Sat 23 December, 2017
SPFL Ladbrokes Premiership 
The Energy Check Stadium at FirhillSPFL Ladbrokes Premiership
Sat 23 December, 2017. Kick Off: - 15:00
The Energy Check Stadium at Firhill
Fixture details:
Tickets on sale: Monday 27th November
HOME Ticket prices:
Adults £22
Concessions (Over 65s, students, disabled supporter including carer) £15
Under 16s FREE
Match Sponsor:
Imperial Bar
Match Ball Sponsor
PlayerZone:
Daniel Devine and Chris Erskine
Aitken Suite:
Opens to all supporters at 11:45
Half Time Legend performing 50/50 draw:
John Harvey
Programme:
Find out what is inside Saturday’s issue
Available around The Energy Check Stadium at Firhill for only £3
As Saturday’s match against Hamilton Accies fast approaches it was Scott Paterson who spoke to ptfc.co.uk ahead of the clash. The Jags assistant insists the team knows exactly how big a game Saturday is and says they are able to take positives from Wednesday night’s match against Celtic, despite the disappointing nature of the result.
Scott said: “Saturday is certainly an important game. We want to get off the bottom of the league and give ourselves something to build on over the festive period and into the New Year.
“I thought Wednesday night’s performance was very promising and there were a lot of positives to take, especially from the first half. We felt we frustrated Celtic but then a small lapse at the back cost us. When you give players like Stuart Armstrong any kind of space you see what happens.”
It’s clear that there won’t be any licking of wounds in the camp and Scott says the players know exactly what to expect when Accies come to The Energy Check Stadium at Firhill.
“We know what’s ahead on Saturday. It will be a tough game against a Hamilton team that are on a good run of form at the moment. They’re always tough games when our two sides meet but they are often tight games as well. We just need to focus on our own performance and look to get three points come full time.
“The aim for the next couple of weeks is most definitely to make sure we don’t get cut adrift. We said to the players a couple of weeks ago to keep doing what they’re doing. In recent weeks some of the performances have been good with decent build up play but we’ve been lacking a spark in the final third. The other side of that is we need to cut out the individual errors that are leading to cheap goals. If we can stay in touch with over the winter break we can build on that hopefully after we get some of our injured players back.
“We’ve been here before and we are sure we can do the same. There’s still belief in the squad and the players still believe in themselves as well. There’s still a lot of football left to play but we know it won’t come easily. Results come through hard work and that’s what we need to show on Saturday and through into 2018.
“That belief aspect is so important. You saw that when we went up to Dingwall and got a good away win, it started to breed confidence and that is the big thing we are missing just now. The good thing is that belief is 100% still there. We need to scrap for every point over this period and then reassess where we are in January but every game is massive for us just now.”
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Article Copyright © 2017. Permission to use quotations from this article online is only granted subject to appropriate source credit and hyperlink to ptfc.co.uk.
Having suffered four defeats in their first five games of a hectic eight-game December, Partick Thistle looked to get back on track as they faced Hamilton in Maryhill. Despite Thistle’s poor overall form, the Jags had won three of their last four at the Energy Check Stadium at Firhill. The game offered not only a chance for Thistle to get one over on one of their bottom six rivals but also another opportunity to get off the foot of the Ladbrokes Premiership with Ross County, who were playing away at Hibernian at the same time, only two points ahead of the Maryhill men at the beginning of play.
Alan Archibald made three changes to the side which lost 2-0 to Celtic three days ago. Miles Storey dropped to the bench to be replaced by Kris Doolan. Jordan Turnbull was suspended for the day’s game and as such was replaced in the starting XI by Martin Woods while Andrew McCarthy fell to the bench after a good midweek performance, making way for Chris Erskine who started his first match in four. Adam Barton dropped into the defence in Jordan Turnbull’s absence to form a three with Niall Keown and Daniel Devine while Paul McGinn and Steven Lawless played at wing-back. Martin Woods and Ryan Edwards provided the base in midfield while Blair Spittal sat just ahead of the duo. Up front, Chris Erskine played just off Thistle goalscoring centurion, Kris Doolan.
The match began well for Thistle as they almost broke the deadlock on seven minutes. Under the pressure of Chris Erskine, Scott McCann played a dreadful back pass that allowed Erskine a run on goal. The midfielder tried to break into the box and shoot but the ball wouldn’t sit for him and McCann made an excellent recovery challenge to put the ball behind.
The resulting corner is whipped in by Martin Woods finding Niall Keown. The ex-Reading man then heads on goal. Unfortunately for Keown, he can only find the side netting as another chance goes begging for the hosts in a crucial game.
Luckily for Alan Archibald’s Jags, they would take the lead despite passing up a pair of good opportunities. It was the same connection that saw them go close previously that created the opener as Martin Woods once again picked out Keown with a corner kick. This time Niall’s marker, Georgios Sarris tripped and fell as he scampered toward the ball allowing Keown to stroke the ball home with his right foot, beating Gary Woods easily at the back post.
