16th Dec 2025 Cove Rangers 2 Partick Thistle 1 (Challenge Cup 2nd Round)

matches:2025-26: ← 28game 2930 →

	Paul Hartley	Mark Wilson	41y, 6m, 11d

		Lewis Budinauckas; Cammy Logan; Scott Martin; Kyle Turner; Logan Chalmers; Steven Lawless
		Josh Clarke; Ben McPherson; Lee Ashcroft; Oisin Smyth; Tsoanelo Letsosa; Tony Watt

		Kyle Turner (1-1, 24 mins); Alex Samuel (2-1, 27 mins)
		Steven Lawless (1-1, 24 mins); Ben Stanway (2-1, 27 mins)
Chris Maguire		Scott Martin

David Eguaibor (Mitch Megginson, 60 mins); Blair Yule (Mackenzie Strachan, 60 mins); Lewis O'Donnell (Chris Maguire, 60 mins); Reuben McAllister (Jackson Mylchreest, 67 mins)		Logan Chalmers (Aidan Fitzpatrick, 61 mins); Alex Samuel (Tony Watt, 61 mins); Paddy Reading (Matthew Falconer, 69 mins); Scott Martin (Oisin Smyth, 74 mins); Ben Stanway (Tsoanelo Letsosa, 74 mins)

	Balint Demus	Lewis Budinauckas	23y, 5m, 27d
	Layton Bisland	Cammy Logan	23y, 10m, 18d
	Michael Doyle	Paddy Reading	26y, 6m, 17d
	Liam Parker	Luke McBeth	26y, 3m, 7d
	Justin Eguaibor	Daniel O'Reilly	30y, 8m, 5d
	Ryan Harrington	Scott Martin	28y, 8m, 15d
	Blair Yule	Kyle Turner	28y, 1m, 6d
	Adam Emslie	Ben Stanway	21y, 2m, 26d
	David Eguaibor	Alex Samuel	30y, 2m, 26d
	Lewis O'Donnell	Logan Chalmers	25y, 8m, 22d
	Reuben McAllister	Steven Lawless	34y, 8m, 4d

			27y, 2m, 26d

	Robbie Mutch	Josh Clarke	21y, 4m, 18d
	Mackenzie Strachan	Lee Ashcroft	32y, 3m, 17d
	Mitch Megginson	Oisin Smyth	25y, 7m, 11d
	Jackson Mylchreest	Aidan Fitzpatrick	24y, 8m, 26d
	Mikey Milnes	Ben McPherson	21y, 8m, 27d
	Chris Maguire	Tony Watt	31y, 11m, 17d
		Matthew Falconer	18y, 9m, 23d
		Liam Dolan	16y, 7m, 19d
		Tsoanelo Letsosa	21y, 6m, 10d

notes

Both sides generally in playing order.
Cove Rangers filled only 6 of their 9 allocated bench slots.
Originally scheduled for 7.45pm on Tuesday 9th December, but postponed due to wind.
The 'network' missed the yellow card for Scott Martin midway through the second half; both he and Chris Maguire were booked in relation to the same incident.
There's no award of an assist for Thistle's second goal via the 'network', but it was Ben Stanway's challenge and touch which put the ball in Alex Samuel's path.

TTA report

A defence splitting pass and a shot from 20 yards (3) ensured this would be no pushover. Thistle soon got into their stride and 20-yard shots from Turner and Samuel (24 and 27) put them ahead. A rather scrappy 2nd half saw both teams make chances (Thistle more so) but both keepers had some good saves.

TTA man of the match

The players have been excellent this season in terms of the basic commitment levels, and this level of effort has saved and won many a match in all 4 of the competitions. Once again, BEN STANWAY stood out in this regard. He's a menace to the opposition, exemplified with his determined challenge which forced the ball into the path of Alex Samuel for the winning goal.

Media report

17-Dec-2025, ptfc.co.uk

Partick Thistle came from behind to see off Cove Rangers 2-1 at the Balmoral Stadium to book their place in the Round of 16 in the KDM Evolution Trophy on January 6 against an Inverness Caledonian Thistle side who knocked nine past Dumbarton. The Jags had a refreshed look about them with Lewis Budinauckas, Cammy Logan, Scott Martin, Kyle Turner, Steven Lawless and Logan Chalmers all in from the start with youngsters Matthew Falconer and Liam Dolan on the bench.

