Sat 30 March, 2013
Irn-Bru Scottish Football League Division 1 
Central Park, CowdenbeathCraig Moore (31)
Kris Doolan (12, 62)
Irn-Bru Scottish Football League Division 1
Sat 30 March, 2013. Kick Off: - 15:00
Central Park, Cowdenbeath
It’s back to Central Park, Cowdenbeath tomorrow with the aim to complete a successful double header and maintain our top spot in the First Division.
A repeat of the hard work and application that his players showed on Wednesday night would suit manager Alan Archibald just fine.
“I said to the players after the game that if I can get that can get that kind of effort then we won’t be too far away at the end of the season. It was, if I’m being honest, almost the perfect away performance on Wednesday. They’ve set a standard now with that performance and we’ll be looking to the players to maintain that standard tomorrow.”
Alan continued;
“That was probably the worst that Cowdenbeath have played against us this season and I expect a backlash from them tomorrow. Previously I’ve been very impressed with them. I think that they are a good side and one that carries a real threat going forward. We really will need to be at our best to get the points tomorrow.”
Alan hopes that he will have a new face in his squad for tomorrow.
“We’ve brought in, subject to getting clearance, Jordan McMillan. We’ve eight games still to play this season and I don’t have a crystal ball to see what is going to happen. We’ve already got two or three players that are carrying wee knocks and bringing in Jordan allows us to cover all the bases. Jordan is an experienced player; he was Dunfermline captain and played in the Champions League with Rangers. We had one or two other options with regard to bringing in players but the thing with any unattached players is that they won’t have played since January. Any loan players seemed to be happy to sit on the bench at their own club when told that wouldn’t necessarily play straight away for us. Jordan, however, is the perfect fit. He’s been playing for Dunfermline so there isn’t a problem with match fitness and he’s desperate to play. He’s a multi-functional player as well which is great.”
And what of the rest of the team news?
“Paul Paton’s out. It’s not a serious as was first feared though. He saw the specialist yesterday and was able to give Paul a bit of peace of mind and didn’t feel that a scan on his knee was required. We don’t know how long he will be out for; it could be a week, it could be three. We’ll just need to wait and see.”
“Elsewhere Steven Craig is, I would, say 50/50 for tomorrow. He picked up a groin injury last weekend against Livingston and with a lot of games coming up we’ll need to decide whether it is worth risking him tomorrow. Kris Doolan came into the side on Wednesday and did brilliantly and it’s not as if we have been relying on one player to score the goals this season anyway. I’ll miss the game again due to injury. I haven’t done any training since picking up an injury in the reserve game. Hugh Murray too is still out and he hasn’t started training yet. I think he will start jogging next week. Youngsters Liam Lindsay and David Wilson are added to the squad for tomorrow.”
Partick Thistle Stats
Current Form – Last Five Games
W D L F A
5 0 0 18 1
Scorers Season 2012-2013
Steven Craig 14
Chris Erskine 14
Steven Lawless 13
Kris Doolan 12
Conrad Balatoni 5
Stuart Bannigan 4
Ross Forbes 4
Aaron Muirhead 4
Christie Elliott 2
Stephen O’Donnell 2
Aaron Sinclair 2
Sean Welsh 2
James Craigen 1
Own Goal 1
Last Game
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Wednesday March 27th 2013
Cowdenbeath 0, Partick Thistle 3
Cowdenbeath Stats
Current Form – Last Five Games
W D L F A
1 2 2 8 12
Scorers Season 2012-2013
Jamie Stevenson 10
Lewis Coult 8
Marc McKenzie 7
Greg Stewart 7
Kane Hemmings 4
Kyle Miller 4
Craig Moore 4
John Armstrong 3
Lewis Milne 3
Scott Linton 2
Mark Ramsay 2
Kenneth Adamson 1
Dean Brett 1
Liam Caddis 1
Last Game
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Wednesday March 27th 2013
Cowdenbeath 0, Partick Thistle 3
Last Meeting
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Wednesday March 27th 2013
Cowdenbeath 0, Partick Thistle 3
Teams
Cowdenbeath: Stewart, Brett, Adamson, McAllister, Armstrong, Naismith (O’Brien), Stevenson, Milne (Ramsay), Moore, Stewart (Coult), McKenzie.
