24th Jan 2026 Partick Thistle 2 Ayr United 1 (SPFL Championship - game 23)

matches:2025-26: ← 35game 3637 →

41y, 7m, 19d	Mark Wilson	Scott Brown

Luke McBeth; Oisin Smyth
Tsoanelo Letsosa; Aidan Fitzpatrtick

Logan Chalmers (1-0, 12‎ mins); Alex Samuel (2-0, 14‎ mins)		Curtis Main (2-1, 60 mins)
Paddy Reading (1-0, 12‎ mins); Luke McBeth (2-0, 14‎ mins)		none (2-1, 60 mins)
		‎Marco Rus; Leon Thomson King; Ben Dempsey

Logan Chalmers (Robbie Crawford, 64 mins); Ben Stanway (Scott Martin, 79 mins); Alex Samuel (Ricco Diack, 90+1 mins)		Jude Bonnar (Curtis Main, HT); Anton Dowds (George Oakley, 76 mins); Ben Dempsey (Ben Summers, 81 mins); Kevin Holt (Liam Dick, 81 mins)

21y, 5m, 27d	Josh Clarke	Liam Russell
21y, 10m, 5d	Ben McPherson	George Finney
26y, 7m, 26d	Paddy Reading	Marco Rus
30y, 9m, 13d	Daniel O'Reilly	Leon King
32y, 4m, 26d	Lee Ashcroft	Kevin Holt former Jag
26y, 4m, 15d	Luke McBeth	Scott McMann
25y, 8m, 19d	Oisin Smyth	Stuart Bannigan former Jag
21y, 4m, 4d	Ben Stanway	Ben Dempsey
30y, 4m, 4d	Alex Samuel	Anton Dowds former Jag
32y, 0m, 26d	Tony Watt	Mark McKenzie
25y, 10m, 0d	Logan Chalmers	Jude Bonnar

26y, 9m, 21d

23y, 7m, 5d	Lewis Budinauckas	David Mitchell former Jag
23y, 11m, 27d	Cammy Logan	Liam Dick
28y, 9m, 23d	Scott Martin	Shaun Want
28y, 2m, 14d	Kyle Turner	George Oakley
31y, 7m, 2d	Robbie Crawford	Curtis Main
20y, 8m, 17d	Ricco Diack	Dom Thomas
24y, 10m, 4d	Aidan Fitzpatrick	Ben Summers
24y, 5m, 20d	Cale Loughrey	Jack Simpson
18y, 11m, 1d	Matthew Falconer

notes

Both sides generally in playing order.
United filled 8 of their 9 allocated bench slots.

TTA report

After Chalmers' shot on the angle (12) and Samuel's glancing header (14) a penalty (18) should have put the game out of sight but Chalmers hit the keeper's legs. Ayr had most of the 2nd half pressure but stout defending and fine saves by Clarke kept them out until a blocked shot was sent back in (60). More pressure was soaked up then some bad luck prevented Thistle a 3rd late on.

TTA man of the match

ALEX SAMUEL was a joy to behold, everything the fans want to see in terms of passion and commitment. He was a constant menace to the Ayr backline with his physicality, turn of speed and no little skill. Kevin Holt was surely relieved to be subbed off!

Media report

24-Jan-2026, ptfc.co.uk

Partick Thistle bagged a valuable three points this afternoon as goals from Logan Chalmers and Alex Samuel saw off Ayr United despite a second half goal from Curtis Main ensuring a tense conclusion. Mark Wilson’s side took on the Honest Men for the fourth time this season having won twice and drawn once in three previous clashes. Oisin Smyth came back into the starting line-up after returning to the club on loan on Thursday while Luke McBeth was also recalled to the first XI with Ts’oanelo Lets’osa missing due to a knock and Aidan Fitzpatrick moving to the bench.

Logan Chalmers scored in the 11th minute to put Thistle one up. A beautiful ball was played in by Paddy Reading; Chalmers raced onto it and slotted the ball into the back of the net. This opener took the winger to 10 for the season, making it his best scoring season in senior football. Two minutes later Thistle scored again. Luke McBeth crossed the ball into the Ayr box where Alex Samuel was able to help it into the far corner off the inside of the post for his second goal in three games. Thistle could have been further in front too when they were awarded a penalty in the 16th minute for a foul on Alex Samuel, however, Logan Chalmers saw his spot kick saved by the feet of Liam Russell as he tried to go down the middle.

Ayr’s first chance of the match came from skipper Ben Dempsey who saw his shot from just outside the Jags’ box deflected wide of the target. Some neat build-up play on the Thistle left resulted in the ball rolling into space at the edge of the box where Tony Watt and Oisin Smyth were both sizing up a shot. It was the former who got there first and his left-footed effort curled high and wide. In the 39th minute following a Logan Chalmers corner, Smyth got his chance to shoot when the ball fell to him 25 yards out. He took a good first touch but sent the subsequent volley narrowly wide of the right-hand post. Ayr’s best chance of the opening period came when a Scott McMann cross found Anton Dowds at the back post, but the ex-Jags striker could only send his stooping header into the side netting.

