Wednesday 23rd July, 2025 at 12:46am
Partick Thistle maintained their undefeated run in the 25/26 Premier Sports Cup on Tuesday with a 2-0 win over Queen of the South on Tuesday.
Thistle came into the game at The Wyre Stadium at Firhill top of Group B on maximum points, having defeated Edinburgh City and Stranraer, while QoS had also bested City before losing narrowly to Ross County at the weekend.
There were two changes to the side that beat Stranraer a week ago. Tony Watt made his first start as a Thistle player while Ts’oanelo Lets’osa made his Jags debut after receiving his international clearance, with Stevie Lawless and Ben Stanway dropping to the bench.
It was a breathless start to proceedings, with Tony Watt going a shade wide with an effort just seconds after the opening whistle.
With three minutes on the clock, Thistle came close again. Fitzpatrick’s shot was kicked away from the goal line, with no one getting on the end of it to turn it in.
Debutant Lets’osa tried to bundle the ball into the net, but instead hit the side netting.
The assault on the Dumfries goal continued as Watt, Chalmers and Fitzpatrick in particular playing some lovely football in the early going.
Former Jags keeper Ross Stewart was playing out of his skin to keep the Doonhamers from going 1-0 down, most notably making two last ditch saves to stop Watt from opening the scoring from close-range on 15 minutes.
The striker stretching in vain to flick in a volley that Stewart stuck out a hand to save before being denied after springing to his feet to try again.
Thistle continued to pile forward with chance after chance to no avail as Logan Chalmers somehow rattled the post after beating Stewart.
Mark Wilson’s side finally made the breakthrough on 31 minutes as Aidan Fitzpatrick fired a free kick from the edge of the box through the wall and into the net, much to the relief of the fans at Firhill.
With the seal broken, Thistle then doubled their lead two minutes later. A defensive error allowed Fitzpatrick to race through on goal, before rounding Stewart.
With a defender scrambling back to stop the ball from going in, Fitzpatrick then took the selfless option, passing across to Lets’osa to fire in from six yards and join the goalscoring debutant club.
The Jags went down the tunnel 2-0 up, but would have been frustrated not to be leading by more. If it wasn’t for the heroics of Stewart, Thistle could’ve been 5 or 6 to the good at half time.
Half Time – Partick Thistle 2 Queen of the South 0
It looked like the Jags might increase their lead on 49 minutes after Chalmers left visiting defender Taylor Charters in his wake and launched a cross goalwards. Fitzpatrick did his best to try and get himself onto the ball, but was unable to smash it home as it flashed away from danger.
Lewis Budinauckas was roused into action on 64 minutes, forced into his first save of the game. A Reece Lyon shot from the outside of the box barely threatened the order of play, as Budinauckas mopped it up with ease.
From there, the game petered out as Queen of the South struggled to trouble the Thistle box. Despite the Jags’ best efforts, Ross Stewart managed to keep the score down, as Thistle ran out 2-0 winners.
Full Time – Partick Thistle 2 Queen of the South 0
Partick Thistle: Lewis Budinauckas; Cammy Logan, Lee Ashcroft, Dan O’Reilly, Paddy Reading; Luke McBeth, Ts’oanelo Lets’osa (Ben Stanway 61’), Robbie Crawford (Zander MacKenzie 74’); Tony Watt (Thomas Horn 74’), Aidan Fitzpatrick, Logan Chalmers (Steven Lawless 61’)
Unused Substitutes: Luis Cameron (GK); Matthew Falconer, Liam Dolan
Queen of the South: Ross Stewart; Michael Hewitt, Matthew Douglas, Jack Hannah, Taylor Charters; Liam Smith, Benjamin Luissint (Euan Ross 87’), Reece Lyon; Kai Kennedy, Jack Stott (Ben Johnstone 70’), Kurtis Guthrie
Unused Substitutes: Mark Thomson (GK); Niall Rogerson, Harry McLinden, Matt Hall, Trent Chapman, Cole Burke
Referee: George Calder
Attendance: 2,235
By David Forrest
50/ 50 Draw Winners
First Prize – £405 – Ticket No. 251804
Second Prize – Chance to take part in half-time crossbar challenge – Ticket No. 249741
