Wednesday 26th October, 2016 at 8:00am
Scottish Football League First Division
5th August 2006
Dundee 0 Partick Thistle 1
CIS Insurance Cup (1st Round)
8th August 2006
Dundee 1 Partick Thistle 3
As you will see from the above, we took the road and the miles to Dundee twice within the space of four days. Was this quirk of the fixtures something of an annoyance? Not a bit of it! Thistle emerged victorious in both instances, so that was very pleasant indeed. It’s a nice run back down to Glasgow when in the case of the first match the points are tucked away safely, and in the second, a pathway to the second stage of a competition has been achieved.
Taking the second match first, did we go onto win the CIS Insurance Cup? No, we didn’t. We lost 3-2 to Motherwell in the next round at Fir Park. Never mind, let us enjoy the fact that we won the first round match 3-1 away from home. Dundee had taken the lead after ten minutes through Gavin Swankie but Darren Brady equalised seven minutes before the interval and second-half strikes from Willie Gibson and Scott Boyd saw Thistle safely through. I cheered for that goal but what about Scott’s bundled effort for Kilmarnock in Perth last Saturday? – what a sickener! The full Thistle team for this cup victory was as follows: – Kenny Arthur, Craig Sives, Scott McCulloch, Darren Brady, Scott Boyd, Brown Ferguson, Jimmy Gibson, Simon Donnelly, Graham Gibson, Mark Roberts, Billy Gibson.
Thistle had fielded exactly the same team in the league encounter four days previously. The only goal of that game came from ace striker Mark Roberts after 28 minutes.
Some say that the slope at Dens Park no longer exists. I am not so sure and I have been going there for many years. Anyway, Thistle played in both matches, up the slope, in the first-half. That is right-to-left as seen from the Main Stand. Which is the situation with which I feel more comfortable. We won the toss for choice of ends in the league match but lost it in the cup-tie, so it’s difficult to draw conclusions. I am sure that you have found this piece of trivia quite fascinating.
Inside the programme is a photograph of David MacKinnon, who had just been appointed as Dundee’s new Chief Executive. He is now on the Board at Hamilton was at Firhill with the Accies a week past Saturday. David is, of course, a former Thistle player, who played at right-back, making 141 first-team appearances between 1978 and 1982.