Thistle: Fox, O’Donnell, Sinclair, Paton (Bannigan), Muirhead, Balatoni, Welsh, Craigen, Doolan (McGuigan), Lawless (Elliott), Erskine.
Scorers
Thistle: O’Donnell (25), Doolan (31 and 79)
Crowd: 716
Match Details
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday March 30th 2013
Cowdenbeath v Partick Thistle
Kick-off: 3:00pm
Prices
Adults £15
Child/OAP £8
Family ticket ( 1 adult and I child under 12) £16
There is no student price.
Thistle fans can either stand on the terracing or utilise the old stand
Any Thistle fans requiring wheelchair access will require to access the ground via the High Street end turnstiles and be accommodated in the new stand where the home fans will be accommodated.
Travel
Supporters Bus Information
Central Park Information
Match Officials
Referee: Alan Muir
Assistant Referees: Michael Banks and Duncan Williams
Other First Division Fixtures
Airdrie United v Falkirk
Hamilton Accies v Dumbarton
Livingston v Dunfermline Athletic
Raith Rovers v Morton
There are moments to reflect back on at the conclusion of any season; moments that seem more significant than others. With this encounter with Cowdenbeath deep into injury time we may well have encountered one of those moments. Thistle led, deservedly, 2-1 but Cowdenbeath had a free kick almost on the very edge of the Thistle box directly in front of goal. The Thistle travelling support, which numbered in the region of 800, held their collective breathes as Jamie Stevenson’s free kick smacked against the crossbar before an outstretched foot of Scott Fox prevented the rebound from finding the net. A couple of minutes later the full-time whistle sounded and Thistle had moved four points clear at the top of the First Division. Who knows how significant those events could prove to be come the end of the season.
Returning to events prior to kick-off Thistle made just one change to the starting eleven that had won so impressively at the same venue just three days earlier. Injury ruled out Paul Paton with Stuart Bannigan slotting nicely into his role in the Thistle midfield.
For much of the first half the pattern of this game closely mirrored that of the midweek game with Thistle pressing Cowdenbeath at every opportunity and looking in total control of proceedings.
The first half chance arrived in in the fifth minute with Stephen O’Donnell crossing from the right for Steven Lawless but Lawless could do no more than lift the ball harmlessly over the crossbar.
Thistle though would take a 12th minute lead. Kris Doolan timed his run perfectly to latch onto a forward ball and when left with just Colin Stewart to beat he did so with confidence and very much in the style of a striker bang in form.
He could even have added a second just two minutes later. James Craigen’s excellent corner from the left reached Doolan at the back post but the ball appeared to hit off Doolan and went wide of goal.
Doolan was proving to be a real handful for Cowdenbeath defence and he was close again in the 26th minute. Sean Welsh was able to lift the ball over the Cowdenbeath defence into Doolan’s path. A defender, however, was able to make enough of a block to take a sufficient amount of the pace off Doolan’s shot to allow Stewart to save.
James Craigen was the next Thistle player to have an opportunity but with Steven Lawless’ cutback from right on the bye-line such a little behind him, Craigen could do no better than scoop the ball over the bar.
Cowdenbeath had offered virtually nothing going forward at this stage and it was a major surprise, therefore, when they equalised with the game just past the half hour mark. The Thistle defence for once went to sleep as Scott Linton’s long throw came into the box and Craig Moore was able to nod the ball into the net.
Thistle pressed to re-establish their lead before the interval but they were never really able to create a clear cut opening. In addition to a series of penalty appeals, all of which were turned down by the referee, a Chris Erskine shot that took a touch off a Cowdenbeath defender and a Steven Lawless cross across the face of goal were the closest opportunities Thistle had of scoring again before the interval.
