29th Nov 2025 Forfar Athletic 0 Partick Thistle 2 (Scottish Cup 3rd Round)

matches:2025-26: ← 25game 2627 →

	Jim Weir	Mark Wilson	41y, 5m, 24d

		Cammy Logan; Lee Ashcroft; Scott Martin; Kyle Turner; Steven Lawless; Alex Samuel
		Paddy Reading; Daniel O'Reilly; Oisin Smyth; Tsoanelo Letsosa; Tony Watt; Logan Chalmers

		Ben Stanway (1-0, 20 mins); Alex Samuel (2-0, 90+3 mins)
		none (1-0, 20 mins); Cammy Logan (2-0, 90+3 mins)
Mark Whatley; Angus Mailer		Kyle Turner; Alex Samuel

Lyle Wark (Lewis Lorimer, HT); Stuart Morrison (Jamie Richardson, HT); Mark Whatley (Nathan Cannon, 74 mins)		Ben McPherson (Paddy Reading, 59 mins); Scott Martin (Tsoanelo Letsosa, 66 mins); Ben Stanway (Sean McArdle, 83 mins)

	Neil Stafford	Josh Clarke	21y, 4m, 1d
	Lewis Martin	Cammy Logan	23y, 10m, 1d
	Lyle Wark	Ben McPherson	21y, 8m, 10d
	Matty Allan	Luke McBeth	26y, 2m, 20d
	Mackenzie Lemon	Lee Ashcroft	32y, 3m, 0d
	Jake Dolzanski	Scott Martin	28y, 7m, 28d
	Angus Mailer	Kyle Turner	28y, 0m, 19d
	Stuart Morrison	Steven Lawless	34y, 7m, 17d
	Scott Shepherd	Alex Samuel	30y, 2m, 9d
	Martin Rennie	Ben Stanway	21y, 2m, 9d
	Mark Whatley	Aidan Fitzpatrick	24y, 8m, 9d

			26y, 7m, 12d

	Marc McCallum	Lewis Budinauckas	23y, 5m, 10d
	Nathan Cannon	Paddy Reading	26y, 6m, 0d
	Jamie Richardson	Daniel O'Reilly	30y, 7m, 18d
	Lewis Lorimer	Sean McArdle	18y, 3m, 2d
	Harry McLinden	Liam Dolan	16y, 7m, 2d
		Harry Weir	17y, 10m, 30d
		Gabriel Nosa	17y, 10m, 1d
		Tsoanelo Letsosa	21y, 5m, 23d

notes

Both sides generally in playing order.
Thistle filled 8 of their 9 allocated bench slots, whilst Forfar filled only 5 of theirs.

TTA report

A cross by Logan hit the post and Stanway was on hand to stab it home from 6 yards (20). It should have given Thistle the springboard to build the lead but in the 2nd half in particular it was a stodgy performance against a robust Forfar side who never seriously looked like causing an upset. Logan's low ball was fired home by Samuel (also from 6 yards, 90+3). Thistle did enough.

TTA man of the match

In a scrappy battle there's nobody better to have in your team than BEN STANWAY, great energy, leading by example, and always looking to get himself into good positions in the final third which paid off big-style with the goal.

Media report

29-Nov-2025, ptfc.co.uk

Partick Thistle won a Scottish Cup tie at Station Park for the first ever time thanks to goals from Ben Stanway and Alex Samuel as Forfar Athletic were seen off 2-0. The first ever tie between the sides at the Angus ground was a draw back in 1988 however strikes in each half ensured that the Maryhill Men progressed to tomorrow night’s draw. The Jags had a recast look to them after the on-loan Oisin Smyth not given permission to play by parent club St Mirren with Tony Watt missing after suffering a leg gash that required stitches in Tuesday night’s win over Dunfermline Athletic. Robbie Crawford was also unavailable and with Logan Chamers also absent youngsters Liam Dolan, Harry Weir and Gabriel Nosa were on the bench.

Forfar kicked off, however it was the Jags that threatened early through early pressure on the home backline however no clear-cut chances created. Forfar earned a free kick on 10 minutes with the dead ball picking out Stuart Morrison who sent a glancing header well wide. Shortly afterwards pressure on home goalkeeper Neil Stafford by Ben McPherson gave Stanway a shooting chance however his drive was blocked. With quarter of an hour played Aidan Fitzpatrick released Stanway on the left and his low driven cross was kicked off the toes of the inrushing Samuel. Two minutes later the Loons threatened when Scott Shepherd looped a header over Josh Clarke and onto the roof of the net however an offside flag had gone up. The opening goal came on 20 minutes when former Forfar player Cammy Logan was found wide on the right and after his chipped cross had dropped to earth after hitting the bar STANWAY was on hand to drive the ball into the net from six yards. Logan ventured forward again midway through the opening half and crashed to the ground however referee Sneddon was not interest in appeals for a penalty. Samuel was denied when the outstretched arms of Stafford blocked his close range shot before on 32 minutes the visitors threatened again when another strong run by Logan was followed by a pass to Steven Lawless. Lawless cleverly dummied the ball to Fitzpatrick who looked to have found Logan who had continued his advance only for the ball to be cut out at the last minute. Six minutes from the break a cross from the left found Kyle Turner and his hitch-kick from 10 yards was goal bound until a deflection took it onto the bar with Thistle a but stumped when a corner was not awarded. It looked like the second goal Mark Wilson’s side deserved had arrived in first half injury time when a cross from the left reached Welshman Samuel who nodded it goalward only for his effort to hit Stafford’s face and bounce wide of goal.

Forfar made two changes at the break and also changed their shape however Thistle had the first attack after the restart on 50 minutes when McPherson and Stanway combined to send the fullback away on the left however a fruitless corner was the only reward. The home side’s change of tactics was making it more difficult for Thistle to grab a second and also given them hope of snatching a leveller with Turner booked for stopping a break away on 68 minutes. It looked like a second had arrived when Samuel nodded towards goal but this time the home shot-stopper used his hands to save. Stanway curled an 18-yard shot side before, with 14 minutes still on the clock, danger threatened when the hosts’ Lewis Lorimer picked up a Paddy Reading headed clearance and whipped in a cross that Lee Ashcroft had to be in the perfect place to clear. There was further danger on 81 minutes when a home corner bobbled around Thistle’s six-yard box after two headed attempts by Forfar however the ball was cleared. Thistle raced to the other end and looked to put things to bed when Reading found Ts’oanelo Lets’osa with a short pass that the midfielder cracked a shot towards goal only for Stafford to tip his effort wide. In injury time Clarke dived down to clutch an effort that had been poked towards his goal and within seconds Thistle’s passage had been secured. Logan was again the creator as he wriggled clear on the right and the cut the ball back to SAMUEL who took aim and blasted high into the net to end both his and Thistle’s frustrations.

Reaction

Partick Thistle manager Mark Wilson (speaking to Jagzone):

I don't care what it looks like, the Scottish Cup is all about getting through to the next round, especially when you're drawn away from home, against a Forfar side who've got some real quality and have scored 8 goals in their last 2 games, so we knew it was going to be tricky. We had to battle in the early stages of the game and the players understood what was asked, but then we got a foothold in the game first half and I thought we were pretty decent, it just wouldn't fall for us, but we did get a wee break with the goal the way it fell for us. The second half was different, they changed their shape and went a bit more aggresive with nothing to lose and that's what you get in cup football. The players did incredibly well to see it through, to slog through it, and got the second goal that they thoroughly deserved.

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