7th Feb 2026 Elgin City 2 Partick Thistle 3 (Scottish Cup 5th Round)

matches:2025-26: ← 37game 3839 →

	Allan Hale	Mark Wilson	41y, 8m, 2d

		Kyle Turner; Aidan Fitzpatrick
		Oisin Smyth; Luke McBeth

Ryan Sargent (1-1, 39 mins); Ryan Sargent (2-2, 74 mins)		Robbie Crawford (1-0, 17 mins); Tony Watt (2-1, pen 44 mins); Ben Stanway (3-2, 80 mins)
none (1-1, 39 mins); Jack MacIver (2-2, 74 mins)		Tony Watt (1-0, 17 mins); none (2-1, pen 44 mins); Aidan Fitzpatrick (3-2, 80 mins)
Kane Hester		Kyle Turner

Lewis Hyde (Ally Spalding, 71 mins); Mark Gallagher (Matheus Machado, 71 mins); Jack MacIver (Owen Cairns, 80 mins); Kane Hester (Josh Walker, 80 mins)		Robbie Crawford (Scott Martin, 66 mins); Kyle Turner (Tsoanelo Letsosa, 66 mins); Aidan Fitzpatrick (Luke McBeth, 88 mins)

	Tom Ritchie	Josh Clarke	21y, 6m, 10d
	Miko Virtanen	Ben McPherson	21y, 10m, 19d
	Dylan Ross	Paddy Reading	26y, 8m, 9d
	Kyle Girvan	Daniel O'Reilly	30y, 9m, 27d
	Jack Murray	Lee Ashcroft	32y, 5m, 9d
	Lewis Hyde	Kyle Turner	28y, 2m, 28d
	Jack MacIver	Robbie Crawford	31y, 7m, 16d
	Russell Dingwall	Ben Stanway	21y, 4m, 18d
	Kane Hester	Alex Samuel	30y, 4m, 18d
	Mark Gallagher	Aidan Fitzpatrick	24y, 10m, 18d
	Ryan Sargent	Tony Watt	32y, 1m, 9d

			27y, 5m, 15d

	Cole Taylor	Lewis Budinauckas	23y, 7m, 19d
	n-a	Connor Storey	18y, 6m, 3d
	Lyall Booth	Cammy Logan	24y, 0m, 10d
	Brian Cameron	Scott Martin	28y, 10m, 6d
	Owen Cairns	Ricco Diack	20y, 9m, 0d
	Connall Ewan	Luke McBeth	26y, 4m, 29d
	Ally Spalding	Daniel Gray
	Josh Walker	Tsoanelo Letsosa	21y, 8m, 1d
	Matheus Machado

notes

Both sides generally in playing order.
Both sides filled 8 of their 9 allocated bench slots. Thistle were set for the maximum 9, but Fraser Tayor (who was originally named in the starting eleven) got injured in the warm-up and Kyle Turner was promoted from the bench to take his place, just 5 minutes before kick-off.
Thistle listed 2 sub goalkeepers.

TTA report

Into the QF but hardly impressive. Missed chances and poor defending at times. Watt's cut-back was side-footed in by Crawford (17) but a stramash at a corner made it 1-1 (39). Watt converted a pen (Samuel fouled, 44). A lovely back-post header made it 2-2 (74) before Stanway's shot after good build-up saw the JAGS home (80), Clarke preventing a leveller with seconds to go.

TTA man of the match

Another tremendous shift from the ever-committed TONY WATT who roamed the width of the final third from left to right and was a handful for Elgin with his physicality, smart movement and vision. An assist and a goal rewarded a fine display.

Media report

Paul Chalk, 07-Feb-2026, Press & Journal

League Two side Elgin City’s Scottish Cup run ended with a battling 3-2 home defeat against Championship promotion chasers Partick Thistle. The hosts started this fifth round tie in positive fashion but fell behind to a 16th minute Robbie Crawford strike. A Ryan Sargent reply looked like making it level-pegging at half-time but a Tony Watt penalty edged Thistle back in front. Sargent headed Elgin’s equaliser with 17 minutes to go, but Ben Stanway struck the winner seven minutes later to take Partick through.

The Moray team reached this point in the competition after beating Deveronvale, Stirling Albion and Camelon Juniors, while Thistle knocked out Forfar and Montrose. Borough Briggs had not hosted a last 16 Scottish Cup tie since 1972 when Kilmarnock ended their interest in a season when City were Highland League runners-up to Inverness Thistle. In 1967-1968, Elgin made it to the quarter-finals, the furthest point a Highland League club had reached as they were edged out 2-1 by Morton in Greenock. Partick Thistle are firmly in a title chase with St Johnstone at the top of the Championship, sitting two points off the pace. For one afternoon, these teams, two divisions apart, could forget chasing points and aim for a place in Sunday’s quarter-final draw. Last year, a big crowd watched battling Elgin lose 3-0 to eventual Scottish Cup winners Aberdeen. There was another large attendance of 2,754 here, boosted by a sell-out 1,200 fans following the Glasgow Jags.

