21st Aug 2026 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1 Partick Thistle 1 (SPFL Championship - game 3)

matches:2026-27: ← 09game 1011 →

	Scott Kellacher	Mark Wilson	42y, 2m, 16d

		Ben Stanway; Alex Samuel
		Robbie Crawford; Tony Watt

Alfie Bavidge (1-1, 89 mins)‎		Seb Drozd (1-0, 17 mins)‎
Paul Allan (1-1, 89 mins)‎		Aidan Fitzpatrick (1-0, 17 mins)‎
Alfie Stewart		Oisin Smyth; Gary Mackay-Steven

Liam Sole (Morgan Bates, 68 mins); Adam Mackinnon (Paul Allan, 78 mins); Ryan Duncan (Daniel MacKay, 78 mins); Calum MacLeod (Kerr Smith, 85 mins); Noa Boutin (Luis Longstaff, 85 mins)		Ben McPherson (Ethan Ingram, HT); Seb Drozd (Gary Mackay-Steven, 63 mins); Ben Stanway (Robbie Crawford, 63 mins); Tsoanelo Letsosa (Ben Dempsey, 70 mins); Alex Samuel (Tony Watt, 74 mins)

	Ross Munro	Liam McFarlane	21y, 10m, 26d
	Calum MacLeod	Ben McPherson	22y, 5m, 2d
	Noa Boutin	Paddy Reading	27y, 2m, 23d
	former Jag Danny Devine	Cale Loughrey	25y, 0m, 17d
	Remi Savage	Daniel O'Reilly	31y, 4m, 10d
	Graeme Shinnie	Oisin Smyth	26y, 3m, 16d
	Adam Mackinnon	Ben Stanway	21y, 11m, 1d
	Alfie Stewart	Tsoanelo Letsosa	22y, 2m, 15d
	Alfie Bavidge	Alex Samuel	30y, 11m, 1d
	Ryan Duncan	Seb Drozd	23y, 3m, 24d
	Liam Sole	Aidan Fitzpatrick	25y, 5m, 1d

			25y, 3m, 10d

	Logan Ross	Lewis Budinauckas	24y, 2m, 2d
	Paul Allan	Cammy Logan	24y, 6m, 24d
	Luis Longstaff	Ben Dempsey	26y, 8m, 27d
	former Jag Daniel MacKay	Gary Mackay-Steven	35y, 11m, 21d
	Miller Keir	Robbie Crawford	32y, 1m, 30d
	Kerr Smith	Ethan Ingram	23y, 4m, 5d
	Morgan Bates	Matthew Falconer	19y, 5m, 29d
	Roddy MacGregor	Tony Watt	32y, 7m, 23d
		Josh Miller	17y, 3m, 29d

notes

Both sides generally in playing order.
Inverness CT filled 8 of their 9 allocated bench slots.
Originally scheduled for 3.00pm on Saturday 22nd August, brought forward for BBC Scotland.

TTA report

An even 1st half saw Caley hit the post then Drozd shot home a Fitzpatrick cut back (17). For the rest of the half Thistle looked comfortable but seldom threatened to add to their lead. After h-t the homesters bossed the midfield but a narrow win still looked likely until a needless, poorly defended free-kick was headed in (89). Disappointing - but probably deserved.

TTA man of the match

Another fine performance from AIDAN FITZPATRICK doing what he does best, beating his man and delivering golden opportunities for the men in the box. Always willing to get back and help out his mates at the other end too, great commitment to the cause.

Media report

21-Aug-2026, caleythistleonline.com

Friday night footie was at the Caledonian SarensPSG Stadium with title favourites and early pace setters Partick Thistle coming North for this televised game. For the hosts, Paul Allan was back on the bench with Liam Sole starting and Dan Mackay on a bench of eight. Mark Wilson made two changes from the side that went down narrowly at Easter Road in the League Cup Alex Samuel and Ben Stanway came back into the starting XI with Gary Mackay-Steven on the bench alongside Tony Watt. With Samuel starting, our defence will be in for a busy time as he tries to burrow his way towards goal. Aidan Fitzpatrick is a handful out wide with his wingplay. Watt and Mackay-Steven will provide plenty of quality and experience off the bench. Seb Drodz opened the scoring after quarter of an hour after a bright opening by the hosts with Alfie Stewart having hit the post and MacFarlane making a couple of early saves. A second half of few opportunities until Alfie Bavidge headed in with one minute remaining of normal time. Another draw, and this one was a long time coming, but a goal scored this time against top of the table Partick.

