Saturday 13th October, 2018 at 7:36pm
Gerry Britton and Scott Allison were the men in charge of Partick Thistle as the Jags took on Dundee United in a rearranged Ladbrokes Championship match this afternoon. The setting was Maryhill as Thistle aimed to get back to winning ways after losing two consecutive league games for the first time this season.
The caretaker co-managers made just a single change to the side that lost to Ross County last week although they did tweak the starting shape. The only alteration from last Saturday’s line-up was Cammy Bell who had recovered from illness to take back his spot in the starting XI from Jamie Sneddon. The backline was unchanged as Christie Elliott, Niall Keown, Sean McGinty and James Penrice formed the rear-guard. Stuart Bannigan was the only man sitting just in front of the defence with the number eight wearing the captain’s armband for the day. Craig Slater occupied the number ten role just ahead of Bannigan with Chris Erskine and Blair Spittal on either flank while Miles Storey and Kris Doolan started as a front two.
With conditions wet and a bit windy, the game was quite scrappy in the early stages with neither team getting much control of the ball. There were early half chances for Paul McMullan and Christie Elliott from range before the first save of the match was made by Cammy Bell in the 12th minute. It was ex-Jags man Callum Booth who had the opportunity after some nice interplay from United got the ball to the full-back in Thistle box. Booth fired a shot high towards Bell’s goal and the ‘stopper threw two hands instinctively at the ball, turning it over the bar.
The resulting corner caused the hosts some serious problems too as Safranko met the ball 10 yards out. The Slovakian international found the target, forcing Bell into a diving save before Craig Slater smashed the ball away from Fraser Fyvie who was trying to knock in the rebound.
Following that, the visitors really should have taken the lead in the 29th minute as Paul McMullan and Fraser Aird had guilt-edged chances to open the scoring. Billy King fed the ball to McMullan who had found acres of space on the United right. He cut past James Penrice before taking aim from 12 yards. His effort looked like it was goal-bound but it rebounded back off the post into the path of Aird who set himself before firing a half-volley well over the crossbar.
There was yet another good opportunity for the travelling Tangerines in the 34th minute as another ex-Thistle man tested Cammy Bell. This time it was Frederic Frans who got on the end of a deep delivery into the box, aiming for the bottom corner. His effort forced a good save from Bell as he scampered across his goal before seeing the ball scrambled clear.
It looked like Thistle were going to escape down the tunnel with the game at 0-0 after a shaky first half but a Fraser Aird goal on the stroke of half time completely changed the half-time team talk. Fraser Fyvie slotted an incisive ball through to midfield partner Sam Stanton who had bombed forward. Stanton then lifted the ball from the by-line back into the danger area, finding Fraser Aird who provided a first-time finish, giving Cammy Bell no chance and his side the lead.
There was one change made at the break for Thistle as Blair Spittal was replaced by Andrew McCarthy who was making his first league appearance of the season as he returned from injury.
The change did little to change the pattern of the game though as United missed a golden opportunity one minute into the second period. Stanton received the ball as he ran into the Thistle box with a one-on-one chance against Cammy Bell. He had two options to his left in King and McMullan but he opted to shoot. Unfortunately for the number 12, he miscued and shot wide of the near post.
Nevertheless, in the 49th minute, Robbie Nielson’s side would double their advantage through Pavol Safranko. It came from Stuart Bannigan taking too long on the ball and being dispossessed. From that, McMullan had a low shot saved by Bell but he could only palm it into the path of Safranko who had a simple finish from five yards.
In the 56th minute, Gerry Britton and Scott Allison made their second change as Jai Quitongo replaced Kris Doolan up front. The Jags’ final change came in the 72nd minute as Andrea Mbuyi-Mutombo replaced Miles Storey.
After 20 minutes of hard graft, Quitongo would get his first Thistle goal. In the 77th minute, a forward pass by Chris Erskine saw the frontman battling with Rachid Bouhenna. Jai outmuscled the Algerian, sending the defender to the floor, before rolling the ball through Siegrist’s legs and into the back of the net.
The Jags then spent the following 13 minutes pushing for an equaliser, however, the crucial goal didn’t come and United saw the game out to claim three points. Thistle’s first 50 minutes cost them after the United onslaught saw them into a two-goal lead. Positive contributions from the substitutes made it a close one but the lack of incision in the final third allowed United to see out the game.
Thistle’s next match comes a week today as we travel to the Indodrill Stadium to take on Alloa Athletic. Kick-off is 15:00 as we complete the first round of Championship fixtures.
PARTICK THISTLE TEAM: Bell, Elliott, Keown, McGinty, Penrice, Bannigan, Slater, Erskine, Spittal (McCarthy, HT), Storey (Mutombo, 72’), Doolan (Quitongo, 56’).
UNUSED SUBS (PTH): Sneddon, Melbourne, Wilson, Ntambwe.
DUNDEE UNITED TEAM: Siegrist, Watson, Frans, Bouhenna, Booth, Fyvie (Barton, 72’), Stanton, McMullan, Aird (Curran, 77’), King (Clark, 63’), Safranko.
UNUSED SUBS (DNU): Rakovan, Robson, Rabitsch, Loemba.
Article Copyright © 2018. Permission to use quotations from this article online is only granted subject to appropriate source credit and hyperlink to ptfc.co.uk.
