce top-of-the-pile Saints’ lead to three points, with Mark Wilson’s side having a game in hand. There were two changes to the Jags side that drew in Airdrie a fortnight ago as Mark Wilson changed to a front two, with Alex Samuel lining up alongside Tony Watt in attack, replacing Kyle Turner, while Lee Ashcroft slotted back in at centre back in lieu of Luke McBeth. Ashcroft reclaimed the captain’s armband after several games out injured with wingers Logan Chalmers and Aidan Fitzpatrick switching flanks. On the bench, Robbie Crawford returned to the matchday line-up, while Scott Martin made his first appearance on a competitive game team sheet in eight months after his star turn in Stevie Lawless’ Testimonial last week where he scored a long-range screamer to clinch the game.
As has been the case throughout the season at Firhill, it was an electric start with both sides eager to grab the game by the scruff of the neck. An early St Johnstone move had the away fans in the Colin Weir Stand on their feet when an effort from captain Jason Holt was parried by Thistle keeper Josh Clarke into the path of Adama Sidibeh. Sibideh’s shot rippled the net, to the delight of the travelling Saints support, who then realised it had merely hit the side netting. It would in fact be the Jags who drew first blood, two minutes later. A clever corner routine saw the ball work its way to Fitzpatrick on the left hand side of the box. He fired the ball across the box, with Movember participant Dan O’Reilly getting enough of a touch at the back post to drive the ball into the net for an early lead. Thistle, and in particular, Chalmers tried to press the advantage in search of a second, but despite several good chances, it was not forthcoming as the Saints slowly got a foothold in the game. A sustained period of pressure saw the Perth side get the ball in several dangerous positions, but they struggled to produce any clear cut chances as Thistle held firm, crowding the penalty area.
Saints’ best opportunity would come from a corner swung in, forcing Clarke into fisting the ball clear, but it only went so far as Reece McAlear who ballooned his shot well wide of the target. O’Reilly went into the book on the half hour mark for a challenge on Saints defender Jonathan Svedberg, his sixth yellow card of the league campaign. The Irish defender will now be suspended for our trip to Somerset Park in December. There was a scare five minutes from half time when Samuel got the worst of a challenge with a Saints defender, but was able to continue after receiving treatment. Samuel was able to shake off any discomfort though, contributing to Thistle’s second goal in first half stoppage time. A ball from Ben McPherson on the right was snatched out the air by Samuel. Some sensational link-up play saw Samuel draw out the man before passing to his now unmarked strike partner Watt, who blasted his shot into the bottom-right corner as Thistle doubled their lead moments before the break.
Saints rolled the dice at half time, with Stevie Mallan and Morgan Boyes coming on for Svedberg and Jack Baird as they attempted to make the most of their lion’s share of possession. Jamie Gullan came close almost immediately after the restart, flashing his effort wide of the far post. Minutes later, Gullan drilled his shot past from a low angle, only for O’Reilly to pull out a trademark brave clearance, scything the ball off the line to keep it 2-0. Thistle looked to put the game to bed at the other end of the park. After an Aidan Fitzpatrick shot went behind for a corner moments prior, Samuel then barged his way through the Saints back line to go one-on-one with Saints keeper Toby Steward. Steward was able to block Samuel’s shot, with the ball ricocheting back off the striker as it went out for a goal kick. Watt was next to try his luck, hitting a lovely shot from 25 yards out that Steward did well to keep out with a lovely one-handed save to keep the score down. Things got more nervy on the 70 minute mark, when Saints finally made the breakthrough for 2-1. Thistle failed to clear a cross in from the right, eventually making its way to McPake. The winger, who scored a hat trick in our previous meeting at McDiarmid Park, finally about the better of Clarke with a squirming effort which trundled into the net with the aid of a deflection.
Wilson decided to shake things up, with Watt and Fitzpatrick making exits for Crawford and Turner, as Thistle went to a five-man midfield in an attempt to pack out the middle of the park. The two subs linked up immediately, with a Turner free kick finding its way to Crawford inside the Saints box, but Saints squeezed him in possession, forcing him into a shot straight at Steward. Hearts were in mouths with ten to go after a beautiful cross was floated towards Stevie Mallan unmarked at the back post. His connection with the ball, however, was too late and the ball whizzed wide of the far post, to a sigh of relief from the Firhill faithful. Mark Wilson battened down the hatches even further for the final ten minutes, bringing off sole remaining striker Alex Samuel. Logan Chalmers shifted into the ersatz forward position, with Stevie Lawless taking his place on the wing while Luke McBeth replaced Ts’oanelo Lets’osa in an effort to tighten up the defence. In the end, Wilson’s tactical shifts gave the Jags enough to hold on for a massive three points. With Arbroath and Raith Rovers drawing 0-0 at Gayfield, today’s win stretches our gap to eight points over third placed Ayr United, with the Jags still having a game in hand.
 Reaction |
Partick Thistle manager Mark Wilson (speaking to Jagzone):
It was a different way for us to play and maybe that took our own supporters by surprise, but it was something I had in my mind for a couple of weeks. Obviously we needed to see a different performance than we put out at McDiarmid Park when it was all too easy to play against, so we changed the shape, went a wee bit more direct and we wanted to put that backline of St Johnstone under some real pressure and luckily enough we got that in the early stages when I thought we were terrific, really compact and hard to play through. I don't think Josh had too many saves to make and the two goals we score are fantastic. The set piece we worked on yesterday on the training pitch and it comes off and the second goal, when you've got two strikers, the name of the game today was to put the ball in the box as quickly as possible and we did that and got our rewards.
Ben McPherson
Cammy Logan
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