Wednesday 30th December, 2015 at 2:48pm
Thistle headed to Pittodrie on a wild windy Wednesday night looking to continue a run of good form which had seen the side record four consecutive top flight victories for the first time since 1977. In their way to prevent the streak extending to five victories was an Aberdeen side who were presented with the opportunity to go top of the Ladbrokes Premiership table.
Manager Alan Archibald made two changes to the side which had emerged victorious against Ross County with suspension robbing him of the services of Sean Welsh. Ryan Edwards made his second start as a Partick Thistle player looking to provide the link between the midfield and Kris Doolan who would plough a lone furrow up front throughout the game. In the only other change to the starting line up David Amoo was preferred to Robbie Muirhead in a wide berth.
Aberdeen started the game on the front foot, looking to get an early goal to unlock the Thistle defence and settle down the 12,000 odd home fans crammed into Pittodrie, but they could only present Tomas Cerny with a series of crosses that the Thistle custodian was more than well placed to deal with.
Thistle were gradually coming into the game as an attacking force with Amoo making a couple of forceful runs down the right hand side but unable to find a Thistle body with his resulting crosses, due to good defending.
With barely 20 minutes played, Aberdeen almost took the lead when Shinnie took aim from the edge of the box and fired a powerful effort which hit the crossbar before bouncing away to safety. Doolan glanced a header wide of goal as the game entered a lull and Thistle held their shape against an Aberdeen side that appeared unable to break them down during the remainder of the first half.
Aberdeen started the second half in more urgent fashion having clearly received a reminder of what is at stake for the side with Celtic, the league leaders, not playing.
It was Thistle that created the first chances of the second half when Doolan and Amoo both found crosses into the box but, both having their efforts cleared by strong Aberdeen defending.
McGinn latched onto a long ball from Logan but with plenty of options inside the box, opted to chip the advancing Cerny but only found his effort going straight to the goalkeeper.
Aberdeen’s fans were becoming frustrated as the home side stepped it up a gear as they looked to snatch the all-important first goal. Thistle faced a barrage of high set pieces which were defended excellently as a unit.
Cerny was forced into an excellent save when McLean took aim from the edge of the box, but the goalkeeper made a comfortable save from a shot which appeared destined for the bottom corner of the net. Aberdeen were applying the pressure with great effect, but Cerny was equal to everything and his assured handling provided many a relief to Thistle players and fans alike.
With the game entering its dying embers, manager Alan Archibald brought on Mathias Pogba to replace the tiring Ryan Edwards. The physical striker led the line with Kris Doolan filling into a deeper slot. Pogba brought a different threat to the Thistle side as they troubled Aberdeen in the closing stages of the game, with Bannigan firing over from inside the box when a chance presented itself at a difficult angle.
The last chance of the game was to be Thistle’s but Callum Booth’s cross wasn’t able to reach Mathias Pogba and referee Clancy decided enough was enough, blowing the fulltime whistle to signal a well-deserved point for Thistle.
Aberdeen threw everything they had at Thistle tonight but tremendous defending by the entire team ensured they were kept at bay and extended the unbeaten run to two months.
