Saturday 15th October, 2016 at 9:53pm
It was a familiar feeling for Alan Archibald as his side let a lead slip and points drop at Firhill. It felt like a retelling of the same story that was told when the Jags faced Motherwell a few weeks ago. Despite doing brilliantly to get themselves ahead in the game, Archibald’s men were left disappointed as a single point was their only reward in the 2-2 draw with Hamilton.
Thistle had started the game in a shaky manner but, in Archibald’s opinion, as soon as Ryan Edwards equalised the team looked completely different.
“Hamilton started the game really well and it took a goal to turn the tide a little bit. We took our two chances but we could have put the game to bed at 3-1. If we’d taken one of those chances then it takes the wind out of them completely.”
Archie was unhappy that, after missing multiple chances, the Jags allowed themselves to end up under the cosh.
“We ended up trying to see the game out and at that point there is a nervousness. We’ve been through it before, a few years ago we had a tendency to lose late goals. You’ve got to be strong and you’ve got to have a mind-set that won’t let the opposition pass.”
The game was an open one and the Thistle boss acknowledged that it was a game dictated by the attackers rather than the defenders.
“It was completely wide open; you wouldn’t have thought that the two managers were centre-halves. It was like a basketball match at times, it was frantic. Credit to Hamilton as they never stopped coming at us.”
Alan Archibald also commented on a penalty claim that his side had in the first half.
“I was too far away. My players said it was hand ball but I don’t think the referee got much right today. He was poor in my opinion and I think he would admit that himself.”
The manager also praised new boy, Adam Barton, who had a strong showing alongside Abdul Osman in the midfield today.
“Adam is a very good player. He’s had to bide his time but he’ll do a good job for us. Overall, we’ve got good players fighting for midfield positions. We were caught out last year and we wanted to make sure we had plenty of cover this year and Adam adds to the quality we have in those positions. He can play centre-half as well which is a bonus.”
However, Archie wasn’t best pleased with the way Hamilton equalised in the last ten minutes.
“It wasn’t sustained pressure. It was just a ball through that our defenders didn’t deal with. So from that aspect I thought it was very poor.”
The Thistle gaffer mentioned just how close the bottom of the table is looking at the moment and how important it is to beat teams in similar positions in the table.
“It’s definitely very close but these are the games that matter the most. The six-pointers when you’re playing against the teams around you and we are aware that we’ve slipped up today. We were at home and we should be winning that game. It would have been a nice win heading into next week’s game but it wasn’t to be. We need to take the positives and build for a massive match against County.”
