Fri 8 January, 2016
William Hill Scottish Cup 
The Paisley 2021 Stadium, Paisley.Andy Webster 89′
Daniel Seaborne 62′
David Amoo 73′
William Hill Scottish Cup
Fri 8 January, 2016. Kick Off: - 19:30
The Paisley 2021 Stadium, Paisley.
Summary
Thistle make the short journey along the M8 to Paisley to take on St Mirren in the Scottish Cup and Archibald’s side will be backed by a large Thistle following for the start of our annual cup adventure.
Entry
The Thistle support will be split up depending on where you have purchased a ticket for. Thistle fans are housed mainly in the North Stand behind the goal but will also be occupying part of the West Stand due to overwhelming demand and the family section which will be shared with St Mirren fans. There will be several areas of the ground which, in a break from the Scottish football norm, will be unsegregated mixed seating.
Entry Prices:
Adults: £20
Concessions: £10
U12s: £5
Travel
Train
There are a number of trains from Glasgow to Paisley St James which is across the road from the stadium. There are trains every 30 minutes from Glasgow Central. Another option is to get the train to Paisley Gilmour Street and these are more regular. This is recommended if you wish to drink or eat in the city centre.
Supporters Bus
City Centre Bus
Pick ups:
Q-Club: 18:20
Station Bar: 18:30
Non members welcome please call 07979496154 to book
Jordanhill Bus
Pick ups:
Jordanhill: 18:15
Thornwood: 18:20
Prices:
Adult members: £6
Concession members: £3
Adult non-member: £10
Concession non-member: £5
To make a booking contact Alistair on 07817612563 / . Booking is essential. For general enquiries contact Iain on 07779668357 / .
North West Bus
Pick ups:
Milngavie Station: 18:00
Esquire House: 18:15
Maryhill Community Halls: 18:30
Prices:
Full fare: £11
Concession: £7 (School aged children, unwaged adults, senior citizend & matriculated students)
For seats call 0141 632 3604 before 21:00 or e-mail
Car
Paisley is around 20 minutes from Glasgow and easily reachable my Car. You should take the M8 and come off at the St James Interchange, Junction 29.
Pubs & Eating
Paisley isn’t booming with fine dining establishments. There is a McDonalds and KFC as you come into the town and a Frankie and Benny’s at Abbotsinch Retail Park. All these are located if you come off the motorway at Junction 27
There are very few pubs near the ground, The Alamo is the closest on Caledonia Road and has built up a cult reputation with some due to its southern American décor – you’ll feel like you are in Texas!
There is also a Weatherspoon’s in the city centre right next to Paisley Gilmour Street station.
With the first outing in the Scottish Cup now just hours away, Alan Archibald was in an optimistic mood when he spoke to ptfc.co.uk at Thistle’s winter training base, Lesser Hampden, in the very shadow of Scotland’s national stadium.
“Saturday was a hard one to take but Friday night offers us a nice change of pace as we look to get this season’s Scottish Cup campaign off to a winning start. Our unbeaten run is gone now, and that is disappointing, but our momentum is definitely still there and it is important to keep that going.”
Thistle go into Friday night’s game as favourites – something few Thistle fans will be used to – and this is a factor that Archibald has not overlooked.
“We’ll be expected to take the game to them from the start and that’s certainly what we’ll be trying to do. Having said that us being the favourites will probably suit St Mirren in a way too. I think perhaps one of the reasons they have struggled this season is that they are going into every game as favourites so the weight of expectation is extremely high.
“They will feel like they have nothing to lose and that is always a dangerous situation for the opposition. They haven’t had the best form this season but they have some good, talented young players and there are boys who can hurt us there. We certainly won’t be going into the game with any level of complacency and will be treating it like any other game we might be playing in the Premiership.”
More than most, Archie realises just what a lift a good cup run can provide for a team having been a key component of the last significant cup adventure the Jags went on in 2002.
“Cup runs are massive for the club, both in terms of footballing success and financial security. We haven’t had much luck in the draws in recent years and have often had to play Premiership sides in the early rounds. With the greatest of respect to St Mirren, we have to make sure we take advantage of the fact we have been drawn against a team from a lower division.
“It has been a long, long time since we last had a decent run in one of the cups. I think the last one would be when I was playing and even that was about 15 years ago! You have to earn results in the cup and we need to do that this season, starting with a tough test on Friday.”
Finally, Alan gave us some insight into how his squad is looking ahead of Friday night’s game.
“We’ve got a couple of knocks following the Celtic game. Pogba is feeling his hamstring a bit and Dumbuya came off with his shoulder so we’ll need to wait and see on both of those but we’ll give them every chance we can. Gary Fraser is also struggling with his ankle but, again, we’ll give him every chance. Ryan Edwards is now away with the Australia under 23 side and could be out there until the end of the month and obviously Robbie Muirhead has returned to Dundee United and Ryan Stevenson is away on loan with Ayr.
“Christie Elliott won’t be fit in time for Friday but it was great to see him get 45 minutes under his belt in our Development League game on Tuesday night. If we can get him back fit for the end of January it will be like a new signing for us.”
