Partick Thistle WFC v Celtic WFC – 31st August 2025

Following a harsh but heavy defeat to Hibernian 7 days prior, David Elliot’s Partick Thistle returned to home soil as they faced Celtic at Petershill Park.

The afternoon’s visitors had hosted the perfect run of form to this point, picking up the maximum points return from their opening fixtures. Most recently they picked 5 off of Hamilton Academical, perching them 2 nd in the SWPL1 standings, separated only by goal difference to Hibernian in top.

For Partick Thistle, it was a case of bouncing back from a tie that didn’t full reflect the play displayed. Speaking to the media, manager Elliot expressed that there were “loads of positives, probably more positives than negatives” with emphasis that the work put into training through the week emphasised their opportunity to create in the final third.

It was in majority an evenly matched opening 10 minutes, with both sides pushing towards their respective attacking areas. It was thistle who hosted the first half chance at goal, but any potential threat was promptly diffused by Celtic’s Rodgers.

With the game progressing beyond the 20-minute mark, play had settled into the middle of the park as both sides continued to exchange possession with neither really pushing any threat in front of goal. Thistle had answered all of the questions posed to them in defence as Kate Fraser forced the ball out at the by line to prevent the oppositions advances, the resulting corner ultimately not challenging Currie’s goal.

Despite this though, it was the visitors who opened the scoring in the 25 th minute. Having been pushed into a tight corner in their defensive box, thistle were promptly dispossessed at the back. The flicked-on pass put Amy Gallacher right in front goal, making no mistake from close range to lift the ball over Currie who was coming out to meet it and into the back of the net to break the deadlock.

Fortunes quickly unravelled for thistle as a now chirpier Celtic side’s passage of play from the back broke down the jags lines, leaving former player Lawton to drill the pass on the floor to Cross, who slotted the low shot into the bottom corner for their second goal in as many minutes. There was absolutely no time for Partick Thistle to recover, as from the retake at the centre, the visitors were charging down any chance at play. A minute on from their last goal, the long ball was hurtled down the wing, the resulting cross into the box was met by a number of touches jumbled through a sea of bodies, most unfortunately for thistle, the most clinical of these came from Ross, who fired home the third in a damaging 10 minutes of play for the Jags as the tie neared the half hour mark.

Despite the scoreline, thistle didn’t look too overly rocked as they continued to chip away across the park, pushing more balls into more threatening areas as they searched to claw their way back into the game before the conclusion of the opening half.

The half time whistle ended a half not entirely reflective of the performance. Despite a strong showing in its opening, a chaotic spell in the middle saw thistle head to the tunnel trailing a 3-0 scoreline, demanding a more attacking second half should they look to bring any points haul in their favour.

The second half started off in much a similar fashion in which the first had ended as Celtic were quick to make their advances into the box, their first short on target of the half handled well by Currie as it floated above her head.

The next advance would prove the catalyst in how the second half performance would pan out for the visitors as an almost mirrored version of their previous threat to goal was deemed to have stuck the hand of a thistle jersey in a bid to close down from the angle. Stepping up, Gallacher made no mistake from the spot as she drilled the effort into the bottom corner to continue thistles uphill battle as the game neared its 50 minute.

It was to get no easier for the jags from here as the relentless pressure from the visitors mounted, Currie very much making it a case of damage limitation as she was next to clear the firing shot from distance away from danger.

From this however, thistle began to settle in a more familiar defensive form as seen in the earlier minutes of the first half, whilst the opposing attacks continued in numbers, they regained composure but still struggled to advance any further than the centre of the pitch.

Passing the 70 th minute, Celtic were back on the scoring front as they won possession from the goal kick, immediately beginning the attack across the centre of the park. The passage of play ultimately lead to Cross taking control from close ranging, finishing the effort for her 2 nd and the 5 th goal of the afternoon with 20 minutes still to play.

The 6 th came not long thereafter as a string of passes lead from the centre third into the box, the final touch coming from Nakao who bolstered the shot and well beyond the reach of Currie. The final nail in the coffin of a dejecting afternoon for Partick Thistle fell 4 minutes later as Celtic powered through the jags midfield, the ball ending up with McAneny who hit home the 7 th and final goal of the match.

Another damaging scoreline for Partick Thistle at the hands of the league challengers, they’ll look to get back to a more positive run of form as they travel to the Balmoral Stadium to take on Aberdeen next Sunday, kick off 1pm.