 Media report |
Partick Thistle are safely into the hat for the last 16 of the Scottish Cup, after a 3-1 victory over a spirited Montrose side in the Fourth Round at the Wyre Stadium at Firhill today. Thistle were in Cup action for the second time in five days, having exited the KDM Evolution Trophy on penalties following a 3-3 draw against Inverness Caledonian Thistle on Tuesday night. After rotating the squad in that Challenge Cup tie, it was back to business as usual with seven changes made to the side. Josh Clarke was back in goal with our traditional backline of Paddy Reading, Dan O’Reilly, Lee Ashcroft and Ben McPherson in front of him. Ben Stanway and Ts’oanelo Lets’osa occupied the centre of midfield with Aidan Fitzpatrick and Logan Chalmers on the wings. Tony Watt returned to the XI, playing in the No. 10 role, with Alex Samuel up front. New signing Cale Loughrey, fresh off his debut goal against Caley Thistle, was cup-tied and unavailable.
After a shaky opening few minutes, the Jags soon looked the brighter of the two, hemming Montrose into their own half, earning a quick trio of corners in the first ten minutes. Thistle took the lead on the eleventh minute after an excellent ball was crossed into the box by Paddy Reading, with Tony Watt right on cue to head the ball past Montrose goalkeeper Cammy Gill. The visitors still posed a threat though and some great link-up play from Ewan Louden and former Jag Blair Lyons teed up Callum Sandilands for what looked to be a certain equaliser, only for Jags keeper Clarke to deny him with an excellent block. Despite being a tier below the Jags and a goal down, Montrose were giving a good account of themselves, limiting Thistle’s chances in the opening quarter and hogging the ball, forcing Thistle back into their own half. Despite that, Ts’oanelo Lets’osa had a golden chance to increase the lead on 30 minutes after a cutback from Reading presented “T” with an opening in front of goal, but the midfielder whiffed on his shot, sending it wide. Then 36 minutes in, Ben McPherson launched a teasing delivery across the face of goal, begging for someone to get a touch on it but no one was in position to take advantage, and the ball went out of play.
Paddy Reading was finding his groove as the half wore on, getting into pockets of space and asking questions of the Montrose defence. He tried his luck from long range, but his right-footed effort from outside of the box was just a shade too high. The final few moments saw the Jags press for a second to make the game comfortable before half time, but it was not to be. Samuel worked his way into the box thanks to a through-ball from Chalmers, but his shot could only ripple the side netting. As half-time loomed, the Jags were shifting through the gears with Gill being forced into a brilliant stop to knock Chalmers’ swerving shot round the post for a corner. The final chance of the half saw Samuel get himself on the end of a cutback from Fitzpatrick. He tried to flick the ball past Gill, but could only find the goalkeeper’s gloves via a deflection and Thistle went down the tunnel with a slender one goal advantage.
After the restart, Montrose came out of the traps quickly, with the Firhill faithful on edge as Loudon was brought to ground by a Fitzpatrick challenge in the box. The away side’s howls for a spot kick were roundly dismissed by referee Lloyd Wilson. Seconds later, the Montrose fans would have been spitting feathers as Thistle finally found the second goal they had threatened to score in the closing stages of the first half. A short corner eventually worked its way into the area as Chalmers’ pass limply rolled through the Montrose defenders for Watt to stab home with gusto. With the wind now in their sails, the hosts took control and pressed for a third. In particular, Thistle found great joy on the counter whenever Montrose found themselves with a set piece. On one occasion, Fitzpatrick caught the Gable Endies on the break from a corner, darting from one box to the other before drilling his low shot just wide of the far post. On 67 minutes, Fitzpatrick once again caught Montrose cold from their corner, with Kyle Turner threading the needle on a sumptuous pass to set the winger up again, but Gill this time was able to get hold of the shot. Four minutes later, it was the turn of Chalmers to tee Fitzpatrick up, but again Gill showed good composure to keep the scoreline at 2-0. That would be Chalmers’ final attacking contribution of the game as seconds later he was shown a second yellow for a sliding tackle on Lyons, having been booked for a foul early in the second half.
Wilson rang the changes with ten minutes to go as Scott Martin, Luke McBeth and Ricco Diack replaced Ts’oanelo Lets’osa, Aidan Fitzpatrick and Alex Samuel with defensive solidity at the forefront of the Head Coach’s thinking. Nevertheless Montrose got Jags nerves jangling with five minutes to go when Josh Clarke clattered into a visiting player as he sought to punch a cross clear. The referee saw nothing wrong with the challenge and Gable Endies substitute Tommy North was on hand to turn home into the waiting net. Hopes of a Montrose comeback were tempered seconds later though as Terry Masson went in late on Stanway to earn a second booking and make the game 10-on-10. In the chaos, Thistle made sure of their safe passage, breaking forward on the counter attack. The ball was fed through by Turner to an onside Diack and the substitute fired home at the near post to put a bow on a successful afternoon of cup action for the Maryhill Men. The Jags take another step on the road to Hampden, as they aim to bring home the Cup for the first time in 105 years. With the likes of Stenhousemuir and Elgin City still standing in the cup, Thistle fans will be hoping for an exotic away trip when the draw is made tomorrow night following the conclusion of Auchinleck Talbot vs. Celtic.
 Reaction |
Thistle manager Mark Wilson speaking to
'The Thistle' 
:
I thought we started the game okay, got our noses in front. I thought in transition we were poor, we looked too wide open. So in all honesty, I had a wee go at the players at half-time, and that’s sometimes the best time, when you're ahead, just to give them a wee jolt. I thought they reacted brilliantly, and then it's comfortable, we’re clicking, we're flowing, it looks good, and then your man just goes nuts and starts brandishing cards about. I'm sorry, somebody needs to look at that. If you've got ten red cards in 20 games, or whatever it is, that's alarming. I had a go at our wingers at half-time, just saying how in transition they need to work harder and they need to get back, and they need to help their full-backs. Logan's first yellow card was no doubt a yellow card, but then the one that he's busting his gut to get back is everything that you want your winger to do. He's a winger, he's not a midfielder, so he doesn't time everything perfectly, but I thought he did. I thought he timed that perfectly. I've seen it back, he wins the ball, and Lloyd [the referee] has almost got the yellow and red out of his pocket before he's even had time to think. It's nuts because I'm thinking, ‘That’s brilliant work’. The referee has robbed him of playing in the next round of the Scottish Cup. That's the reality, and that's what we're dealing with, so I'm obviously not happy. It’s actually ruined the occasion, that. See if it's a one-off, I wouldn’t be raging, but see because it's the second time in three weeks, you go, ‘What’s going on here?’. But back to the playing side; Ricco has had to wait his time, he had to go out on loan and kind of earn his stripes, earn his fitness, score goals. So I’m pleased for him. It's a great run, and we have been trying to get that in his game. He has attributes that, if he runs at that back line and through, not many people are catching him. And it's a good finish. I was really chuffed for him.
Ben McPherson
Cammy Logan
former Jag
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