Sat 29 September, 2012
Irn-Bru Scottish Football League Division 1 
Stark's Park, KirkcaldyGreig Spence (67)
Kris Doolan (90)
Irn-Bru Scottish Football League Division 1
Sat 29 September, 2012. Kick Off: - 15:00
Stark's Park, Kirkcaldy
The start that we have made to our league season has been quite excellent. Six games have been played and six games have been won. We’re more than aware, however, that four of those six games have been played at Firhill and tomorrow we enter a tough period where we will play three, two in the league and one in the Ramsdens Cup, away games in a row.
The first comes at a venue that we haven’t enjoyed too much success at in recent years. The 2-0 win at Stark’s Park in March 2011 was very much the exception rather than the norm.
Tomorrow’s fixture then with Raith Rovers tomorrow is likely to be an extremely difficult one.
www.ptfc.co.uk caught up with manager Jackie McNamara after completion of this morning’s training and he was able to give us the latest news from inside the Thistle camp.
“I watched Raith Rovers in their match with Celtic during the week and I thought that they were a little unfortunate in terms of the final score. They were, as they always are, very well organised and if we are to keep our run going and get the three points then we are really going to have to compete with them.”
Jackie tomorrow will be taking his team to Kirkcaldy missing a few players, although the injury news is encouraging.
“Steven Craig, Sean Welsh and Ryan Scully will all miss this trip.”
Jackie continued;
“We are really happy with the progress that Steven has been making with physio Kenny Crichton. He won’t play tomorrow but we think that he should be available for next week’s game at Morton which is good news.”
Ryan Scully’s absence means that Graeme Smith will sit on the bench for the third and last time as a trialist, but Scully too should soon be on the way back.
“Ryan has had problems with his back but we think he is just about there and he should be available soon.”
There’s good news too about Kris Doolan.
“Although Kris came off the bench last week against Cowdenbeath he wasn’t quite 100% fit. He’s done a lot of work with Kenny Crichton, whose done a fantastic job, this week and he joined in training with the rest of the squad today and he should be fine for tomorrow.”
Partick Thistle Stats
Current Form – Last Five Games
W D L F A
4 0 1 11 3
Scorers Season 2012-2013
Chris Erskine 6
Steven Lawless 6
Kris Doolan 4
Steven Craig 3
Stuart Bannigan 2
Christie Elliott 1
Aaron Muirhead 1
Aaron Sinclair 1
Sean Welsh 1
Own Goal 1
Last Game
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday September 22nd 2012
Partick Thistle 2, Cowdenbeath 1
Raith Rovers Stats
Current Form – Last Five Games
W D L F A
1 0 4 4 11
Scorers Season 2012-2013
Brian Graham 11
Pat Clarke 4
Greig Spence 3
Allan Walker 3
Douglas Hill 2
Grant Anderson 1
Last Game
Scottish Communities League Cup Third Round
Tuesday September 25th 2012
Celtic 4, Raith Rovers 1
Last Meeting
Ramsdens Cup Quarter-Final
Sunday September 9th 2012
Partick Thistle 3, Raith Rovers 0
Teams
Thistle: Fox, O’Donnell, Bannigan, Paton, Muirhead, Archibald (Balatoni), Lawless, Welsh, Craig (Elliott), Murray (Sinclair), Erskine.
Raith Rovers: Fleming, Thomson, Donaldson, Murray, Malone, S Anderson (Callachan), G Anderson (Smith), Walker, Graham, Clarke (Spence), Hamill.
Scorers
Thistle: Erskine (50, 58), Craig (52)
Crowd: 1,807
Match Highlights
Match Details
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday September 29th 2012
Raith Rovers v Partick Thistle
Kick-off: 3:00pm
Prices
Adults – £17
Parent & Child – £20
Students – £13*
Juniors/OAPS/Jobseekers – £9*
Disabled – Half Price
Carer – Free
Pre-School – Free
*Proof of status is required for concessionary rates
Away support will be located in the North Stand
Match Officials
Referee: Kevin Clancy
Assistant Referees: James Dean and David Cockburn
Other First Division Fixtures
Cowdenbeath v Falkirk
Hamilton Accies v Dunfermline Athletic
Livingston v Dumbarton
Airdrie United v Morton
Thistle this afternoon lost their 100% record but maintained their unbeaten start to the league season and the position at the top of the league but it took an injury time strike from Kris Doolan to earn a point in a 1-1 draw.