Cove wearing a red strip more associated with their city neighbours kicked the game off in tranquil, albeit cold conditions, with the hosts winning an early free kick when David Equaibor was held. There was no home joy from the set-piece however with three minutes played Cove took the lead when Adam Emslie was released on the right by a forty yard pass from Blair Yule and he took the ball to the edge of the Thistle box before sending a low shot into the corner of the net with the aid of a deflection. The hosts had their tails up and they could have grabbed a second five minutes later when Emslie wriggled clear again however his low cross fizzed across the face of Budinauckas’ goal without a decisive touch being applied. Thistle looked to assert themselves in the game and Alex Samuel worked himself clear on the right flank and his ball looked to be finding Lawless, who was playing on the left, only for a defensive foot to get in the way. Thistle created another chance on 12 minutes when a delicate passing move picked out Chalmers who turned and fired for goal only to see his effort blocked. A minute later Chalmers created danger with a run to the goal kick line and then sending over cross that found Ben Stanway with Balint Demus just scrambling the ball off the midfielder’s toes. Another opening came for the visitors on 17 minutes when Chalmers fed Samuel who skipped to his left and tried to find the net with a low effort that Demus dived to smother.

The equaliser that had been threatened came on 24 minutes with another bout of possession allowed TURNER to be teed up on the left-hand side of the 18-yard line by Lawless and the number six took a touch to the left before curling a shot high past Demus. Three minutes later it was 2-1 to Mark Wilson’s side as The Wyre Stadium at Firhill’s favourite Welshman SAMUEL spun away from his marker and shot low into the corner of the net for his third goal in four appearances. The pace from the visitors dropped slightly for a period however eight minutes from the break Chalmers cut in from the right wing in trademark fashion and let fly with a left footed shot however Demus dropped down to save. Shortly afterwards Paddy Reading carved out a chance with a right footed cross that found the head of Samuel, but his flicked effort flashed over. Budinauckas showed he was still alert after a period of inactivity on 43 minutes when he saved from David Equaibor before play switched rapidly to the other end with Reading sending a shot high over.

Turner restarted the game with Thistle attacking the goal that goalkeeper Jamie Sneddon scored in three years ago. Emslie, like he had done in the first half, threatened early as he danced past a couple of players before hitting in a drive from right to left again however this time there was no deflection and the ball travelled wide. Chalmers had Thistle’s first attempt of the second half with a low left footed effort after build up play from Lawless and Stanway with Demus equal to it. Just after the hour mark, and after a flurry of substitutions, Turner whipped in a free-kick from wide on the left that was met by Luke McBeth however the defender’s header clipped off a Cove man and went past for a corner. Martin and home substitute Chris Maguire after a spat in midfield with the game restarting with a free kick to the hosts. Falconer, who was due to start last Tuesday before the tie was called off late on, was brought on with 20 minutes to go for Reading, with his introduction prompting a switch around with Logan going to left back and Turner right.

Thistle were given a reminder that there was still life in Cove when Liam Parker met a free-kick at the back post with his knee with Budinauckas forced into a high save after the ball bounced into the turf and rose up. Substitutes Tony Watt and Oisin Smyth combined on 77 minutes to create a shooting chance for the Northern Irishman from 20 yards and his shot was powerful for Demus however no-one was following in to net the ball after it was pushed back out. Four minutes later Budinauckas showed safe hands again as he rose to clutch a stinging 20 yarder from Mackenzie Strachan who had accepted a rolled pass back the way from Maguire. Ts’oanelo Lets’osa exchanged passes with Lawless as Thistle searched for a clincher however the replacement’s cross that was aiming for Watt was cut out by Demus. A darting move involving Lets’osa, Falconer and Lawless released Watt on the left however a corner was the only reward with Lawless just off target from the dead ball with a header.

Reaction

Partick Thistle manager Mark Wilson (speaking to Jagzone):

I think the game played out like I said at the start, I knew Paul's teams, the way they've played for years, and they make it incredibly difficult, they're brave enough to play through you. I thought the game overall was entertaining to watch; it helps when there's a goal early on and, unfortunately, it was against us, so we had to take a wee knock and find our rhythm and flow but I thought after that we did get into it and had a strong first half, worked the ball well, made some good opportunities and scored some good goals. Bringing on Tsoanelo and Oisin at the end was just to secure the game for us and maybe get a wee bit better grip on it. I thought everybody played their part tonight and the most important thing was getting through to the next round.

Cove Rangers manager Paul Hartley (speaking to the Press & Journal):

There were a lot of positives and a lot of good things on display. I thought we started really well. We had a lot of good attacks, especially down the right but I’m just disappointed with he goals we lost. But I thought we had a strong performance. We’ve shown against St Johnstone and now Partick that we can match these teams. I said to the players they’ve got it in them. There’s no doubt about it. We’ve seen it in flashes this season, but we’ve just not been consistent enough. The up is gone now and we’ve got to now look at a big game on Saturday at Kelty Hearts.

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