Friday 21st March, 2025 at 10:49pm
The spoils were shared at home on Friday as Partick Thistle and Raith Rovers battled out a goalless draw in the William Hill Scottish Championship.
It was the return of Friday Night Football to The Wyre Stadium At Firhill as the two sides contested a tight game under the lights, with the BBC Scotland cameras watching on.
The match saw Thistle attempt to consolidate their fourth place as the hunt for promotion play-off spots rages on. The Jags came into the game seven points clear of fifth placed Greenock Morton, who have a game in hand. Raith sit behind Morton in sixth, with only goal difference separating the two sides.
It looked like an unchanged line-up for Thistle when the team sheet was announced earlier in the evening, but it was not the team that started the match. Forty-five minutes before kick-off, Kanayo Megwa pulled up with an injury, with Aidan Fitzpatrick stepping up at short notice.
Kyle Turner moved to right back, with Robbie Crawford moving into a more attacking position in midfield to accommodate.
Raith showed more ambition in the early minutes than Ayr did for the entirety of Saturday’s fixture, with goalkeeper Lewis Budinauckas thrown into action early on from a Jamie Gullan free kick, The set piece made it’s way to Callum Fordyce, who flicked it goalwards. Bud made a great dive to his left to deflect the ball away from goal, in what was his first realistic piece of danger in several games.
Thistle soon found their feet, putting the Kirkcaldy side’s defence to the test with some excellent crosses from Logan Chalmers and Fitzpatrick on the wings. Raith themselves continued to pose a threat from set pieces as the game became bitty as the half wore on.
Raith had a shade more possession for a good portion of the half, without offering much attacking threat, as Thistle looked to keep any sort of flow or string passes together late in the half.
While both sides had the odd hairy moment, these were more down to the back lines of both sides rather than any sort of attacking pressure.
Half Time – Partick Thistle 0 Raith Rovers 0
Thistle started the second half bright, with their best chance of the game up to that point coming minutes after the restart. A Kyle Turner corner found the head of Brian Graham yards out from goal. Unfortunately for the Jags, Raith keeper Josh Rae was alert to the threat though, managing a great save to keep it goalless.
On 55 minutes, Rae was once again called upon to stop Crawford’s looping header, the visiting keeper at full stretch to tip it over the bar after Graham had nodded on, as Thistle started cranking up the heat.
Raith found themselves pinned into their own area, with whipped in corners, crosses and efforts from range. In particular, Raith talisman Dylan Easton was finding it difficult to get any purchase in the game as Thistle’s back line kept him at arm’s length, eventually substituted for youngster Kai Montagu late on.
Ultimately, despite flashes of promise, the Jags were unable to make the breakthrough needed to secure all three points. It was a mature defensive performance which saw Thistle continue to be barely threatened by their opponents, but just lacking that clinical edge needed to get the win.
Full Time – Partick Thistle 0 Raith Rovers 0
The result sees Thistle remain seven points clear of Raith, who jump into fifth ahead of Greenock Morton, who host Queen’s Park at Cappielow tomorrow. Attention now turns to next Saturday, when we will travel to Cappielow for a crunch game against Morton, who now have two games in hand, which will be pivotal in the battle for the last promotion play-off spot.
Teams
Partick Thistle – Lewis Budinauckas, Kyle Turner (Zander Mackenzie 77’), Lee Ashcroft, Dan O’Reilly, Josh Reid, Stuart Bannigan, Luke McBeth, Robbie Crawford, Aidan Fitzpatrick (Terry Ablade 86’), Logan Chalmers, Brian Graham (Alex Jakubiak 67’)
Unused substitutes – David Mitchell (GK), Luis Cameron {GK}, Matthew Falconer, Nick Lockhart, Liam Rooney
Raith Rovers – Josh Rae, Callum Fordyce, Euan Murray, Paul Hanlon, Josh Mullin, Jordan Doherty, Ross Matthews, Lewis Stevenson, Dylan Easton (Kai Montagu 85’), Finlay Pollock (Aidan Connolly 74’), Jamie Gullan (Aiden Marsh 83’)
Unused substitutes – Kevin Dabrowski (GK), Liam Dick, Lewis Gibson, Shaun Byrne, George Gitau
Referee – Calum Scott
Crowd – 3,213
By David Forrest
50/ 50 draw results
1st Prize (£425) – 240764
2nd Prize (Chance to take part in crossbar challenge) – 243602
