Saturday 5th January, 2019 at 8:18pm
Partick Thistle started 2019 with a 1-1 draw away at Dundee United in a result which leaves them bottom of the Ladbrokes Championship. The Jags started on fire with some excellent football being played and they were rewarded in the ninth minute when Kris Doolan nodded home the opener from Craig Slater’s corner. They failed to add to that lead despite a few chances and were punished for that as the hosts equalised in the second half. Fraser Fyvie fired the leveller home after substitute Aidan Nesbitt was brought down by Sean McGinty in the box. United pushed for a winner late on but Thistle held out for the point. Jags manager, Gary Caldwell, spoke to ptfc.co.uk following the final whistle:
“It’s a familiar feeling for us unfortunately. I thought we were superb in the first half; dominated the game and got our goal. We then should have added to it and put the game out of their reach but we didn’t and paid for it in the second half.
“They came out and had a go. They were at home and only one down so that’s to be expected but the lesson for us is that when we get good chances like we did, we need to take them because teams will punish you.”
Gary gave us his view on the penalty decision which brought Dundee United their leveller as Aidan Nesbitt went down under the challenge of Sean McGinty.
“It was soft, for me. I didn’t speak to the referee about it because there’s no point really. Every week both managers are unhappy with the officials so I don’t think it’s bad luck or anything like that, just poor refereeing.”
He then touched on the performances of his new signings, three of whom started the match.
“I was very happy with the way they played. They aren’t all right up to speed which is why Gary Harkins and Steven Saunders came off but I thought they all contributed to the performance and fit in well with the rest of the team.”
Caldwell also discussed next week’s crunch match against Falkirk, saying that he feels more confident in his side’s ability to get a win after their showing at Tannadice.
“I had been saying for a while that I couldn’t wait for January and today’s performance was why. We looked much better with just a few additions to help the squad and now I feel like we have something to build on going into a big game next Saturday.”
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