Sat 22 September, 2012
Irn-Bru Scottish Football League Division 1 
Firhill Stadium, GlasgowAaron Muirhead (25 pen)
Scott Linton (70 o.g.)
Jamie Stevenson (49)
Irn-Bru Scottish Football League Division 1
Sat 22 September, 2012. Kick Off: - 15:00
Firhill Stadium, Glasgow
Having started the league season with five straight victories there is an air of expectation surrounding Firhill. An expectation that five straight victories will become six following tomorrow’s game with Cowdenbeath. That’s certainly the clear objective tomorrow but the challenge that Cowdenbeath will present is unlikely to be a straightforward one in either tomorrow’s league fixture or next month’s Ramsdens Cup semi-final.
The semi-final is obviously something for the future but before focusing on tomorrow’s important league game Jackie McNamara paused to reflect on Wednesday’s cup draw.
“We would rather have been given a home tie, and Central Park is a difficult ground to go to and win. That’s the draw that we’ve been given though and we just need to get on with it. Hopefully we can get through it, reach the Final and win the competition for the very first time.”
The priority though is league points tomorrow and Jackie is expecting a tough fixture when he meets up with an old friend.
“I know Colin Cameron very well having been at Wolves at the same time. He’s done really well as Cowdenbeath manager, leading them to promotion last season; and they’ve started well this season as well. They are sure to be really up for the game tomorrow and determined to knock us off our perch at the top of the table. That is a reflection of how well we have started the season and is something that we will need to handle.”
The manager so far this season has been able to field a fairly settled side but he will be without the services of a couple of players tomorrow.
“Both Steven Craig and Sean Welsh will miss this game. Steven Craig went for a scan on Monday to access the damage he did last week. The initial thoughts were that he would be out for about 4 weeks but we’re now hopeful that it might not prove to be that long.”
“Sean Welsh meantime has a problem with his thigh and we don’t know how long he will be out for. He picked up a bit of a dead leg the week before and then took another whack against Livingston. We’ll need to wait until the injury settles down a bit before we’ll have an idea of exactly how long he will be out for.”
It isn’t, however, all bad news.
“Kris Doolan should be okay. He trained with us yesterday and he’ll come back into the squad. With Christie Elliott doing so well when he came on last week I’ve got a bit of a selection headache in that regard. That’s the kind of problem that I want. There are a number of players who through no fault of their own that haven’t played that much this season. I need them when they do come into the team to try and make sure they aren’t left out again.”
In other team news sub goalkeeper Ryan Scully will again miss out with trialist Graeme Smith, as he did last weekend, sitting on the bench.
Partick Thistle Stats
Current Form – Last Five Games
W D L F A
4 0 1 12 2
Scorers Season 2012-2013
Chris Erskine 6
Steven Lawless 6
Kris Doolan 4
Steven Craig 3
Stuart Bannigan 2
Christie Elliott 1
Aaron Sinclair 1
Sean Welsh 1
Last Game
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday September 15th 2012
Livingston 1, Partick Thistle 2
Cowdenbeath Stats
Current Form – Last Five Games
W D L F A
4 0 1 12 5
Scorers Season 2012-2013
Marc McKenzie 4
Lewis Coult 3
Kyle Miller 3
Jamie Stevenson 3
Kenneth Adamson 1
John Armstrong 1
Mark Ramsay 1
Greg Stewart 1
Last Game
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday September 15th2012
Cowdenbeath 3, Morton 4
Last Meeting
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday March 19th 2011
Partick Thistle 0, Cowdenbeath 1
Teams
Thistle: Fox, Paton, Boyle, McNamara, Robertson (Campbell), Archibald, McGowan, Rowson, Doolan, Grehan (Flannigan), Erskine (Fraser).
Cowdenbeath: Hay, Baxter, Vauls, Ramsay, Winter, Adamson, Miller, Makel (McKenzie), Stewart (Crawford), Campbell, Robertson.
