Saturday 5th July, 2025 at 6:49pm
With the start of the Premier Cup and competitive action just six days away, Thistle completed their pre-season fixtures with a closed-door match against League One side Hamilton Academical and duly recorded their third win from the three matches played with a deserved 4-1 win.
With two trialists in the starting line-up for Head Coach Mark Wilson and his assistant Alex Rae to assess Thistle started the game deploying a central defensive triumvirate of Ashcroft, McBeth and O’Reilly with Logan, playing his first game as a fully-fledged Jag, and Reading occupying wing-back roles.
Thistle were on the front foot early and looking eager and Chalmers was close to providing Thistle with a lead inside the first two minutes but saw his shot go narrowly wide of target.
Chalmers was close again as Thistle continued to dominate the opening period of a match that saw Thistle look their sharpest yet in their pre-season build-up. Certainly, there was no sign of the rustiness that had been all too evident in the opening exchanges against Inverness.
A deserved opening goal came for Thistle in the 22nd minute. Paddy Reading pushed a pass through to the Trialist number 9 and he fired powerfully into the bottom corner of the net leaving the Hamilton keeper with little chance of saving, a powerful and composed finish from the striker.
The Trialist had the ball in the net again three minutes later after he collected a chipped Lawless pass, but on this occasion he had strayed a fraction offside before he rolled the ball home from a tight angle.
Thistle were agonisingly close to finding a second goal in the 26th minute when Logan, displaying his attacking threat from wide, sent over an excellent cross from the right, only for Chalmers to see his flicked effort go narrowly wide of the far post.
Hamilton hadn’t really threatened up to this point but Budinauckas had to produce a smart save in the 36th minute to keep out a low shot and preserve Thistle’s lead.
The scores were level though when Hamilton equalised almost right on the half-time whistle. It was an error in the Thistle defence that led to the opening with a powerful low drive from outside the box finding Budinauckas’ left-hand corner of the goal. A good finish, but a preventable goal all the same.
HALF TIME: Partick Thistle 1-1 Hamilton Accies
Thistle made just a solitary change at the break with Fitzpatrick replacing the trialist striker, a move that saw Chalmers take up the striker’s role for the first part of the second half with MacKay, a second half substitute, latterly filling the position.
Lawless was first to try and restore Thistle’s lead but his effort lacked the desired pace and direction to genuinely trouble the Hamilton keeper.
Hamilton came close themselves just prior to the hour mark with a deflected shot that just cleared the crossbar.
Scorer of two against Inverness Stanway forced a save from the Hamilton keeper as Thistle pressed to try and regain their lead.
And that lead was finally restored with 17 minutes remaining when Chalmers was able to find the net from a tight angle despite the best efforts of a Hamilton defender to clear.
Thistle added a third goal in the 79th minute when Robbie Crawford from the left-hand corner of the box was able to find the bottom right-hand corner of the net.
There was still time for Thistle to find a fourth goal before the finish. A sweeping move finished with a Chalmers shot saved but the rebound fell nicely into the path of Fitzpatrick who found the net with a crisp finish.
FULL TIME: Partick Thistle 4-1 Hamilton Accies
As the full-time whistle sounded, attentions immediately turned to the start of the competitive season which will come next Friday night at Meadowbank Sports Complex. The Jags take on Edinburgh City in their opening Premier Sports Cup group stage fixture and kick-off is 7:45pm.
Thistle line-up: Budinauckas (Cameron), Logan, Reading, Ashcroft, Trialist (Crawford), MacKenzie (Stanway), Trialist (Fitzpatrick), Chalmers, Lawless (Mackay), McBeth (Campbell), O’Reilly (Dolan).
Unused substitutes: N/A
Attendance: 0
By Tom Hosie
