Wednesday 15th August, 2018 at 1:07am
After the first win of the league season against Falkirk on Saturday, Partick Thistle moved into Irn Bru Cup action as they defeated Stranraer at Stair Park this evening. The Jags hit three first half goals with debutant, Andréa Mbuyi-Mutombo bagging the third of those while two late, second half strikes put the gloss on a terrific travelling display. Jags boss, Alan Archibald spoke to ptfc.co.uk following the end of the match.
The gaffer started by summarising his pleasure at what was a very satisfactory 90 mins for his side.
“It was excellent all round. We came expecting a very physical game but we dealt with that well and stuck to our style of play which was great to see. Also, getting more minutes for our young guys was a huge positive.”
He then told us how happy he was to see three players get off the mark as Thistle players with Tam O’Ware, Andréa Mbuyi-Mutombo and Max Melbourne all getting their first in the red and yellow.
“It was great to see different lads on the scoresheet. Of course, I don’t care where the goals come from so long as they’re there but to get three guys their first was nice, especially for Andréa on his debut as that will boost his confidence. Also, Aidan getting another two goals continues his great start to the season so I can’t complain.”
Archie paid tribute to Jamie Sneddon’s performance with the young ‘keeper stepping in an performing well in his first Thistle start.
“Jamie’s a talented boy which he showed against Stenny but we wanted to get him a start tonight. He made a very important save at 0-0 which keeps things level and throughout the game I thought he was calm and used the ball well.”
The manager was delighted that his side netted three in the first half, really killing the game off before the break.
“Obviously, you want to get a goal as quickly as possible to calm the nerves because the longer you go without a goal against lower league teams, the more tense it gets. We got that first one from the set piece and that lifted us which allowed us to get the second and third. The third goal was the epitome of that as we got a fair few players involved in what was a good passing move.”
Alan finished by looking ahead to Saturday’s cup tie as Thistle now face the prospect of Premiership champions, Celtic in the Betfred Cup.
“We know it won’t be a game like tonight’s. Celtic are going to be the team dominating the ball and we’ll have to be resolute defensively. It’ll be a good challenge for some of the boys who haven’t played Celtic before but we have to go into the game looking to win.”
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