Thistle travelled to Paisley to begin their Scottish Cup adventure for 2015/16 campaign in cold snowy conditions. The pitch at the Paisley 2021 Stadium, however, was as close to perfect as you could get for winter football. After Kingsley was harshly beaten in the pre-match mascot race, Thistle were looking to win the game and secure a Fifth Round place.
Manager Alan Archibald made one change to the side which suffered a heartbreaking defeat to Celtic the previous weekend with Mustapha Dumbuya, struggling with injury, being replaced by Gary Miller. Thistle’s bench had an extremely youthful look with only Frederic Frans being over the age of 25. There was an appearance for promising Development League players Kevin Nisbet and James Penrice.
Thistle kicked off and immediately went on the attack but Booth was unable to find Welsh deep in the St Mirren penalty area.
St Mirren were sitting extremely deep in their half allowing Thistle to come forward on numerous occasions. The first half, however, passed without either goalkeeper having much to do with chances at an extreme premium. Thistle had lots of the ball but were slightly guilty of not shooting when opportunities presented themselves.
There was an opportunity for Thistle after 20 minutes when Thistle broke away with numbers. Bannigan played the ball to Lawless, who did extremely well to ride a couple of dangerous challenges before slipping the ball to Amoo. His first time pass found Doolan but, stretching for the ball,Thistle’s striker couldn’t find the target.
Lawless and Amoo were switching wings with regularity, adding an extra dimension to Thistle’s attack, but Doolan couldn’t quite reach another tempting cross.
The only save either goalkeeper had to make in the first half came five minutes before half time when Amoo showed tremendous skill to earn space in the box. His stinging drive was palmed away by Langfield with Lawless’ rebound knocked behind for a corner.
The second half was better from a Thistle perspective with a notable increase in the tempo by Alan Archibald’s side from the outset. Thistle were applying themselves well and Doolan spun on the edge of the box, firing a shot inches wide as Thistle looked to establish themselves on the front foot.
St. Mirren, to their credit, were sticking to their task extremely well preventing Thistle from opening up gaps in front of goal, with their patient brand of passing football. From a St Mirren free kick, Bannigan fed Amoo and the winger was unlucky to see his effort deflected past for a corner kick. From the corner kick, Thistle took the lead. Bannigan’s delivery fell nicely to the feet of Dan Seaborne who fired a first time shot beyond the despairing Jamie Langfield to give Thistle the lead.
Thistle continued to press forward looking for a killer second goal to put the tie beyond all doubt. A sustained period of pressure brought a few corners, with Liam Lindsay and Dan Seaborne winning most of Bannigann’s cultured deliveries. St Mirren were trying to push numbers forward in search of an equaliser.
It was Thistle, however, who got the second goal and it came from another Bannigan corner. The delivery was flicked on to Doolan at the back post who fired an acrobatic volley towards goal. A Saints defender nodded the ball onto the crossbar before it fell to Amoo who finished at the second attempt from inside the six yard box.
St Mirren threw bodies forward looking for a goal back into the game, introducing veteran striker Steven Thompson to proceedings with just under 15 minutes remaining. Thistle were becoming a bit complacent allowing St Mirren back into the game. With the game entering the closing stages Thistle were sieged with St Mirren corners with last ditch blocks and scrambling deflections keeping Tomas Cerny’s goal in tact.
There was to be a goal for St Mirren with less than two minutes to go as Keith Watson bundled the ball home from close range.
There was to be no more action in front of goal despite several long balls forward into the Thistle penalty area and the Jags were able to secure their place in the fifth round draw.
It was a satisfied Alan Archibald who spoke to ptfc.co.uk afterThistle’s 2-1 victory over St Mirren in the William Hill Scottish Cup.
“I’m delighted with the win. We’re through to the next round of the Scottish Cup and that’s all that matters. This was a dangerous tie, away to a Championship side but the lads didwell to grind out the win.
“The first half was a bit flat. We didn’t have enough tempo to our play, switching it from side to side without any real urgency, which allowed St Mirren the chance to regroup and defend deep. There wasn’t really any chances in the first half for either side.”
Thistle’s two goals came from corner kicks and Archie was pleased Thistle were able to make set plays count.
“It’s great to get goals from corners. It’s something we worked on and while they weren’t the cleanest of goals, we did well to pounce on loose balls in the box and bundle them home. The second goal was a tremendous instinctive effort from Dools, and it has fallen perfectly for David Amoo to slot the ball home.”
Thistle’s win will hopefully signal a new run of good form and banishes the memories of last weekend’s agonising loss.
“It’s good to get straight back on form after a loss last weekend. We’re looking to use this as a springboard and go on another good run of league form, starting next weekend against Dundee.”
The Scottish Cup draw takes place on Monday evening and Alan isn’t doesn’t have a preference on who Thistle face.
“It’s all the luck of the draw in the cup so we’ll take who we get. Ideally I’d like a home tie to lower league opposition, but as we saw earlier in the season against Falkirk, it isn’t a guaranteed victory through to the next round.”
Finally Alan had a word of thanks for the large noisy Thistle support.
“It was a large Thistle support that made the journey through here tonight and they certainly made themselves heard. They helped the side on when we were lacking a little bit in the first half and kept with us when it got to the hour mark and it was still 0-0. I’m delighted to have sent them home happy, they got two goals to celebrate right in front of them and they can nowlook forward to the fifth round draw on Monday.”
