Saturday 19th April, 2014 at 2:52pm
PTFC.co.uk caught up with a very happy Alan Archibald after the critical 2-1 victory at Rugby Park today. He was very proud of his team’s performance and feels it is the perfect springboard for the closing weeks of the season.
He said: “It was a fantastic result and really fantastic reaction, particularly after the last time. I thought in the first half we were very very good and I think the boys showed a hunger and desire from the off – they really wanted it today. There were top performances all over the field and I think we more than deserved the three points.”
It wasn’t all plain sailing though. Kilmarnock had their chances and at several points during the game Archibald felt that it might be the same old story yet again.
“Obviously they had their spells, but we rode it out and I think we deserved the win in the end. There was a bit of concern when we were getting the chances but weren’t able to score, I said to Scott Paterson that I felt a bit of déjà vu setting in. We were very good earlier in the season down here and missed chance after chance. You’ve always got to be wary of that, especially when they got their goal, but I thought we showed great character to bounce back.
“Getting a goal quickly to get us back into it again makes a big difference too because the longer the game goes on the more you think it just isn’t going to come but we were delighted when it did!”
Thistle showed no sign of tiring as the game went on and it was ultimately that extra stamina that got the jags over the line.
“We finished very well. We always knew that they were a fit team and we would have to match them right to the end if we were going to get the result. We showed great fitness and determination in the heat today and that’s definitely something we’re going to need in the final four games.
“Everybody wanted to get on and win the game and, at that point, it was important that we didn’t get carried away and end up with nothing. As it was we managed the game well and ended up with an absolutely vital victory in the end.”
Looking forward to St Mirren on Friday Alan said: “We’ll take the momentum from this game into our next match at Firhill. The fans here today were absolutely tremendous – the players really noticed it and it helped, particularly in the later stages. Hopefully we can put in a performance they can be proud of come Friday, especially considering how we let them down the last time out.”