Scorer
Cowdenbeath: Stewart (50)
Crowd: 1,754
Match Highlights
Match Details
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday September 22nd 2012
Partick Thistle v Cowdenbeath
Kick-off: 3:00pm
Prices
Adults: £17
OAP (65+): £12
16-21: £12
Full Time Education: £12
Programme: £2.50
Match Officials
Referee: William Collum
Assistant Referees: Martin Cryans and Alan Hogg
Other First Division Fixtures
Dumbarton v Hamilton Accies
Dunfermline Athletic v Livingston
Morton v Raith Rovers
Falkirk v Airdrie United
Thistle this afternoon maintained their 100% start to the league season with a sixth victory but it was mighty close with Cowdenbeath, after a first half of total Thistle dominance, coming back strongly after the btreak. They may well feel that they were unfortunate not to take something from the game.
Manager Jackie McNamara made two changes from the side that had made it five wins from five against Livingston; both in part because of injury. Steven Craig’s place went to Christie Elliott who had performed so well at Livingston while Aaron Sinclair replaced Sean Welsh; a move that saw Stuart Bannigan move into a midfield role.
Thistle totally dominated the first 45 minutes of this game and the only surprise that thistle led by just one goal at the interval. That goal arrived in the 24th minute and came via the penalty spot. There was little doubt about the award when Chris Erskine was upended inside the box after he had side stepped a challenge inside the box. There was a little doubt, however, over surrounding who would take it with Sean Welsh injured and Kris Doolan on the bench. Aaron Muirhead was the man entrusted with the kick and he made no mistake with a confident styrike.
It was a goal that had been coming for some time even allowing for the fact that Thistle hadn’t created that many clear cut chances. The Cowdenbeath defence were though hard pressed to keep Thistle out with the ball being switched from flank to flank with real pace and purpose.
A second Thistle goal before the break would have provided a more accurate reflection on the balance of play and Steven Lawless was twice close to scoring that goal. In the 40th minute Thomas Flynn, booked for a foul on Christie Elliott in the 13th minute that produced only a yellow card, did well to turn Lawless shot from 25 yards round the post for a corner that Cowdenbeath, just, managed to clear.
Two minutes later Lawless was close again, this time shooting over the bar after being set up by a deft Paul Paton back heel.
The half finished with Flynn needing two attempts to cling onto a driven cross from Aaron Sinclair as Thistle’s dominance continued.
Thistle were to rue the failure to score a second goal when Cowdenbeath equalised four minutes after the restart. Jamie Stevenson had a little too much time and space in midfield but there was no doubting the quality of his strike from 30 yards out that left Scott Fox with little chance of saving.
That goal seemed to turn the game on its’ head as the match neared the hour mark the visitors were unfortunate not once but twice to take the lead. Scott Fox had had little chance with Stevenson’s goal but he produced an excellent save low to his right to keep out an effort from Lewis Milne.
There was further anxiety for Thistle in Cowdenbeath’s next attack. Mckenzie rolled a dangerous ball right across the Thistle six yard box and Thistle were relieved to clear for a corner. McKenzie was able to get his head to that corner but Fox again was in the right spot to save.
Those near things may have served as a wake up call for Thistle and Paul Paton was close to putting Thistle in front again with a shot that Flynn did well to tip over the bar.
Thistle were back in front in the 70th minute and there was a touch of good fortune surrounding the goal. Cowdenbeath’s Scott Linton turning Aaron Sinclair’s cross into his own net. Credit though must go to Sinclair for delivering an excellent ball into a dangerous area. #
There was plenty of tension around the ground in the closing minutes, tension that Ross Forbes came close to removing in the 90th minute. Thistle caught Cowdenbeath on the counter attack, after Scott Fox had punched clear a throw and it took two attempts from Flynn to save Ross Forbes shot.
Thistle this afternoon extended their winning start to the league season to a sixth game. It was, however, especially in the second half, a hard fought victory with Cowdenbeath posing us a few problems.
