Saturday 1st March, 2014 at 2:44pm
It wasn’t to be a second win on the trot but it was a valuable point in the Highlands as Thistle and Ross County both scored early on from free kick strikes. The Jags had the better of things after the initial excitement without creating too many clear cut chances. So the obvious question to Alan Archibald at the games conclusion was a point gained or two points lost?
“I think it was a point gained. I really don’t think it was a very good match from either side’s perspective. Pitch conditions were actually not that great although it looked good and that impacted on both sides. We did not play the kind of football that we can and it made for a very difficult game and we will not look back upon it with too much satisfaction from a skill perspective.”
So if the skill level did not match the levels reached last week, what did the gaffer take from the game?
”There were a lot of positives for me. None more so than the shape and the discipline where, despite the difficult conditions, we certainly controlled possession and made sure that the home team rarely threatened our goal. Especially in the second half we held the ball well, kept our shape and defensively we were very sound. So, while I was disappointed with some of the passing, there was plenty of other aspects that were good and we come away very much with a decent point.”
There can be little doubt that the last ten league games are shaping up to be very exciting for the teams in and around us in the league and the manager knows that the team are ready for battle:
“There is no doubt that this battle is going to go down to the wire but I certainly believe we have enough about us to come out of it in a positive way. As I said, there were a lot of positives to take with regard to shape and the way our defence kept a good side in check for most of the match. Having said that this is going to come down to how we play between now and the end of the season and I am very confident that we are heading in a good direction. We now just have to focus on the game against Hibs coming up in a fortnight. I am not sure if the break is coming at a good time or not, I think I would rather the game was next week as our form is good but we will regroup, refocus and come out fighting at Firhill on the 15th.”
