Saturday 8th November, 2025 at 12:00am
Partick Thistle left it very, very late to sneak a goal against Airdrieonians at the Albert Bartlett Stadium however Oisin’s Smith strike secured a point in a 1-1 draw.
Ben Stanway and Daniel Mackay joined Lee Ashcroft and Robbie Crawford on the side-lines with Kyle Turner coming into start in midfield with Academy striker Daniel Gray on the bench for a second time this season.
Turner kicked the game off, and the midfielder popped up in Airdrie’s 18-yard line 40 seconds later to accept a cross from Ben McPherson however he could not get a shot away.
In three minutes, a kick-out from Josh Clarke was flicked on by Tony Watt and looked to have released Aidan Fitzpatrick with the wide-man’s progress only halted by the home defenders who had regrouped.
Shortly afterwards Ts’oanelo Lets’osa looked to have been fouled as he raced towards the Diamonds’ goal however Referee Nicolson played advantage as the ball ran to Watt although he was surrounded by a posse of defenders that crowded him it.
Airdrie raced to the other end, and it took a superb block from close-range by goalkeeper Clarke to deny Euan Henderson after a break from Chris Mochrie.
The game settled into a pattern of both sides looking to attack however there were few openings being created.
Midway through the half Watt was on the end of a crunching tackle close to the half-way line and again advantage was played before Paddy Reading had a cross blocked.
On 28 minutes a Jags corner caused problems in the Airdrie box with Cade Melrose forced to dive low and keep out a 14-yard effort from Turner.
Nine minutes from the break a lighting break from Watt and Turner ended 20 yards out when Logan Chalmers was unable to gather a driven pass from Lets’osa.
With two further minutes played Thistle pressed again and it took a last-ditch sliding tackle from Sean McGinty to stop Watt turning and shooting for Melrose’s goal after a clever slipped pass from Reading.
Clever and quick play from Watt helped created Thistle’s best chance of the half as his throw in over McGinty’s head sent Chalmers scampering free and his low cross was about an inch away from the in-rushing Turner with Fitzpatrick firing it into the side-netting.
Half-time – Airdrieonians 0 Partick Thistle 0
There were no changes from either side at the break with the hosts creating a half chance within a minute of the restart however Clarke was equal to Mochrie’s low drive.
Chalmers quickly took the play to the other end and won a corner. The set piece was dealt with however Thistle soon threatened again with Melrose this time equal to a low drive from Fitzpatrick.
Ten minutes into the second half Luke McBeth was in the right place twice in quick succession to clear as Airdrie looked to sneak in.
On 57 minutes Lets’osa was blatantly fouled as he threatened to pierce the home defence with McGinty shown a yellow card.
With 20 minutes left to play Airdrie took the lead when a long throw in from the right bobbled across Thistle’s box and landed at the feet of Henderson who slipped a shot into the far corner.
The goal saw the Diamonds have their tails up and five minutes later Dan O’Reilly did well to block a Lewis Strapp effort at the expense of a corner after a darting run.
Gray was brought on for a debut to give the Jags’ more firepower and fellow replacement Alex Samuel lifted Thistle spirits with a strong run on the left and his driven cross was deflected over Melrose’s goal for a corner that fell to O’Reilly who could not get enough purchase on his shot.
With Thistle going all out on attack Airdrie found a gap in 83 minutes with Clarke forced to race from his goal to deny Jake Hastie.
Substitute Steven Lawless released Fitzpatrick on 84 minutes with a corner the result with this set-piece found the head of O’Reilly who found Reading but no further danger threatened.
McPherson created the next danger with a surging run and cross that could not find any team-mates in the Airdrie box and as the game entered five minutes of added on time a well-advanced O’Reilly nodded over.
Thistle continued to push and probe for a leveller, and their efforts were rewarded with SMYTH created space 25 yards out and fired low for goal. The shot looked set to be scooped up by Melrose however it had enough power to beat the shot-stopper and find the net.
Full-time – Airdrieonians 1 Partick Thistle 1
Teams
Partick Thistle – Josh Clarke; Ben McPherson, Dan O’Reilly, Luke McBeth, Paddy Reading; Oisin Smyth, Ts’oanelo Lets’osa (Sean McArdle 60), Logan Chalmers (Steven Lawless 60), Kyle Turner (Daniel Gray 79); Aidan Fitzpatrick, Tony Watt (Alex Samuel 71)
Unused substitutes – Lewis Budinauckas (G/K), Cammy Logan, Che Campbell, Liam Dolan,
Airdrieonians – Cade Melrose, Lewis Strapp, Sean McGinty, Aidan Wilson, Dean McMaster, Chris Mochrie (Tate Xavier-Jones 84), Gavin Gallagher (Craig Ross 77), Euan Henderson (Cammy Cooper 84), Lewis McGrattan (Liam McStravick 65), Jamie Barjonas (Jake Hastie 65), Cole McKinnon
Unused substitutes – David Hutton (G/k), Dylan Williams, Cole Williams, Mason Chisholm.
Referee – Duncan Nicolson
Crowd – 2068
