Friday 7th October, 2022 at 11:29pm
Partick Thistle’s cinch Championship campaign continued as they made the trip up to Inverness to play the Caley Jags for the second time this season.
The first meeting ended in a 4-1 victory for Thistle at Firhill but Billy Dodds’ side came into this contest off the back of three straight league victories.
There were two changes made to the side which beat Morton 5-1 the previous weekend with Kyle Turner and Scott Tiffoney back in the starting line-up at the expense of Cole McKinnon and Cammy Smith.
The game started at a relatively slow pace with the two sides feeling each other out though there were a couple of half-chances for the away side in the opening six minutes. Firstly, a ball into the box from the right by Steven Lawless was headed comfortably wide by Brian Graham before the number nine then got on the end of a Harry Milne cross, flicking a shot a couple of yards wide of Mark Ridgers’ right-hand post.
From that spell on there was little in the way of penalty box action until a flashpoint in the 26th minute when Thistle were claiming for a penalty. The ball broke to Ross Docherty in the Caley area where the Jags’ skipper was clattered by Robbie Deas, however, the referedd was unmoved and play went on.
Shortly thereafter, on the half hour mark, Inverness had their best opportunity of the game so far. A delivery into the box wasn’t properly dealt with by the Thistle defence and a couple of Inverness players did their best to prod the ball home but it was Aaron Muirhead who was first to it as he thumped the ball away.
Then in the 38th minute, the complexion of the game was completely changed. Kyle Turner took a slightly loose touch near the half-way line and rushed into a 50/50 with Roddy Macgregor. The Thistle number six had his boot angled up towards the Caley man and caught him above the ankle. The referee saw it as a red card offence and gave Turner his marching orders.
The Jags made it into half-time at 0-0 and regrouped during the interval, coming out for the second period looking organised as Cole McKinnon was brought on for Scott Tiffoney.
Inverness continued to probe though and put Thistle goalkeeper David Mitchell under significant pressure which the number 31 stood up well to. After a couple of crosses which Mitchell caught or punched clear Cameron Harper tried his luck from 25 yards. The attacking midfielder’s shot was bound for the top corner but the goalkeeper scampered across his line and pushed the ball around the post to keep the score goalless.
The Thistle resolve didn’t last though and on 74 minutes Inverness found the breakthrough. Daniel Mackay, who had been a constant threat during the game, burst down the left flank and crossed into the box. Aaron Muirhead got a foot to the ball but saw his clearance fly straight to Billy McKay who steadied himself and fired a shot into the net for his seventh career goal against Thistle.
The Jags made a few changes as they sought a way back into the game late on but it was Inverness who came closest to getting the second goal of the game. George Oakley was played through into the Thistle box and tried to squeeze a shot past Mitchell. His shot got past the ‘keeper but was blocked by Kevin Holt on the line who needed a couple of attempts to make his clearance.
With that, the game ended 1-0 and Thistle suffered their second defeat of cinch Championship season. Now they’ll look to bounce back next week as they travel to face Hamilton Accies – that one is a 3pm kick-off on 15th October at the FOYS Stadium.