The hosts went mightily close to a lead-doubling second just two minutes after breaking the deadlock. Kris Doolan was played in behind by a lofted ball from the Thistle half and he collected before looking to pick out a teammate in the box. With both Chris Erskine and Blair Spittal making good offers he seemed to play it in for the former. Accies defender, Xavier Tomas got a toe to the ball but the deflection just took the ball into the path of Blair Spittal. The number seven shot low for the near post with his right foot but his effort just fizzed wide as the Jags top scorer missed out on his eighth goal of the season in all competitions.
The teams went into the interval with the score at 1-0 thanks to Niall Keown’s second strike of the season. Based on the balance of play and chances created it was fair that the home side were in the lead as Accies had struggled to halt the attacking power in the Jags team.
Despite a much improved start to the second half it was Thistle who clipped the bar in the 58th minute. A quick Jags break saw Blair Spittal feed Chris Erskine the ball as he charged goalward. Erskine then saw the run of Kris Doolan at the back post and aimed to find his strike partner but as he tried the square pass, he failed to get his foot round the ball and his delivery flew towards goal. The ball sailed over Gary Woods and clipped of the top of the crossbar as Thistle’s counter-attack almost gave them a two-goal lead.
Alan Archibald made his first change of the match when Mile Storey was introduced to the match, replacing Chris Erskine who had performed well on the day.
Hamilton passed up on their best chance of the match so far when Tomáš Černý denied the SuperSeal Stadium side a leveller on 71 minutes. Steven Lawless looked to hook the ball clear but smashed the ball off Accies attacker, Rakish Bingham. The ball then spun into the path of David Templeton who struck on goal with a first time shot. Tomáš Černý was alert and well positioned though and was able to bat the ball away with two strong hands.
Templeton went very close once again with 13 minutes remaining of the regulation 90. The number 16 picked up some space around 25 yards from goal and he decided to thump a shot goalward. His effort dipped and swerved before ricocheting off the bar as Tomáš Černý stood rooted to the spot.
Thistle made two more changes in the latter stages to freshen things up. A tiring Martin Woods was replaced by Andrew McCarthy on 78 minutes as the former Ross County midfielder completed another solid performance. Kris Doolan was also withdrawn and Conor Sammon came on his place with six minutes left of the game.
Hamilton were unable to muster up any further chances in the late stages and the Jags held out for a narrow victory. News then filtered into the Energy Check Stadium at Firhill that Hibernian had beaten Ross County meaning for the first time since the end of November, Thistle were off the bottom of the Ladbrokes Premiership.
Alan Archibald’s side now turn their attention to Wednesday’s clash with second-placed Aberdeen. Kick-off is 19:45 from Pittodrie.
THISTLE TEAM: Cerny, McGinn, Keown, Barton, Devine (c), Lawless, M. Woods (McCarthy, 78′), Edwards, Spittal, Erskine (Storey, 63′), Doolan (Sammon, 84′).
THISTLE SUBS (N/U): Scully, Nitriansky, Nisbet.
HAMILTON TEAM: G. Woods, Lyon (Gogic, 83′), Sarris, McMann, Tomas, Imrie (c), MacKinnon, Docherty, Redmond (Crawford, 61′), Templeton, Rojano (Bingham, 61′).
HAMILTON SUBS (N/U): Fulton, Gillespie, Donati, Cunningham.
Article Copyright © 2017. Permission to use quotations from this article online is only granted subject to appropriate source credit and hyperlink to ptfc.co.uk.
After a month, or five games, rooted to the bottom of the Ladbrokes Premiership standings, Partick Thistle finally pulled themselves off the foot of table with a narrow 1-0 win over Hamilton this afternoon. The Jags took a first half lead through Niall Keown as the centre-half bagged his second goal of the season, latching onto Martin Woods’ corner. Thistle were unable to make it two though setting up a nervy end to the game as Hamilton pushed for a leveller. Tomas Cerny was forced into a couple of saves and David Templeton smashed the crossbar from 25 yards but the travelling Accies were unable to find the goal they needed and the hosts held for victory. The win moves Thistle above Ross County and to within just a point of Neil McCann’s Dundee. Jags boss, Alan Archibald spoke to ptfc.co.uk following the match.
Archie started by telling us just how pleased he was to claim victory in a scrappy game that took a few twists and turns.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be pretty for a lot of today. When we played Hamilton earlier in the season it was a similar game; few chances and a lot of battling. I’m delighted for the defence as well, getting the clean sheet because they’ve had a tough time of it lately.”
The gaffer was also happy with Tomas Cerny who, at 1-0, made a good save to deny David Templeton as the visitors searched for an equaliser.
“It was a very good save but it comes from us having the ball. I think it was Steven Lawless who I thought had a great game at wing-back but he smashes the clearance against the attacker and it falls to Templeton. In the end Tomas makes a good save and we get it away. The frustrating thing is that most of their opportunities come from our errors and on another day we might have been punished.”
Along with the three points today, there is the aforementioned bonus of coming off the bottom of the table and Alan thinks that will be a weight off the players shoulders with two games left before the winter break.
