Saturday 15th December, 2012 at 9:14pm
For manager Jackie McNamara, confined to the stands for three games, it was an unusual view he had of yesterday’s proceedings, and when he spoke after the game he confessed that he would much rather have been in the Thistle technical area than sitting up in the Main Stand.
“I prefer to be down in the dugout. You see things a lot more down there. The thing, believe it or not, that really frustrated me sitting in the stand in the first half was our throw ins. The amount of times we set them up with our throw ins was really frustrating.
No matter the manager’s vantage point yesterday he was happy to have watched his side collect what could well prove to be a vitally important three points.
“I was delighted with the win although I thought that was going away from us when they got the equaliser. It was a bit end to end, and at 2-1 I thought that the game’s next goal would be crucial. Unfortunately it was Raith that scored that goal and we rode our luck a little earlier as well when they had one off the post. The equaliser hit the post a few times as well before it eventually went in.”
“The lads kept going though and I felt that we should have had a penalty before we got the winner. We’ve played a lot better this season and got nothing . Today I don’t think there were too many players at the top of their form but getting the three points was the main thing. It’s a massive three points for us and I can’t question the players’ effort and desire and ability to keep on going”
Going behind early on, or having to chase a late winner, is not something that Thistle have faced too often this season
“No, It’s not something that we’ve not had a lot of this season. We’ve been relying on the same forwards to produce week in week out this season, whether it’s Lawless, Erskine or whoever, and I felt that today they were a few that didn’t produce their normal high performance, but we managed to get the win and if you want to go on and do well that you need to show that kind of resilience.”
Yesterday’s victory as well as consolidating our position at the top of the league also maintained our 100% record at home in the league.
“It’s a great record and obviously the fans have played a big part in that as well. The players can’t play well every week but they have that great desire to keep on going and never be beaten. I thought that today the pitch looked very heavy and was cutting up and we didn’t pass the ball as well as we can but we kept on going and I was delighted to get the win in the end.”
The winner, when it came three minutes from the end of a cracking game, was scored by Steven Craig, starting a game for the first time since the Cove Rangers cup-tie, and there was praise for the on loan striker from the Thistle manager after the game.
“I thought he was excellent today. His hold up playing was really good and he did really well at the first goal. He brought a bit of experience to the team and did really well.”
