Thursday 2nd February, 2017 at 12:19am
A run of five games unbeaten would come to a grinding halt for Alan Archibald’s Partick Thistle side as they suffered their first competitive loss of 2017 at the hands of St. Johnstone. Despite playing well for most of the first half, the Jags weren’t clinical in front of goal unlike their adversaries from Perth who scored with their only shot on target in the opening 45. This goal would prove to be enough to win the match for the Saints as they ran out 1-0 winners. Alan Archibald spoke to ptfc.co.uk after the match to offer his thought on his team’s performance.
Archie knew that one of the big reasons that his side came away defeated was that they didn’t take their opportunities.
“It was disappointing. We created quite a few chances in the first half but we didn’t take them. We had to take the lead while we were on top but we didn’t do that. Then we lost a terrible goal and couldn’t recover in the second half.”
The Thistle boss expanded on his disappointment in the way that his team conceded the only goal of the game.
“It came from a deep free kick and we really should have dealt with it. In the end, Callum Booth makes an error and it knocked the wind out of us, a little bit.”
Archibald wasn’t impressed with his side’s second half display after they had struggled to create any more opportunities as the game wound down.
“We didn’t get going after the break, we just played into St. Johnstone’s hands. They are very good defensively and we know that but we would still hope to have enough to get back into the game. The only positive, really, was the way we were creating chances in the first half.”
The gaffer also commented on a late incident that lead to the dismissal of Christie Elliott with two minutes left in the game.
“I’ve not watched it back yet but it seems like he’s kicked out at him. He was obviously frustrated. I’m not sure if he kicked the ball and the man or one of the two so I’ll have to look over it.”
The memories of missed opportunities must be forgotten quickly as the Jags have another difficult fixture in just three days’ time against Aberdeen at Pittodrie. Thistle will be looking to return to winning ways at 15:00 on Saturday the 4th.