The second half begun with Anton Dowds trying his luck from way outside the box. His shot was held comfortably by Josh Clarke. Another former Thistle man Kevin Holt came close shortly thereafter when he got on the end of a free-kick into the hosts’ box but his attempt was cleared over the bar by a scrambling Lee Ashcroft. Approaching the hour mark, Ben Stanway threatened another home league goal against Ayr when his attempted cross nearly caught Liam Russell out at the back post, however, the visiting ‘stopper was able to claw it away for a corner. The away side found a route back into the match at the hour mark when a Marco Rus cross found Curtis Main who laid it off to the right wing-back George Finney. His shot was well-blocked by Dan O’Reilly but it fell to Main who rocketed a shot high into the net. Former Aberdeen forward Main was on the attack again when he latched onto a ball bouncing in behind the Jags’ defence. His run took him to an awkward angle but he was still able to force a save out of Josh Clarke at the near post, albeit the officials awarded a goal kick.

The Maryhill Men should have wrapped the game up with 12 minutes to play but a combination of saves and blocks denied Robbie Crawford and Alex Samuel in the Ayr goalmouth. At the other end, there was an opportunity for the travelling Honest Men to take a point back to Somerset Park when second half substitute George Oakley stole a yard behind the home defence. He tried to fire it past Josh Clarke on his left side but the on-loan Celtic ‘keeper was down sharply to deny him. Ultimately Thistle would hold out to take the points and Ayr’s frustrations were epitomised by the red card that manager Scott Brown received for two separate instances of apparent dissent. Thistle’s unbeaten start to the league season at home has now reached 12 games with an away trip to table-topping St. Johnstone up next for Mark Wilson’s side.

Reaction

Thistle assistant manager Alex Rae spoke to 'The Thistle'

and it was put to him that it was a big win especially in light of St Johnstone's loss:

Aye, well listen, we really have to focus on ourselves. There’s still a hell of a long way to go. That’s our fourth game against Ayr and it’s been pretty much like that in the other fixtures as well. So we knew it was always going to be difficult, but we put ourselves in a good position. I’m really pleased with the way we went about our business today. It became a bit of a slog in the second half because they obviously brought on [Curtis] Main and [George] Oakley, and they went a bit more direct. So we had to compete for everything. And it’s an important one because of the manner - you’re scratching it out at the end, and it’s a bit basketball-y in transition. But I think we were absolutely delighted with the three points, and also the performance levels. It was competitive and the shift from each player was great as well because they were working ever so hard. We’ve earned the right to be in the position we’re at. We tend to show a level of consistency, but we’re very much mindful of St Johnstone, they’re there for a reason as well. So we’re going to have to prep as well as we can for the game, and it’s on the television, which is also an added bonus for everyone. I used to enjoy playing in front of the telly!

United assistant manager Steven Whittaker (speaking to the Daily Record):

Partick worked out the conditions and how to play them quicker than we did - they played the ball up to their front two quickly and worked off second balls. In that first 25 minutes, we competed but weren't quite up for the battle. Luckily the penalty doesn't go in at 2-0 and that gives us the chance to regroup at half-time and get back into the game. The second half was a lot better and just a case of going back to basics. We went a bit more direct with Curtis up front, who holds the ball up very well, and we looked a threat with him and Anton (Dowds) and then George (Oakley) up there. We just had to force the issue a bit in terms of getting the ball forward a bit quicker. Sometimes there's nothing wrong with going a bit more direct and playing to the conditions."We got the goal to get back in it and it's then a case of could we have asked more questions of their keeper but it didn't quite fall for us.

AND THEN THERE WERE TWO

● It's double figures in the competitive goals charts for Logan Chalmers; 10 goals means a new personal best as a senior pro in any one season.

● Alex Samuel nets his 7th competitive goal of the season. Amazingly, he follows Logan Chalmers by just 2 minutes in terms of hitting his personal best season as a senior pro!

● Thistle have missed 3 successive penalties in open play, a poor feat last seen in November 2020. The club-record (4) was last equalled in March 2000. See Every penalty (taken).

● Aidan Fitzpatrick misses his first game of the season meaning that no player will be an ever-present in 2025-26.

● Ayr United have lost only two league games away from home all season - both at Firhill!

● It's a new club-record of 11 home league games unbeaten versus Ayr United, passing the record 10 set from 1977 to 1989.

● Partick Thistle and Heart of Midlothian are the last two standing with unbeaten home records in the 2025-26 SPFL. Jags are aiming for a 6th "invincible" home season in the league following on from 1896-97, 1899-00, 1910-11, 1970-71 and 2001-02.

ongoing sequences:

● 7 away League games without a win; 11th Oct 2025 to date. (Longest run since: 7 games; 6th Apr 2024 to 28th Sep 2024. Club-record: 26 games; 20th Mar 1935 to 29th Aug 1936.)

● 13 home League games without defeat; 25th Apr 2025 to date. (Longest run since: 14 games; 16th Mar 2024 to 28th Dec 2024. Joint club-record: 23 games; 27th Aug 1910 to 14th Oct 1911 & 29th Aug 1970 to 6th Nov 1971.)

● 20 consecutive competitive appearances for Paddy Reading, 4th Oct 2025 to date, a new personal best. (Longest run since: Aidan Fitzpatrick - 45 games, 11th Mar 2025 to 17th Jan 2026. Club-record: Johnny Jackson - 313 games, 28th Aug 1926 to 25th Mar 1933.)

Stats Watch adheres to our stated definitions of League, League Max, Major Competitive, Competitive or All Games. Where there is no written qualification, you should presume that the Stat in question is compiled from the All Games criteria.

match hubs

The Thistle Archive

Partick Thistle stats and stories 1876 to date