“It’s good psychologically for the players. For the first time in a while we have the chance to build on that especially with Ross County coming here next week. It also means that the boys won’t feel so bad about coming back into training after a quick break for Christmas.”
With Jordan Turnbull suspended, Alan Archibald had to do some defensive tinkering this afternoon and the Thistle boss was very happy with the rear-guard performance as the team claimed just their third clean sheet of the season.
“Since Jordan was out, we decided to move Adam Barton back into the defence. It was really the first time this season that we’ve been able to do that and having Martin Woods does allow us to change the shape a bit more that we have previously. I thought Adam was very good in the backline as was Martin Woods in the midfield and they all contributed to our clean sheet.”
The Jags can now enjoy Christmas with a smile after today’s win and prepare for Wednesday night’s clash with Aberdeen. Kick-off is 19:45 from Pittodrie as Thistle look to continue their climb up the table.
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Article Copyright © 2017. Permission to use quotations from this article online is only granted subject to appropriate source credit and hyperlink to ptfc.co.uk.
Thistle collect a vital three points thanks to Niall Keown's first half goal.
The ball is out for a Thistle goal kick.
Spittal shoots but Woods has an easy save to make.
Sammon takes the ball down towards the corner flag and is fouled when he tries to cut into the box. Thistle not pushing many men forward for the free kick.
A Storey cross destined for the waiting Sammon is cleared.
Minimum of 5 minutes additional time to be played.
Man off the Match: Niall Keown
Spittal is down injured inside the Hamilton half which might delay Thistle's planned substitution with Sammon ready to come on.
A free kick is sent deep into the Thistle box. The ball drops to Bingham whose effort is b;locked.
Bingham is the next player to have a go for Hamilton but his low drive is wide of target and although Cerny dives he comfortably watches the ball go wide.
Templeton thumps a shot off the Thistle crossbar that Cerny can only stand and watch.
Thistle defend the free kick well but Hamilton collect the loose ball inviting further pressure on the Thistle goal.
Hamilton have a free kick close to the left corner of the Thistle box.
Devine is well placed to head clear an Imrie cross.
Storey is nearly able to connect with a low cross from Woods but the ball is cleared.
Cerny comes to Thistle's rescue with a fine stop after Hamilton get a clear look at goal after a clearance hits off a Thistle defender.
Cerny is forced to punch the corner clear from almost right under his crossbar.
A shot from Bingham goes wide of Cerny's right hand post but he is able to watch it go wide without any real concern.
The free kick comes to nothing although Thistle do eventually get a cross into the bx that is claimed by Woods in the Hamilton goal.
Erskine is taken out by Sarris who escapes a booking. Thistle though have a free kick and a chance to get the ball into the Hamilton box.
Erskine clips the top of the Hamilton bar after collecting a pass from Spittal.
Hamilton are starting to press looking for an equaliser but they won't find one with an effort like Rojano's which goes well wide of goal.
Hamilton try to break after woods' second corner is cleared but Devine is on hand to clear any danger.
Niall Keown's goal after 24 minutes is enough to give Thistle a narrow but deserved lead.
Out of nothing almost Redmond gets a chance at the edge of the box but sends his shot over the bar.
It's getting a bit scrappy as we approach half time and to underline that a Woods' free kick goes out of play for a a goal kick.
Erskine slips a pass through to Spittal. Spittal takes a touch to bring the ball on to his left foot and when he does shoot is effort is blocked by a defender.
Thistle are showing plenty of energy in search of a second goal.
Nearly a second for Thistle. Lawless sends a lovely pass down the left for Doolan. Doolan collects and knocks the ball back to Erskine who in turn sets up Spittal,whose first time shot goes narrowly wide.
Woods' corner is missed by everyone and Keown comes in at the back post to slot the ball home.
Hamilton are close again but Templeton sends a shot tamely wide after he is given a chance just inside the Thistle box.
Closest yet to a goal as Cerny makes a good stop with Keown blocking the rebound at the expense of a corner.
\Spittal gets into an excellent position on the left to deliver a cross but over hits the ball
A dip of the shoulder takes Erskine away from his marker and he finds Spittal with a short pass. Spittal in turn tries to thread a pass through to Lawless inside the box but his pass is slightly over hit.
Keown meets the corner and his header goes narrowly wide of Woods' right hand post.
Great chance for Thistle as Erskine takes advantage of an error from McMann but his shot goes wide via a deflection.
Templeton plays a neat pass to Rojano but Barton is across to clear.
The free kick is aimed towards the back post where Imrie can't prevent the ball going out for a goal kick.
Barton nudges a Hamilton player off the ball and Accies have a free kick about 30 yards out and to the right.
Thistle go into this afternoon's match looking for an early Christmas present of three points.
Alan Archibald has made three changes to the side that started against Celtic on Wednesday. Into the starting eleven come Kris Doolan, Chris Erskine and Martin Woods.
Jordan Turnbull misses out due to suspension while Andrew McCarthy and Miles Storey drop to the bench.