There has been a frustrating wait for it, but Tuesday night’s 4-2 win over Ayr United finally signalled Thistle’s first win of 2012 and took the club back into the top half of the First Division. The First Division is a notoriously tight division but is those above us rather than those below that manager Jackie McNamara is hoping to focus his attention on for the remainder of the season.
“It’s a strange league, we’re in fifth position 11 points off the top of the league and 10 points off the bottom. Our aim is to try and put pressure on those above us and victory over Raith Rovers tomorrow would help us do that. We’ve a home game the week after against Hamilton Accies and if we could win our next two matches that would set things up nicely for a wee midweek trip to face Ross County. Ross County are top of the league at the moment but they’ve had a lot of postponements and face a hectic schedule between now and the end of the season. If Dundee were to beat them tomorrow that would help blow the league wide open and while the gap at the moment is significant it wouldn’t take a miracle to bridge it.”
“First and foremost though we need to beat Raith Rovers tomorrow. It was great to get the victory on Tuesday night and score a few goals in the process and we should go into tomorrow’s game with a bit of confidence as a result of that. We’re aware that we have lost both our previous meetings with Raith Rovers this season and as always we will need to do the fundamental parts of the game correctly if we are to get the points tomorrow.”
“Injury wise we are fairly well placed. We had to make a late change to our side on Tuesday with Sean Welsh picking up an injury. Sean is still struggling and it doesn’t look as if he will make it. He’s the only injury worry that we have and we will be travelling to Kirkcaldy with virtually a full squad to select from.”
Partick Thistle Stats
Current Form – Last Five Games
W D L F A
1 2 2 5 6
Scorers Season 2011/2012
Paul Cairney 10
Kris Doolan 8
Christie Elliott 5
Chris Erskine 4
David Rowson 4
Tommy Stewart 2
Conrad Balatoni 1
Stephen O’Donnell 1
Own Goals 1
Last Game
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Tuesday February 21st 2012
Partick Thistle 4, Ayr United 2
Raith Rovers Stats
Current Form – Last Five Games
W D L F A
0 3 2 5 10
Scorers Season 2011/2012
John Baird 10
Brian Graham 4
Joe Hamill 3
Allan Walker 3
Grant Murray 2
Dennis Prychyenko 2
Pat Clarke 1
Willie Dyer 1
Laurie Ellis 1
Jason Holt 1
Stephen Reynolds 1
David Smith 1
Danny Thomson 1
Jamie Walker 1
Iain Williamson 1
Last Result
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Tuesday February 21st 2012
Hamilton Accies 2, Raith Rovers 1
Last Meeting
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday December 17th 2011
Partick Thistle 0, Raith Rovers 1
Teams
Thistle: Fox, Paton, Sinclair, O’Donnell, Balatoni, Archibald (Robertson), Cairney, Rowson, Dargo (Erskine), Elliott (Stewart), Doolan.
Raith Rovers: McGurn, Donaldson, Dyer (J Walker), Ellis, Hill, Murray, A Walker, Davidson (Williamson), Baird, Smith, Hamill.
Scorer
Raith Rovers: Baird (66)
Crowd: 1,918
Match Details
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday February 25th 2012
Raith Rovers v Partick Thistle
Kick-off: 3:00pm
Prices
Adult £17
Junior £9
Senior Citizen £9
Pre School Concession Free
Parent and Child £20
College/Uni Concession (proof of status required) £13
Jobseeker Concession (proof of status required) £9
Travel
By Car
Car parking is available in the Esplanade, which is on the south side of the ground and in Beveridge Park, which is on the north side of the ground.
By Bus
The main bus station in Kirkcaldy is also within 15 minutes walking distance of the ground, but the Edinburgh, Dunfermline and Leven services pass close by the park.
By Train
Kirkcaldy Railway Station is served by trains from Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow (via Edinburgh) and the ground is within 10-15 minutes walking distance of the station.
Match Officials
Referee: Kevin Clancy
Assistant Referees: Stephen Allan and Grant Irvine
Other First Division Fixtures
Ayr United v Livingston
Dundee v Ross County
Falkirk v Queen of the South
Morton v Hamilton Accies
