Saturday 14th July, 2018 at 5:00pm
After a tough summer of planning and rebuilding for the 2018/19 season, the new campaign finally arrived for Partick Thistle this afternoon at Ochilview. The Jags travelled the short journey towards Larbert to take on Stenhousemuir in the opening game of the Betfred Cup group stages. The Maryhill men won the game 2-0 with both goals coming from Shea Gordon within six minutes and it could have been more for the away side with the bar and a goal line clearance denying further goals on separate occasions. Thistle boss, Alan Archibald spoke to ptfc.co.uk following the contest.
First and foremost, Alan was pleased to see his side come away from a difficult fixture with the points although he would have liked to see a couple more goals.
“It was never going to be an easy game against a decent Stenny team and the temperatures weren’t ideal for an opening game but the lads did the job. The start was fantastic but we should have built on it and could have easily done that if we were more clinical. Ultimately, with so many new boys I thought we did well.”
The hosts did have a spell where they looked dangerous and Archie told us that the players knew to expect a challenge from the Warriors.
“It was to their credit that they stuck at it and managed to get back into things. They had a couple of shots on target and we were wary of allowing back into the game. We’d told the players to expect that fight from Stenny, it was a big part of what got them promoted last year and was evident at times today.”
The gaffer was very complimentary of Shea Gordon, the brace-scoring midfielder made a great start to his loan spell with Thistle by netting two early goals and Alan was delighted to see him hit the ground running.
“We brought Shea in to offer that something different. He loves getting beyond the striker and he showed plenty of that today. I know that on a personal level, he was keen to add goals to his game so I’m sure he’ll be just as happy with that as I am.”
Alan’s Jags return to action on Tuesday evening with Morton the visitors to Maryhill. Kick-off is 19:45 from the Energy Check Stadium at Firhill.
A more in depth video interview with Alan Archibald is available now to Jagzone subscribers and will be followed by reaction from Shea Gordon and Jamie Sneddon. Log in now to see it as soon as it is available.
Highlights will be added shortly and will be free for Jagzone subscribers.
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Alan will be here for the next big moment – will you? 2018/19 season tickets are on sale now – buy yours here.
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