The first half performance, however, from Thistle was excellent and that was what manager Jackie McNamara choose to focus on first of all when he spoke to www.ptfc.co.uk after the game.
“I thought that first half we were superb. We passed the ball well and caused them lots of problems. We probably deserved to be further in front than we were at half-time. The second half started a little scrappy and then Cowdenbeath scored a fantastic goal with their first effort on goal. After that I felt that we got a wee bit nervy and anxious and tried to force things, whereas in the first half we were making passes and moving about and helping each other. Cowdenbeath got a massive lift from the goal they scored and at 1-1 Scott Fox has made a fantastic save. I’m delighted that we showed a bit of character and came back to score the winner.”
“You have to pay credit to Cowdenbeath. Colin Cameron has his side well organised, they defended well and they caused us a few problems. Looking ahead to the Ramsdens Cup tie at Central Park, we’re going have to make sure we defend long throw ins and such like well.”
“That was possibly a game that we wouldn’t have won last season. We had a wee lull in the second half when instead of doing what we did in the first half we started to make things a little difficult for ourselves. All credit to the lads though. I told them after the game that they can’t have it all their own way for 90 minutes and play great football. They need to be able to mix it as well.”
The winning goal was an own goal it was an excellent ball from Aaron Sinclair that led to it. Said the Thistle manager;
“If the Cowdenbeath player doesn’t put the ball into his own net then Chris Erskine is waiting to tap the ball home. We created chances throughout the game, we just needed to be a bit more clinical in front of goal today.”
While we were making it six wins from six, Dunfermline were making it five wins from six and they are breathing down our necks at the top of the table.
“Dunfermline are favourites for promotion. I said that at the start of the season. They’ve come down from the SPL and I think that makes them favourites. As good as the start that we’ve made to the season the lead we have at the top of the table is just three points. That’s something that I keep stressing to the players, we haven’t even reached the end of the first quarter yet. We’ve a really tricky game away to Raith Rovers next week and we will need to make sure that we are prepared mentally for that.”
The opening goal was a penalty converted by Aaron Muirhead and the manager had a few words of praise for the player who collected the Man of the Match award.
“He scored a number of penalties last season for Annan Athletic. He was close to double figures last season for goals. Not just from penalties but from set pieces as well. I thought that he was excellent today. He’s got a good range of passes and he talks well. He’s been excellent for us this season.”
Cowdenbeath manager meantime was delighted with his side’s second half performance.
“In the second half we got the ball down and starting passing it. We never did that in the first half. You need to give Thistle a lot of credit for that. They played some really good stuff in the first half. Their movement was excellent and it was hard for us. When we did win the ball back we weren’t able to keep it. I didn’t think though that they were getting in behind us, so we were defensively sound that way.”
“I was disappointed to lose the goal from the penalty. It’s a striker’s tackle from Marc McKenzie. After him losing the ball he was just keen to try and win the ball back but he didn’t need to put the tackle in.”
“We’re then 1-0 down then and we have nothing to lose. At that point we need to get the ball down and start passing it otherwise we are in danger of losing 3-0 or 4-0. I brought Lewis Milne on at half-time and he was excellent for us. He was prepared to get on the ball and make things happen. He’s played a great wee ball to Jamie Stevenson who scored with a great strike. That’s us back in the game and for 10-15 minutes we created a few chances and could have found ourselves 2-1 ahead. Then they’ve come back into it. At the winning goal I felt that Jamie Stevenson got caught sleeping when Sinclair came in round the back. I don’t blame Scott Linton at all for the own goal. There’s someone behind him waiting to tap the ball in if he doesn’t try and clear it. Even then he felt it was going past the post until it hit off Thomas.”
“I was delighted with how the players went about things in the second half. I felt that we lacked a bit of belief and that we showed Thistle too much respect in the first half. They need to start believing in themselves. I know how good my players are. I know that they are good enough for this division and stay in this league and I think in the second half they proved that.”