A decent night in the North as the game and the first corner of the night went to the hosts and it ended with Savage having a shot blocked and then Liam Sole was denied by a good save from MacFarlane at the expense of another corner. From that one Danny Devine got a volley off but it was also blocked. At the other end Ross Munro had to look lively to save from Alex Samuel after good work down the Partick left from Fitzpatrick. Alfie Stewart was unfortunate with a shot from around twenty-five yards that came off the base of the post with the keeper in close attention. Sixteen minutes gone and Partick Thistle opened the scoring with Fitzpatrick the orchestrator. His ball in was missed by most before Drodz drilled the ball low and hard behind the keeper in a busy box from around twelve yards. Munro had to make a smart low save to stop Drodz adding a second after half an hour. We were finding it difficult to make much headway ten minutes before the break. There was a mild scramble in the Partick box before McFarlane picked up the deflected ball but the visitors saw out the half comfortably as we struggled to find our own players with the ball or lost it all too easily in midfield and defence. Still all to play for at just one goal down at the break.

Fitzpatrick began the second half where he he finished the first, driving forward down the Partick left before he fizzed a ball across the home box. Dangerous player giving MacLeod a hard time. A dangerous cross into Partick's box brought about a corner that came to nothing. Still the same problems as the first half with ball retention and poor passing. From another corner, a Sole cross come shot was missed by Bavidge's head and it bounced narrowly wide. Ryan Duncan should have been bursting the net when he found himself one on one with the keeper, but his first touch allowed the keeper to drop on the ball and make the block. That was our best chance of the game so far. Bavidge volleyed into the side netting after a patient, verging on pedantic, build-up. Dan Mackay made his return to action with under fifteen minutes left. In truth, the second half was a bit of a let down. That was until Longstaff won a free kick down the right. Paul Allan gave it to Longstaff who gave it back to Allan who put a tremendous ball into the box off the outside of his boot onto Alfie Bavidge's head and he headed into the net from six yards. Superbly worked goal, our first in the Championship. A wee bit of a flurry over the remaining minutes but that was it at full time. A point apiece.

Reaction

Partick Thistle head coach Mark Wilson (speaking to Jagzone):

Disappointed in the fact that, you know, we lost a goal right at the death. Really pleased with the first half performance. Really strong. Looked the team on top. Could have probably made more in our wee transitional moments, but certainly we were on the right track and we needed to carry that on into the second half. And we just didn’t quite click in the second half to build enough momentum going forward. And that allowed Inverness to build attacks and, you know, disappointed to lose a goal right at the death where we lost our structure a bit.

Inverness CT manager Scott Kellacher (speaking to Press & Journal):

We have now played three teams who were in the play-offs and drawn with them all. We matched them, which is pleasing. We’ve created chances and played well. It was a game of two halves. They were better than us in the first half. We never got going and never played the way we wanted to or pressed how we wanted to press. You have to give credit to them. They are tipped to win the league. They’re a good side with very good players. We were a lot better in the second half. It was a lot better all round in terms of pressing and getting balls in the box. We had one or two chances and hit the post as well. Overall, I felt a draw was the right result. We changed the shape late on and went with two strikers up top and three at the back. Sometimes these things pay off and sometimes they don’t and it did tonight. I looked at the unbeaten stats beforehand and it maybe had draw written all over it. When you play against a team of Partick’s quality, you’re happy to take a point.

CHASING RECORDS

● Alas, the concession of a late equaliser denied Thistle what would've been a unique club-record of 3 wins-to-nil to open a league campaign.

● Thistle's record winless runs in Inverness continue, now 8 competitive games without a win and 7 league games without a win, both runs extending from 2021 to date.

● In the league, Inverness CT (21 games) and Partick Thistle (17 games) are currently sitting proudly with the longest unbeaten runs in the SPFL.

● Thistle are chasing down what would be a sensational double of all-time best unbeaten league runs in both home and away categories, now just 3 off matching the home record (23) and 4 off matching the away record (13).

ongoing sequences:

● 9 away League games without defeat; 30th Jan 2026 to date. (Longest run since: 9 games; 15th Oct 2021 to 1st Mar 2022. Club-record: 13 games; 5th Dec 1970 to 11th Sep 1971.)

● 13 competitive home games without defeat; 17th Jan 2026 to date. (Longest run since: 13 games; 19th Jan 2013 to 27th Aug 2013. Club-record: 24 games; 5th May 2001 to 17th Aug 2002.)

● 17 League games without defeat, 24th Jan 2026 to date. (Longest run since: 21 games; 19th Jan 2013 to 16th Aug 2013. Club-record: 27 games; 21st Nov 1970 to 18th Sep 1971.)

● 20 home League games without defeat; 25th Apr 2025 to date. (Longest run since: 21 games; 5th May 2001 to 17th Aug 2002. Joint club-record: 23 games; 27th Aug 1910 to 14th Oct 1911 & 29th Aug 1970 to 6th Nov 1971.)

● 28 consecutive competitive appearances for Robbie Crawford, 24th Jan 2026 to date. (Longest run since: Paddy Reading - 33 games, 4th Oct 2025 to 18th Apr 2026. Club-record: Johnny Jackson - 313 games, 28th Aug 1926 to 25th Mar 1933.)

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