Tue 25 August, 2015
Scottish League Cup 
Peter Grant 32′
Scottish League Cup
Tue 25 August, 2015. Kick Off: - 19:45
Tuesday night sees Alan Archibald’s side take on Falkirk in the Scottish League Cup second round. Falkirk may be a Championship outfit but Archie won’t be taking anything for granted as he prepares his squad for a tough match.
“I think Falkirk are probably the best quality unseeded side in the draw so it will be a tough tie and we know that. We played them in pre-season so we have a good idea what they’re about and we know a few of their players from their time at Firhill. Mark Kerr, Aaron Muirhead and John Baird have all been Thistle players since I’ve been manager so we know exactly what to expect from them.
“Falkirk have a big squad and I have no doubt that they’re are a Premiership side in the making. Having said that, we’re at home in front of, what will hopefully be, a decent crowd so we have to fancy our chances.”
Archibald knows his side have a lot to make up after Saturday’s sub-par performance against Hearts but he also knows that The Bairns will be no pushovers.
“We weren’t good enough against Hearts, we know that. Tuesday night gives us a chance to get away from the Premiership and get our first win of the season under our belts. It certainly won’t be easy though, Peter Houston has assembled a very good squad at Falkirk and they will definitely give us a tough game. They’ll have a strong squad this season and we’re expecting a tough, tough game.”
With three games in eight days Alan will need to utilise his squad to the full but he does have a number of selection difficulties for the League Cup tie.
“Bannigan is suspended and Welsh and Pogba are both doubts. Pogba is still feeling his hamstring and we don’t want to rush him back, he hasn’t had a pre-season so we just need to take care of him a bit. Welsh has actually picked up a knock on his toe, nothing serious but it puts him in doubt for this game. It’s great to have Sean signed up again and he has already proved how good a player he can be for us. I just hope he keeps himself fit and keeps performing as we know he can.”
After the disappointing performance at Tynecastle on Saturday, Thistle were looking to put it behind them and progress through to the next round of the League Cup. Between Alan Archibald’s side and a place in the third round lay a Falkirk side who have had an indifferent start to the season, including a surprise defeat to Peterhead the previous week in the Challenge Cup.
Archibald made three changes from the side that had lost against Hearts with Stuart Bannigan suspended, Sean Welsh out with a toe injury and Frederic Frans dropped to the bench. Into the team came Jack Hendry, Abdul Osman and Steven Lawless while Mathias Pogba had recovered enough from his hamstring injury to return to the bench.
Thistle forced a couple of early corners but they missed their intended targets and came to nothing. The early spell was in keeping with Thistle’s overall performance with the home side proving very wasteful with their passing. When they were able to find space in the wide areas the final ball was poor.
Hendry did well to block an Alston shot as Thistle continued to struggle and indeed it was the visitors who looked the more comfortable and composed, albeit without really creating anything of note. However, in the 32nd minute, Falkirk took the lead. Thistle only half cleared a corner and the ball was played wide into the Thistle box, Baird had time and space to look up and find Grant who guided his effort with the outside of his left foot past Cerny to make it 1-0.
There was controversy when Doolan knocked a ball behind Watson 25 yards from goal and Watson blocked him from getting on the end of his own fine work. Referee, Steven Thomson gave nothing – much to the surprise of everyone in the ground. Just on half time some excellent work by Lawless saw his cross cleared by Grant as Doolan was about to pull the trigger but ultimately it was not enough to get the Jags back on level terms and the teams went in with the score 1-0 to the visitors.
Manager, Alan Archibald, made a change at half time with Mathias Pogba replacing David Amoo as Thistle fans and players looked for an improvement in the second half. The substitute was straight into the action and cut in on to his right foot but dragged his shot wide from the edge of the box. Things were looking better from the home side as Lawless fired over from 20 yards after more good work by Pogba.
In the 54th minute Thistle should have equalised. Fraser played a terrific cross field pass which found Pogba in space as he drove forward. With Rogers advancing Pogba could have fired with his left foot but instead chose to cut inside the defender which meant he was forced across the box by the keeper and, by the time he had steadied himself, his shot was blocked by the visitors’ defence which had got back into their six yard box. A glorious opportunity spurned.
Booth wasted a chance to pull the ball back into the box, electing a shot from a tight angle and Doolan saw a header drift well wide of goal from a Seaborne pass. As time went on there was a growing sense that this was not going to be Thistle’s night and the Bairns seemed content to defend and try to hit Thistle on the counter. The visitors were clever and were able to kill a bit of time which eventually led to a booking for goal scorer, Grant. With three minutes left, Pogba could not quite get enough on a shot after a good turn in the box while the last chance of the game saw Taiwo fire over from just six yards out following an Alston cross, a chance which, in truth, he should have buried.
As referee Thomson blew the final whistle it was the visiting support celebrating while the home support made their feelings known.
An extremely disappointing performance from Thistle who did not deserve anything having created very little with sloppy passing and a slow tempo.
Thistle: Cerny, Miller, Hendry, Seaborne, Booth, Osman, Fraser (McDaid), Lawless, Amoo (Pogba), Stevenson (Wilson), Doolan
Subs: Scully, Frans, Lindsay, Leyden, McDaid (82), Wilson (74), Pogba (45)
It was a visibly disappointed Alan Archibald who spoke to ptfc.co.uk after the game and his comments showed just how upset he was to have lost to Falkirk and fallen at the first League Cup hurdle.
“First and foremost it is bitterly disappointing to lose a game in the manner which we did tonight. We are the home side and the Premiership team but we did not do enough – it’s really assimple as that. We never moved the ball like we know we can and weren’t able to dictate the tempo of the game in any way, shape or form.
“It was very similar in a lot of ways to the Tynecastle performance. We didn’t create enough chances and and the players we know can pass the ball didn’t demand it anywhere near enough. The one clear cut chance we get in the second half we have to score but we don’t take it.
“Our fans are long overdue a cup run and deserve it for the magnificent support they give us week in and week out. I’m desperate to give them a bit of cup excitement so it is even more disappointing to go out at this stage.”
Archie is never one to hide and tonight was no different as the Firhill gaffer gave credit to Thistle’s opposition.
“I don’t want to take anything away from Falkirk, they played well and deserved to go through but, as the home side, we never made them work anywhere near hard enough and we need to fix that very soon.”
Archibald’s side will face Aberdeen at Firhill on Saturday and he knows his team will have to perform much better if they are toavoid another defeat come full time at the weekend.
“We have Aberdeen on Saturday and there is no doubt that willbe a tough, tough game. The lads know that and we’ll be working hard in training for the rest of the week to make sure we put things right and come out fighting on Saturday. It isn’t a
case of making drastic changes, these players are here for a reason and they all have the ability – there is no doubt aboutthat. We’ll take it back to basics for the rest of the week, work on what we know we’re good at and try to build some confidence back up in the camp.
“Aberdeen will be tough on Saturday but we know we can match them on our day. Getting a result on Saturday would be a great way to start repaying our fans for what have been two performances well below the level that Scott and I expect from my team.”
