Saturday 9th September, 2017 at 11:13pm
After four straight league defeats to begin the 2017/18 campaign Partick Thistle travelled north to Dingwall to take on Ross County in an attempt to bag their first points of the new season. Thistle got off to a decent enough start when they netted an opener in the 22nd minute through Blair Spittal but were left devastated when a late Alex Schalk penalty salvaged a draw for the Staggies. The Jags had victory snatched from them but did garner their first point of the league season. Thistle boss, Alan Archibald, spoke to ptfc.co.uk after the game.
Right off the bat, Archie expressed his disappointment at not being able to hang on for the win.
“Of course, I’m devastated. When you’re ahead for so long and you feel like the three points are within touching distance, it’s tough to take. It feels like a defeat for us especially because we still sit joint bottom. However, it’s a tough place to come and a draw is not bad at all.”
Thistle had to weather an early Staggies storm as the County men came out flying early on and Alan was pleased with the way his team defended against a torrent of County attacks.
“I thought we did well in holding back the onslaught. I thought that they’d play quite an attacking team and that’s what they did. We dealt with their physicality and the quality in the wide areas and after that, we created some good openings on the counter. In the second half, it was a similar story in that we had plenty of defending to do and we did most of it well. It was a hopeful ball into the box that wins them the penalty in the end and that’s where the major disappointment comes from.”
Ryan Scully was called into action in impromptu fashion when Tomas Cerny picked up a first-half injury and the gaffer was pleased with the ‘keeper’s performance.
“He made a couple of good saves. The Draper header is one that I expect him to make but the one that was low to his right was great. Being called upon like that isn’t easy but Tomas had been struggling a little bit in the week so Ryan knew there was a chance he would be needed. He deserves a lot of credit for coming on and playing so well.”
Archie and his squad now look towards next Friday’s clash with Rangers in the league. Thistle continue their search for their first win of the league season against the Gers at Firhill with kick-off at 19:45.
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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.
