Partick Thistle WFC v Dundee United WFC – 16th October 2022

After a demanding early series of fixtures, Thistle are now in a run of matches against sides considered to be their more immediate peers with victory in this one taking them into the top half of the league table.

The tone for what proved to be an open exciting encounter was set inside the first 60 seconds when United hoisted a high cross deep into the Thistle box with Clare Docherty’s intervention getting the ball safely to her goalkeeper Megan Cunningham but not before Thistle hearts skipped a beat.

The first hint of a Thistle goal came after 7 minutes when Rachel Donaldson’s cross from the right found Abbie Ferguson inside the United box, but she was unable to direct her side foot shot beyond McNicoll in the United goal.

Both teams were searching for an early goal and Cowper’s cross from the United left nearly found Ryan at the back post.

With 17 minutes played Thistle did have the ball in the back of the net. Ferguson’s run put the visitors’ defence on the back foot and although she did eventually find her own route to goal blocked she managed to find Donaldson to her left. Donaldson’s cross in turn picked out Cara Henderson who fired home only to see her, and Thistle’s, celebrations cut short by the raised flag of the assistant referee. The incredulous look from Henderson in his direction was enough to suggest she felt that she was onside.

While Thistle were, at least marginally, the better side it was anything but one way traffic with United a threat with the stiff breeze at their backs in the first half, albeit Cunningham was rarely required to make a save of any note. She was happy though to see a Smith effort from a Harkin pass fly over her crossbar and Robb dragged a shot from the edge of the Thistle box wide of target. McGinley was a little closer with her shot from the edge of the box but it was always on the rise and Cunningham again wasn’t required to save.

When Cunningham was required to intervene her handling, even under pressure, was impeccable.

For all that flurry of activity in front of their own goal Thistle looked the more likely side to open the scoring. A Rebecca McGowan shot went wide and some fantastic individual play from Linzi Taylor nearly created an opening but the score remained goalless at the end of what had been an entertaining 45 minutes of football.

An opportunity to take the lead came Thistle’s way almost right on the restart but Ferguson saw her shot blocked inside the box after she had collected a Jordan McLintock pass.

Thistle were even closer to the game’s opening goal just two minutes later. A Henderson free kick from wide on the left had already posed problems for United but Cheryl McCulloch’s knock down just wouldn’t fall to a team mate. Thistle though picked up possession once more with Docherty’s pass finding Henderson on the left hand side of the United penalty box and it took a fine stop from McNicoll to deny Henderson a goal.

United underlined the threat they continued to have with a well struck effort from Harkin after 57 minutes that Cunningham showed secure handling to save but four minutes later Thistle were in front.

Henderson’s corner from the left came off the face of the crossbar and when United were unable to clear the ball came back to Henderson who took a touch to control the ball before crashing a shot past McNicoll and into the net for a deserved goal for the impressive Henderson, her third of the season.

A second Thistle goal at this point would have gone a long way to sealing the points and Taylor was unlucky not to grab that goal but saw her shot saved by McNicoll with the loose ball cleared from near the goal line before Ferguson could apply a finish.

A McCulloch header crawled just wide of goal as Thistle continued to try and put some distance between them and United and substitute Kaitlyn Canavan was unlucky to see her first time effort with 14 minutes remaining fly straight at McNicoll.

A one goal lead is always a precarious one though and Cunningham did well to get a strong hand to a Delworth cross that looked as if it might sneak in at the back post.

There was an even bigger scare for Thistle with 10 minutes remaining. Not long on as a substitute, Amy Bulloch haste to snuff out the danger after a corner had been partially cleared resulted in a rash challenge and a United penalty. McGinley’s penalty though struck Cunningham’s right hand post, with the Thistle keeper guessing correctly, and rebounded back to McGinley whose wild lash over the bar was largely incidental with no other player having touched the ball since the initial spot kick.

There was one further moment of anxiety when a Smith shot dipped over the Thistle crossbar but this was a deserved three points for The Jags.