 Media report |
It’s all to play for on Friday night, following Partick Thistle’s 1-1 draw away to Dunfermline Athletic in the Premiership play-off semi-finals. This is the Jags’ fifth consecutive season in these play-offs but this time Mark Wilson’s side had the novelty of a week off, having finished in second – their highest second tier finish since the 2012/13 title-winning campaign. Dunfermline, on the other hand, hadn’t had much rest with a hard-earned 1-0 aggregate win over Arbroath booking their spot in the semi-finals. There were five changes made to the side that drew 1-1 with Queen’s Park on the final day of the regular season with Lee Ashcroft, Dan O’Reilly and Ben McPherson all returning to the defence. Ben Stanway and Ts’oanelo Lets’osa also came in as Cale Loughrey, Luke McBeth, Robbie Crawford and Alex Samuel all dropped to the bench, whilst Ethan Ingram missed out through injury.
It was a cagey opening, with neither side able to assert dominance early on. Thistle’s first real foray into the opposition half came on six minutes, when Tony Watt flicked the ball on to an onrushing Lets’osa, however, the opportunity was quickly dealt with by the Pars backline. From there, it was all Dunfermline for the next portion, with the Jags having to cope with a succession of corners into the box. Josh Clarke was called into action for the first time on 10 minutes when he was required to turn a deflected Chris Kane effort around his right-hand post. The game shrunk into the middle of the park, with neither side able to carve an opening until the 22nd minute when Dunfermline took the lead. A quickly taken free-kick released Matty Todd into a dangerous area on Dunfermline’s left-hand side and the midfielder hit the byline and cut the ball back to Callumn Morrison at the edge of the six-yard box. The former Falkirk man fired firmly into the back of the net and gave the hosts the lead.
Mark Wilson’s men, however, refused to let the heads drop – firing back with an immediate response. Straight from the restart, Thistle drove forward, much to the shock of the Dunfermline defence. Aidan Fitzpatrick eked out enough space to thread a pass in the direction of Ben Stanway, with Thistle’s Player of the Year duly burying his shot past Pars ‘keeper Aston Oxborough from six yards out to level the game. Five minutes later, it could have been 2-1 when Logan Chalmers found space approximately 25 yards out and had a pop, but the shot went wide. Dunfermline had a few speculative chances as the game cooled down after a frenetic few minutes. Morrison ballooned a shot over, before Andrew Tod saw a volley from 30 yards fly into the Norrie McCathie Stand. Referee Duncan Nicolson drew the ire of the home support moments before half time, when Matty Todd ended up on the ground under Ben McPherson’s challenge. The natives expected a penalty but the man in the middle waved play on.
Thistle started on the front foot after the restart and would have the ball in the back of the net on 47 minutes, however, Aidan Fitzpatrick’s powerful finish was ruled out for offside. Not long after, The Jags had another good opportunity when the ball broke to Stanway to have a go, but he was only able to sting the wrists of Oxborough, who parried the shot wide. The home side had a free kick in a dangerous area in the 53rd minute and Robbie Fraser tried his luck from 20 yards. The former Livingston man got the ball around the wall but saw Josh Clarke bat it away from goal. A set piece presented an opportunity for Thistle shortly thereafter as Dan O’Reilly got on the end of a Fitzpatrick corner but Ben McPherson inadvertently blocked the goal-bound attempt. On 65 minutes, Mark Wilson turned to his bench with Samuel, Crawford and Logan coming on for Watt, Lets’osa and McPherson as the Jags searched for a difference maker.
It was Dunfermline though who would have the next big chance as Morrison got the ball to Robbie Fraser in the visitors’ box. Frase chopped onto his right foot and looked set to bend a shot into the far corner, but angled it wide of the right post. As the clock ticked down into injury time, it was Thistle who started to look more likely to grab a winner. The Jags besieged the Pars box with a plethora of chances as Samuel made his presence felt after coming on as a sub. A cross from fellow substitute Gary Mackay-Steven on 88 minutes teed Samuel up with a header, but the Welshman nodded just wide of the far post. A minute later, Samuel was at it again with a shot on the turn to no avail. In stoppage time, Crawford tried his luck, but a good save from Oxborough ensured it stayed level. The tie is now finely poised, going into Friday’s winner-takes-all second leg at The Wyre Stadium at Firhill. Elsewhere, in the Premiership, tonight’s results confirm that the winner of this tie will face St. Mirren in the final.
 Reaction |
Thistle manager Mark Wilson spoke to the press, transcribed via
'The Thistle' 
:
It must have been pretty good on the eye. I don’t think both teams were cagey. Obviously the way Dunfermline played, quite aggressive with their two strikers and their two wide guys, they put us under pressure. And equally for us, we tried to get the ball forward as quick as possible. I think when you go behind in these games, the tails are up for the home team, the crowd’s behind them. It can be difficult, so it was important that we get a quick response and it’s a great goal. It was even, I thought, in the second half, but probably the last 10 minutes, I thought we came on really strong and we were probably unfortunate not to nick a second. I had loads of big calls tonight. Alex, team of the year, top goal scorer. But the good thing about these players, I think they all understand I’m pretty transparent, open and honest. I think if you do it in the right way and you pull the guys and let them know what the plan is for two games, then they’ll buy into it. That was the plan, to play Tony [Watt] and then for Alex to come on and finish the game for us. And it almost worked a treat because he almost grabbed a couple of goals at the end there. So, they all understand what the plan’s going to be on Friday. It’s just about carrying it out. It’ll be difficult, but I said to the guys in there, ‘You really finished strongly and it’s going to be important on Friday, to start in the same vein and really try and get our tails up early in the game’.
Dunfermline manager Neil Lennon (speaking at the press conference):
I thought we were good and had the better chances — our intensity was good. We scored a great goal and then conceded a really poor one. Just a lapse in concentration there, but once we settled into the game we were good. I’m really pleased at the way we played against a very good side. Our final ball at times could have been better. We’ve got to get ourselves ready for another big game on Friday, we’ve got so much to play for and it’s still in our hands.
Chris Kane
Lucas Fyfe
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