Tuesday 16th April, 2013 at 9:44pm
Today could be a special day for Partick Thistle. A dramatic conclusion to our match with Airdrie United at the weekend coupled with Morton losing at home to Dunfermline means that three points tonight against Raith Rovers will confirm Thistle as this season’s First Division champions.
If that sentence isn’t enough to get the pulse rate rising then nothing will.
Although kick-off remains a good few hours away there is already a palpable sense of excitement growing at the prospect of potentially clinching the title in front of our own fans. Said manager Alan Archibald when speaking to [link:HOME] a little earlier this morning.
“We’re desperate to win the league at Firhill. We feel that the fans deserve that. People often talk about the difference that fans make but don’t always mean it. It really has been the case with the Thistle fans this season though. A perfect example of it I think was the last game with Raith Rovers when we went down to ten men. The support we got that night really helped us come out of the game with what could prove to be a really important point.”
Alan continued;
“Tonight’s match will be a difficult one but we’ve almost a full squad to select from. The only ones that will be missing are those that have missed the most recent matches. Paul Paton’s stepped up his training and he is desperate to get back playing before the end of the season but tonight’s game will come too soon for him. Hopefully he will be back for the weekend though. Tonight’s game will come too soon for Jordan McMillan as well although he is back training. Jordan did really well in the game he played in he played in and its’ been a frustrating time for him.”
Alan went on;
“We left Chris Erskine out on Saturday purely to rest him. He’d played in virtually every minute of every game recently and with him having had a wee back injury we thought on the surface at Airdrie that it was best to he took a place on the bench. He’ll come into contention for a start tonight. I was really pleased too for Christie Elliott on Saturday. He’s becoming something of a super sub at the moment. He really seems to add some energy to our performances when he comes on.”
Partick Thistle Stats
Current Form – Last Five Games
W D L F A
3 2* 0 6 3
(* one of the draws ended in a 6-5 defeat on penalties)
Scorers Season 2012-2013
Kris Doolan 15
Steven Craig 14
Chris Erskine 14
Steven Lawless 13
Conrad Balatoni 6
Stuart Bannigan 4
Ross Forbes 4
Aaron Muirhead 4
James Craigen 2
Christie Elliott 2
Stephen O’Donnell 2
Aaron Sinclair 2
Sean Welsh 2
Own Goal 1
Last Game
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday April 13th 2013
Airdrie United 1, Partick Thistle 2
Raith Rovers Stats
Current Form – Last Five Games
W D L F A
2 1 2 6 7
Scorers Season 2012-2013
Brian Graham 25
Greig Spence 15
Pat Clarke 8
Allan Walker 6
Grant Anderson 5
Douglas Hill 4
Simon Mensing 2
David Smith 1
Own Goal 1
Last Game
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday April 13th 2013
Raith Rovers 0, Cowdenbeath 1
Last Meeting
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Tuesday April 2nd 2013
Raith Rovers 0, Partick Thistle 0
Teams
Raith Rovers: McGurn, Thomson, Ellis, Murray (Malone), Mensing, S Anderson, G Anderson, Walker, Graham, Spence, Hamill (Cardle).
Thistle: Fox, O’Donnell, Sinclair, Bannigan, Muirhead, Balatoni, Welsh, Craigen, Doolan (Craig), Lawless (McMillan), Erskine.
Crowd: 1,761
Match Details
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Tuesday April 16th 2013
Partick Thistle v Raith Rovers
Kick-off: 7:45pm
Prices
Adults: £17
OAP (65+): £12
16-21: £12
Full Time Education: £12
Programme: £2.50
Match Officials
Referee: Kevin Clancy
Assistant Referees: John Gilmour and Howard Wilkin
Other First Division Fixtures
Falkirk v Dumbarton
Livingston v Hamilton Accies