Stark’s Park is venue that Thistle haven’t enjoyed too much success at in recent years and with the game deep into injury time another Stark’s Park defeat looked on the cards. The home side were leading by Greg Spence’s 65th minute goal when in 93rd minute Kris Doolan was able to connect with an Aaron Muirhead cross and his header rescued a point for Thistle.
It would have been harsh on Thistle though had they not claimed at least a point from this fixture They did though have Scott Fox to thank for making two excellent saves to keep the score at just 1-0 as time started to run out on The Jags.
Thistle dominated the first half in terms of possession but were unable to make the breakthrough and score the first goal that so often proves to be vital in a First Division fixture.
Aaron Sinclair was given an excellent opportunity to give Thistle the lead inside the opening ten minutes. Paul Paton’s free kick from the left picked out Sinclair who had time and space. His header was on target but it was a weak one and McGurn was able to save.
That was the closest that Thistle came to a goal, although Christie Elliott saw a stabbed effort from a Lawless pass saved by the Rovers keeper, in the first half and it was the home side, despite Thistle’s dominance, that had the clearer chances in front of goal.
In the 22nd minute Scott Fox was stretched to keep out a fierce shot from Grant Anderson and Fox again did well to save at his near post in the 37th minute with Thistle happy to clear the ball for a corner after it spun into the air close to the goal line.
Careless play too from Aaron Sinclair, when he failed to clear his lines inside the Thistle box, gave Rovers an opportunity that they couldn’t take despite looking likely to do just that.
Thistle started the second half in positive fashion and Stuart Bannigan was close to giving Thistle the lead just seconds after the restart but McGurn was able to tip Bannigan’s shot over the bar.
Minutes later Bannigan had an even better chance to score, but could only shoot over the bar after Chris Erskine and Steven Lawless had combined to set him up at the back post.
In the 58th minute Stephen O’Donnell was insistent that he had been fouled at the corner of the Rovers penalty box as he attempted to latch onto a Lawless pass but referee Clancy, who incurred the wrath of both sets of supporters, wasn’t interested.
Eight minutes later the home side were in front. In the first half Aaron Sinclair had got away with giving away possession of the ball inside his own penalty box. This time he was punished to the full when he did likewise at the edge of his box. Greg Spence was the player to profit and his shot beat Scott Fox.
A first time volley from Kris Doolan wasn’t too far wide of target as Thistle tried to find a quick response but the longer the game went on the more it looked as if this wouldn’t be Thistle’s day.
Indeed Rovers were close on a couple of occasions to extending their lead and seal the victory. There were just 13 minutes left when Scott Fox produced a fine stop to keep out a Spence header with Graham sending the loose ball over the bar.
Two minutes later Fox was again in action, this time keeping out an effort from Smith.
Despite those near things Rovers looked set to claim all three points until Kris Doolan’s welcome strike with the game deep into injury time.
With the 90 minutes completed and Thistle trailing 1-0 it looked as if our 100% and unbeaten league records were about to go, along with our perch at the top of the First Division. Enter Kris Doolan whose header in the 92nd minute rescued a deserved point for Thistle.
www.ptfc.co.uk spoke to manager Jackie McNamara amidst the hubbub of the team bus as it made its’ way back to Glasgow and he was clearly happy to have emerged from the game with a point.
“I was delighted to get the equaliser right at the end. Stark’s Park is a difficult place to go, the pitch is quite tight and while we’ve lost our 100% record we are still unbeaten in the league. I would have hated for us to lose our unbeaten record in a game like that. It was one of those days where you started to feel that it just wasn’t going to happen for us”
So was it one point gained or two points dropped?
“I think that it’s a bit of both. I felt that we were by far the better team but it was a bad goal that we lost. In the lead up to the goal one of their players has used their arm to control the ball but we’ve made a few mistakes after that. At 1-0 down Scott Fox has also made a couple of really important saves to stop us going further behind.”
The equaliser coming so late just underlined the fighting qualities of the current squad. Said Jackie;
“The spirit right through the Club is excellent at the moment; the players, coaching staff and all the backroom staff. Even the players who aren’t playing. We’ve injured players coming through to the game to give the boys their support. There is a real sense of togetherness which is great. Kris’ celebration, when he came to the bench, after he scored is an example of that. As I said the desire and spirit within this group is first class. It’s the ability to get something out of games like this that can help you to win leagues.”
