Saturday 29th November, 2025 at 9:11pm
Partick Thistle won a Scottish Cup tie at Station Park for the first ever time thanks to goals from Ben Stanway and Alex Samuel as Forfar Athletic were seen off 2-0.
The first ever tie between the sides at the Angus ground was a draw back in 1988 however strikes in each half ensured that the Maryhill Men progressed to tomorrow night’s draw.
The Jags had a recast look to them after the on-loan Oisin Smyth not given permission to play by parent club St Mirren with Tony Watt missing after suffering a leg gash that required stitches in Tuesday night’s win over Dunfermline Athletic.
Robbie Crawford was also unavailable and with Logan Chamers also absent youngsters Liam Dolan, Harry Weir and Gabriel Nosa were on the bench.
Forfar kicked off however it was the Jags that threatened early through early pressure on the home backline however no clear-cut chances created.
Forfar earned a free kick on 10 minutes with the dead ball picking out Stuart Morrison who sent a glancing header well wide.
Shortly afterwards pressure on home goalkeeper Neil Stafford by Ben McPherson gave Stanway a shooting chance however his drive was blocked.
With quarter of an hour played Aidan Fitzpatrick released Stanway on the left and his low driven cross was kicked off the toes of the inrushing Samuel.
Two minutes later the Loons threatened when Scott Shepherd looped a header over Josh Clarke and onto the roof of the net however an offside flag had gone up.
The opening goal came on 20 minutes when former Forfar player Cammy Logan was found wide on the right and after his chipped cross had dropped to earth after hitting the bar STANWAY was on hand to drive the ball into the net from six yards.
Logan ventured forward again midway through the opening half and crashed to the ground however referee Sneddon was not interest in appeals for a penalty.
Samuel was denied when the outstretched arms of Stafford blocked his close range shot before on 32 minutes the visitors threatened again when another strong run by Logan was followed by a pass to Steven Lawless.
Lawless cleverly dummied the ball to Fitzpatrick who looked to have found Logan who had continued his advance only for the ball to be cut out at the last minute.
Six minutes from the break a cross from the left found Kyle Turner and his hitch-kick from 10 yards was goal bound until a deflection took it onto the bar with Thistle a but stumped when a corner was not awarded.
It looked like the second goal Mark Wilson’s side deserved had arrived in first half injury time when a cross from the left reached Welshman Samuel who nodded it goalward only for his effort to hit Stafford’s face and bounce wide of goal.
Half-Time – Forfar Athletic 0 Partick Thistle 1
Forfar made two changes at the break and also changed their shape however Thistle had the first attack after the restart on 50 minutes when McPherson and Stanway combined to send the fullback away on the left however a fruitless corner was the only reward.
The home side’s change of tactics was making it more difficult for Thistle to grab a second and also given them hope of snatching a leveller with Turner booked for stopping a break away on 68 minutes.
It looked like a second had arrived when Samuel nodded towards goal but this time the home shot-stopper used his hands to save.
Stanway curled an 18-yard shot side before, with 14 minutes still on the clock, danger threatened when the hosts’ Lewis Lorimer picked up a Paddy Reading headed clearance and whipped in a cross that Lee Ashcroft had to be in the perfect place to clear.
There was further danger on 81 minutes when a home corner bobbled around Thistle’s six-yard box after two headed attempts by Forfar however the ball was cleared.
Thistle raced to the other end and looked to put things to bed when Reading found Ts’oanelo Lets’osa with a short pass that the midfielder cracked a shot towards goal only for Stafford to tip his effort wide.
In injury time Clarke dived down to clutch an effort that had been poked towards his goal and within seconds Thistle’s passage had been secured.
Logan was again the creator as he wriggled clear on the right and the cut the ball back to SAMUEL who took aim and blasted high into the net to end both his and Thistle’s frustrations.
Full-Time – Forfar Athletic 0 Partick Thistle 2
Teams
Partick Thistle – Josh Clarke, Ben McPherson (Paddy Reading 59), Lee Ashcroft, Luke McBeth, Cammy Logan, Scott Martin (Ts’oanelo Lets’osa 66), Kyle Turner, Steven Lawless, Ben Stanway (Sean McArdle 83), Aidan Fitzpatrick, Alex Samuel,
Unused substitutes – Lewis Budinauckas (G/k), Dan O’Reilly,Liam Dolan, Harry Weir, Gabriel Nosa.
Forfar Athletic – Neil Stafford, Lewis Martin, Lyle Wark (Lewis Lorimer 46), Stuart Morrison (Jamie Richardson 46), Matty Allan,Jake Dolzanski, Scott Shepherd, Martin Rennie, Angus Mailer, MacKenzie Lemon, Mark Whatley (Nathan Cannon 74)
Unused substitutes – Marc McCallum (G/k), Harry McLinden
Referee – Iain Sneddon
