Saturday 3rd November, 2012 at 9:07pm
We’ve already reached one cup final this season, but as much as we are looking forward to next April’s Ramsdens Cup Final with Queen of the South, the Scottish Cup remains the number one cup competition in Scotland and we would dearly love to reach our first Final in 83 years next May.
A Hampden final though is a long, long way off at the moment and our search for Scottish Cup glory begins at Firhill tomorrow with the visit of Highland League Cove Rangers.
Tomorrow’s match is the first competitive fixture between the two sides and Cove make the journey down to Glasgow as the current Highland League leaders, albeit there are number of sides below them that could overtake them were they to win their games in hand.
With Thistle having had difficulty in overcoming Junior side Culter, who play their home games just 11 miles from Cove’s Allan Park, at this stage of last season’s competition nothing is being taken for granted ahead of tomorrow’s game.
Said Thistle manager Jackie McNamara when speaking to [link:HOME]
“It’s certainly not a tie that we will be taking lightly in any respect. It’s very important to us that we manage to get through to the next round. When we played Queen’s Park in the Ramsdens Cup we made a number of changes, but I don’t see us doing the same tomorrow. I want those players currently in possession of a first team jersey out on the park trying to make sure that they keep their place in the side for next week’s big game with Dunfermline Athletic.”
“Paul Slane won’t be involved but Ross County have given us clearance for Steven Craig to play. Stuart Bannigan will obviously not play following his injury last week, and Ryan Scully picked up a concussion during Tuesday night’s reserve game with Stenhousemuir. I’ll speak with the doctor and physio before we make a final decision on Ryan, but if he isn’t fit then James Wightman will sit on the bench tomorrow.”
“Cove are a relatively unknown side to us but one player at least is familiar to us. Ryan Stott played, and scored against us, for Culter at the same stage of last season’s competition. That game was away from home and I think that it is important that we are the home side tomorrow. We will be looking to make good use of the size and condition of the playing surface here at Firhill and make sure that we get through to the next round.”
“The Scottish Cup is a competition that we are desperate to do well in. In all the time that I have been at the Club, both as a manager and as a player, we’ve never had a particularly good draw. Last season, for example, we were paired with another First Division side, Queen of South, after we knocked out Culter. I would like nothing better to see us paired against opposition from the SPL, preferably here at Firhill. Before we can even start to think about that though, we need to defeat Cove Rangers.”
Partick Thistle Stats
Current Form – Last Five Games
W D L F A
2 2 1 10 4
Scorers Season 2012-2013
Chris Erskine 8
Steven Lawless 7
Kris Doolan 6
Steven Craig 5
Stuart Bannigan 2
Aaron Muirhead 2
Sean Welsh 2
Christie Elliott 1
Ross Forbes 1
Aaron Sinclair 1
Own Goal 1
Last Game
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday October 27th 2012
Falkirk 0, Partick Thistle 0
Cove Rangers Stats
Current Form – Last Five Games
W D L F A
3 0 2 11 5
Last Game
Press and Journal Highland League
Saturday October 20th 2012
Cove Rangers 5, Rothes 0
Match Details
William Hill Scottish Cup Third Round
Saturday November 3rd 2012
Partick Thistle v Cove Rangers
Kick-off: 3:00pm
Prices
Adults: £10
Concessions (over 65s, under 16 and disabled): £5
Season tickets are not valid for the fixture.
Programme: £2.50
Match Officials
Referee: Mike Tumilty
Assistant Referees: Raymond Whyte and David Lowe
Other Fixtures
William Hill Scottish Cup Third Round
Buckie Thistle v Turriff United
Dumbarton v East Stirling
Airdrie United v Raith Rovers
Stranraer v Queen’s Park
Forfar Athletic v Nairn County
Albion Rovers v Morton
Cowdenbeath v Vale of Leithen
Edinburgh City v Queen of the South
Stirling Albion v Deveronvale
Inverurie Loco Works v Arbroath
Ayr United v Clachnacuddin
Stenhousemuir v Berwick Rangers
Brechin City v Bonnyrigg Rose
Rangers v Alloa Athletic
Elgin City v East Fife