After the encouraging start for Elgin, Partick took the lead as Watt worked down the left flank and, at the second attempt, teed up Crawford, who guided his low right-foot deflected shot past Tom Ritchie into the net. Thistle then enjoyed a decent period but never really asked any big questions and Elgin found the leveller six minutes from half-time. Jack MacIver whipped in a great corner, which led to a scramble and Sargent got to the ball first to head it over the line. However, City had little time to settle when Partick were handed a chance to regain the lead from the penalty spot five minutes later after Miko Virtanen brought down Alex Samuel as he cut into the box. Watt made no mistake with a shot arrowed down the middle which gave Ritchie no chance. It was a sore one to concede so soon after finding the net, but there was still plenty for Elgin to be heartened with going into the second half.

A spilled cross from Ritchie allowed Aidan Fitzpatrick a chance at goal on 55 minutes, but he was off target with his effort. Then home captain Tony Dingwall was not far off with a stinging long-range shot to remind Jags they were still in the contest. Partick enjoyed another decent period, but Elgin drew level once more on 73 minutes when Sargent arrived in the box and looped a fine header past Clarke into the net when he met another fine MacIver delivery. However, Mark Wilson’s men found a way to get back in front when Stanway’s shot from the edge of the box struck off Virtanen and changed its route to beat Ritchie after a neat exchange of passing from Partick Thistle. City threw one last effort towards their opponents’ goal but Clarke pulled off a great save from a diving Kyle Girvan header after Jack Murray then Matheus Machado combined to steer it into the crowded six-yard box.

Reaction

Thistle manager Mark Wilson (speaking to the BBC):

An old-fashioned cup tie, loads of action, but the important thing is that you get through. The boys had to show a bit of resilience getting pegged back twice to get themselves back on top, and I'm glad they were able to in the way that they did. They never plan out the way you think on paper, where we're going to come up here and win three or four nil. We had to dig in, but the boys rolled up their sleeves and got the job done.

City manager Allan Hale (speaking to the BBC):

I thought we were excellent in the second half. I thought we scored some really good goals. It's just really disappointing that we lost the game, I thought we deserved to take it to extra-time at least. We've had two really good cup runs, and we left everything out on that pitch today. Partick Thistle are a really good team, really good players, but I think we'll get plaudits for playing how we did. I'm really proud of the players today.

HIT THE NORTH

● Elgin City become the 150th club to meet Partick Thistle in competitive action, and in Thistle's 150th playing anniversary year too!

● Amazingly, Elgin is only the 18th most northerly village/town/city to host Partick Thistle. The most northerly in Scotland is Fivepenny in the Outer Hebrides where Thistle played Ness on 4th August 1990. Norway and Sweden have all 10 places in the Top 10. The most northerly of all is the beautiful and historic city of Gävle, where Thistle met Brynäs on 26th July 1972.

● Borough Briggs becomes the second most northerly venue to host Partick Thistle in the Scottish Cup. According to the precise post-codes, it's just 900 metres south of Deveronvale's Princess Royal Park on the latitude lines!

● It's a bit of history for Robbie Crawford, forever Thistle's first-ever scorer vs. Elgin City in competitive action.

● For the first time since January 1997, Thistle are awarded a penalty in a third successive match. The club-record (5) was set in August 1906.

● It's only the 7th of February, but 5 Thistle penalties in 2026 (well done Alex!) already betters each of the last two whole calendar years.

● Tony Watt becomes the second Jag to hit double figures in competitive goal action this term.

● Aidan Fitzpatrick hits 12 assists for the season, matching Chris Erskine (2012-13) and Jack McMillan (2022-23). All eyes on the tally of 14 (the highest since records began in 2012-13) set by Kyle Turner in 2022-23.

● Manager Mark Wilson reaches the 50 competitive games milestone as Thistle co-manager / manager. His 54% win rate is the highest of all-time at this stage; see graphic below for full details.

● Thistle reach the Scottish Cup Quarter Finals for the 34th time.

● The class of 2025-26 become the first Thistle team since 1982-83 to qualify for the Quarter Finals of both the League Cup & Scottish Cup in the same season. Somewhat bizarrely, Thistle have been a second tier club on both occasions!

ongoing sequences:

● 8 away League games without a win; 11th Oct 2025 to date. (Longest run since: 8 games; 4th Dec 2021 to 26th Mar 2022. 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.)

● 22 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.)

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Partick Thistle: A People’s History celebrates 150 years of the club through the eyes of the fans. It will be a superb addition to your Thistle collection, expertly curated and edited by Kenny Pieper, a real heart and soul effort from the author and the contributors (the fans).

• The book is set to be published in August 2026, each of the first editions uniquely numbered.
• Pre-order your limited edition copy and add your own dedication or message (up to 500 words).
• A labour of love - all royalties to the club.
Buy now: £18.76 (genius pricing!) from ptfc.co.uk

The Thistle Archive

Partick Thistle stats and stories 1876 to date