 Media report |
Late drama at KDM Group East End Park saw the points shared as Partick Thistle battled out an entertaining 2-2 draw with Dunfermline Athletic in the Scottish Championship on Tuesday night. There were two changes to the side that conquered Airdrieonians on Saturday, with Robbie Crawford and Aidan Fitzpatrick being brought into the starting line-up in place of Ts’oanelo Lets’osa and Alex Samuel.
Thistle’s first opportunity came on the two-minute mark when a pass was swung out by Paddy Reading to Fitzpatrick on the left. He drove into the box and squared a cross towards Ben Stanway, whose effort was blocked by Pars defender Nurudeen Abdulai in the six-yard area. Thistle would go on to open the scoring on 15 minutes, with Fitzpatrick the catalyst for the move. The winger deployed a cross deep towards the back post, with Watt heading it back across goal. Robbie Crawford got himself a touch on the ball, nudging it into position for Logan Chalmers to chip the ball into the net for 1-0. Four minutes later, Thistle had the ball in the net a second time. Dan O’Reilly’s header looped into the air, inspiring a six-yard box stramash wherein Aston Oxborough was left grasping at air while the ball was forced over the line, however, referee Dan McFarlane spotted a foul and awarded a free kick to the home side.
The Pars responded to that scare well, regrouping and slowing the tempo down, with the next fifteen minutes having little in the way of goalmouth action. On the 40 minute mark, Matty Todd found former Jag Kieran Ngwenya with a floated free kick which was flicked on to Chris Kane. The experienced striker had to contort his body to get anything on it but couldn’t put it goalward and Thistle cleared. The Pars continued to push as the half came to a close with a Callumn Morrison cross being headed down in the box by Robbie Fraser. It bounced to Charlie Gilmour who strode onto the ball but mishit his shot and the threat subsided meaning the visitors took a lead into the interval.
Mark Wilson made one change at the break with Ts’oanelo Lets’osa replacing Ben Stanway who had required treatment during the first half. Dunfermline came out the traps quickly after the restart and would soon draw themselves level on 50 minutes. A corner wasn’t properly cleared and fell to Freddie Turley 20 yards out. The Irishman took a shot which pinballed around the Thistle box before being poked home by Nurudeen Abdulai. Buoyed by the leveller, Neil Lennon’s side went in search of a second, but it would be Thistle who had the next significant chance of the game. Lets’osa charged down a clearance, putting himself through one-on-one with the ‘keeper, but the midfielder tried unsuccessfully to go around Aston Oxborough and ultimately didn’t get a shot away. Cometh the hour, cometh Alex Samuel, who replaced Chalmers, and the Welshman took only five minutes to get himself on the scoresheet. A free kick was launched up the park by Josh Clarke to Tony Watt, who flicked it on with a header. Samuel raced onto the ball and coolly dispatched it into the top right corner to make it 2-1. Further changes came as the game got more edgy in the final quarter. First, Luke McBeth and Cale Loughrey replaced Ben McPherson and Dan O’Reilly, before Kyle Turner came on for Robbie Crawford with 10 to play.
With eight minutes left on the clock, Dunfermline came within a whisker of equalising. An inviting Fraser cross found Morrison sliding in, but his effort cracked the upright as it stayed 2-1. Unfortunately for the travelling Jags, Neil Lennon’s side would find their leveller in the second minute of injury time. A Josh Cooper free kick into the Thistle box wasn’t properly dealt with and ricocheted to Kieran Ngwenya who was able to turn home from close range. There were a couple of half-chances for Thistle to snatch a dramatic winner but a header from Alex Samuel and a volley from Tony Watt both flew wide of the target. With St Johnstone also drawing their midweek game, the gap at the top of the table remains three points in favour of the Perth side.
 Reaction |
Thistle manager Mark Wilson spoke to
'The Thistle' 
:
When it goes down to the last minute, of course it’s disappointing. There was a lot to like about the game and the performance, coming away from home and getting ourselves in front twice. But our set-pieces were a wee bit disjointed, which isn’t really like us, and it was obviously our undoing in the end. Both goals we concede are so scrappy, the ball’s bouncing in the box, a bit of chaos. And fair play to Dunfermline. They’ve got a lovely delivery from both sides, so they put you under real pressure, but we should deal with probably both of them better. I think probably the both of us [Thistle and St Johnstone], we’ll be looking at the timing of the goals conceded. It’s a sickener, naturally, because I must say at that point I felt pretty comfortable. I thought we were looking kind of strong. The changes came on and made a difference and we just needed to manage it the game better. It could be a valuable point at the end of the day. Who knows where the point takes you?
Dunfermline manager Neil Lennon spoke to
dafc.co.uk :
We played really well tonight against arguably one of the best teams in the league. I think we’ve dominated for, well maybe had more possession, more territory, maybe Thistle’s plan was to sit off us. I don’t know, but they had two chances and you couldn’t even call the first one a chance. The second goal from our point of view is really poor, it’s really poor defending. But our reaction was great, I thought the subs made a really good impact as well. And you know what, we flashed two across the goal, we should have scored. I don’t know, my strikers need to be in the areas. Matty Todd put a great ball in, Robbie put a great ball in, I know Callum’s hit the post, but we should have scored on that. You know, come away with the three points. Hopefully it’s a turning point, it stops obviously the run of defeats. There was a lot of good performances out there tonight.
Matty Todd
Shea Kearney
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