Sunday 19th November, 2017 at 8:28pm
After losing 3-0 at Ibrox two weeks ago, Partick Thistle looked to get back on track this afternoon with a visit to Hearts. The Jags travelled to Edinburgh knowing that a win would take them above Kilmarnock into tenth place. However, the victory wasn’t looking likely when Isma Goncalves fired the Jambos in front on 54 minutes. Nevertheless, Thistle would salvage a point as Kris Doolan struck home in the 85th minute to equalise bringing the Maryhill men to within a point of Killie and two clear of Dundee. Thistle boss, Alan Archibald spoke to ptfc.co.uk following the match.
The gaffer was pleased with his team’s overall performance, feeling the Jags deserved the point they got.
“We silenced them. They started brightly but we took the sting out of their game quickly. Going into the break, we’d had the best chance of the half and overall, Tomas Cerny didn’t actually have much to do. Our shape was good and we kept them away from our goal. When their goal came, I didn’t think that they deserved it. It was good work from their lad but we should defend it better. In the end, I was happy with our character; we didn’t give up. I felt we had at least another great chance left in us and I said that to Kris when he went on. Luckily, that came to fruition.”
Archie commented on the uncertainty surrounding the game as Tynecastle’s redevelopment cast doubt over whether the stadium would be given the green light to host the fixture.
“Towards the end of the week, when we still didn’t have an answer it was a bit annoying. I’m sure it was playing on the players mind over the last couple of days but it was important that we didn’t let it affect our football. You don’t want to let these distractions creep in; you want focus on the task in hand but that’s tough in a situation like this.”
Archie spoke in more detail about Kris Doolan who, as he so often does, made the difference today off the bench with the leveller.
“Kris is a brilliant player to have as a manager. He has that knack for scoring important goals which is crucial for us. He’s had a few small injuries so far this season and that’s stopped him from going on one of his runs but he’s still got five goals so far this season which is not to be sniffed at. A couple of times we’ve asked him to come off the bench and make a difference and he’s done it; he assisted Miles Storey’s winner against Dundee and has scored today for example.”
The Jags now have another two weeks until they have another Ladbrokes Premiership match due to the Betfred Cup final next weekend. The Jags next game comes at home to Hibernian. Kick-off is 15:00 from the Energy Check Stadium at Firhill on Saturday the 2nd December.
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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.