There was little change to pattern of the game after the restart. More than a few Thistle fans thought that a Stuart Bannigan shot had found the back of the net rather than go just inches wide in the 48th minute as Thistle continued to dominate.
They had to wait, however, until the 62nd minute to nudge themselves back in front. Kris Doolan was again the scorer heading home from close range but it was excellent play from the impressive James Craigen that provided him with the opportunity.
A third goal would have gone a long way to removing any Thistle nerves and Steven Lawless was a fraction away from giving Thistle the breathing space of a two goal advantage. Kris Doolan flicked the ball on for him and although Lawless lifted the ball over Stewart’s head he also lifted it over the bar.
James Craigen again nearly set up Kris Doolan for an opportunity to score in the 79th minute and a Chris Erskine shot went narrowly wide with just three minutes of the 90 remaining as Thistle sought to make the points secure.
It was really only in injury time that the home side looked a threat. It may have been an injustice had they snatched an equaliser right at the death but Thistle had the frame of the goal and then Scott Fox to thank for them failing to do so.
The first topic of conversation that came up when manager Alan Archibald spoke to [link:HOME] after yesterday’s game was the injury time free kick from Cowdenbeath’s Jamie Stevenson and how close we came to dropping a couple of points in a game that we had otherwise dominated.
Said Alan;
“That just showed me that managing isn’t easy. They were a horrible couple of minutes. They probably should have been out of sight by that point; we had a couple of chances to finish them off. All credit to Cowdenbeath though; I thought that they were a different team today. I thought that they showed a good togetherness as well and were up for the battle.”
The manager was once again delighted with the approach of his players.
“I thought that they went about their business in the exact same way as they did on Wednesday. They won every ball, they won every second ball, they played in their half and they did everything that we asked of them. They got the goal and then missed another chance. The only negative is that they switched off at a long throw. That was the only thing that they switched off for. Maybe it was because they had played so well in the first half that they switched off a wee bit; I don’t really know but we’ll have a look back at it on the video and go over it but they came back well from it.”
As the manager admitted winning twice at the same venue in such a short space of time is no easy achievement.
“That was a big ask. I knew how important the other night’s game was. Getting the victory in that game I think made a big difference. You saw the confidence oozing out of the boys today. The way that they played as a team and the work ethic I just thought was incredible.”
In recent weeks James Craigen has emerged as a hugely important player and there was praise for James from his manager after the match.
“I thought he was brilliant throughout. He did a lot of dirty work; won a lot of second balls. He’s also got that wee bit of ability and skill where he can lift his head and deliver a ball like he did for Kris Doolan.”
There was praise too for a player that is often overlooked; goalkeeper Scott Fox.
“It shows just how important the whole team is. Scott Fox has popped up there at the finish with a wonderful save in the fourth minute of injury time. I felt that we deserved the win and to be honest it would have been harsh on us if we had dropped points there at the finish.”
Victory yesterday allowed us to open up a four point lead at the top but Thistle’s approach to things isn’t going to change one iota because of that.
“The one thing that we’ve done since I took over is that we’ve kept all of our business in-house. We’ve never said that we are going to do this or we are going to do that. I don’t like seeing that and I don’t like the team doing that. We’ve done all our talking out on the pitch or in the dressing room and that’s the way that it will continue. It will be one game at a time as it can all change very quickly but we’ve a chance to come back to Fife again on Tuesday and make a game in hand count again. Morton found out today how tough it can be at Raith Rovers and we will find that out on Tuesday.”
And finally Alan turned to the performance of the 12th man at the side of the pitch; the travelling Thistle support.
“You could hear them for the word go. They were outstanding and I thought they were outstanding the other night as well on a horrible winter’s night. I’ve said this before, but the players do notice that kind of support and it has a really positive affect. When you get a reaction like that off the fans then you get a reaction off the players. It’s very, very much appreciated.”
