Saturday 23rd March, 2019 at 12:30am
Inverness came to Maryhill for the second time this season as Partick Thistle looked to secure a win which would see them climb out of the relegation play-off position. Unfortunately, for the home side it was the Caley Jags who came away with all three points thanks to goals from Aaron Doran and Tom Walsh who netted his second winner of the 2018/19 campaign at the Energy Check Stadium at Firhill.
Doran opened the scoring half way through the second half only for the goal to be cancelled out by Stuart Bannigan three minutes later. The Highlanders would have the last laugh though as Walsh struck with nine minutes to play bagging what proved to be the difference-making goal. Thistle manager, Gary Caldwell, spoke to ptfc.co.uk following the match’s conclusion.
“It’s a hugely disappointing result in the end. I thought the first half was very poor from both teams and there weren’t many dangerous attacks. However, the second half was livelier and at 1-1, it was a game that we were very much in.
“We were probably the slightly more dominant team. We had a goal disallowed, hit the post but we couldn’t get that final touch or pass in the box to grab that second goal.”
Gary mentioned his frustration with the manner of the two goals conceded which he felt were easily preventable.
“Both of their goals were two easy in the way that they came through the middle of the pitch. For the first one, we allow the runner in behind and he has so much time to pick his spot when he’s shooting and Jamie Sneddon has no chance. Then, with the second, we don’t clear the ball and that allows for a quick lay-off and stunning finish.”
Despite the defeat, Caldwell was pleased with the drive and determination shown by his substitutes in what was an end-to-end second half at times.
“We always say to those guys on the bench; when you get on the pitch, that’s your time to show what you can do. It’s an opportunity that you have to grab and I was happy with the impact of the guys that came on. They shifted things in our favour but we didn’t have the killer touch and were punished for that with their second goal.”
The gaffer also gave us a quick update on one of the players who went off, Lewis Mansell.
“Lewis is fine, he just felt a bit sick. Going back out for the second half he just didn’t feel right and we decided to bring him off after he spoke to the medical staff so we’ll see how he does over the next couple of days.”
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