Saturday 30th August, 2025 at 7:50pm
Partick Thistle grabbed all three points in a swashbuckling 3-2 victory over Raith Rovers in the William Hill Scottish Championship at the Wyre Stadium at Firhill on Saturday.
Thistle came into the tie off a superb 3-1 victory away to Ross County last week which saw County manager Don Cowie relieved of his duties in the aftermath.
There were no changes to the side which had triumphed up at Dingwall, but with the added bonus of Kyle Turner on the bench, returning to the matchday line-up after a substantial layoff through injury.
Thistle started hot and heavy, pressing Raith from the get-go, and it wasn’t long before the strategy paid off as the Jags raced into an early lead.
A sumptuous long ball from Ben Stanway found its way to Aidan Fitzpatrick, racing forward into the box. From there Fitzpatrick crossed low into the six yard box, allowing TONY WATT to stretch himself enough and hit home to make it 1-0 after six minutes.
The hard press continued to pay dividends as Mark Wilson’s side doubled their lead six minutes later. The ball found its way to FITZPATRICK in the box, who turned towards goal and drilled a lovely shot past Raith keeper Josh Rae into the far corner of the net for 2-0.
Raith were down, but not out, and soon they would strike back. Paul McMullan was caught by Lee Ashcroft in the box, with referee Peter Stuart blowing his whistle for a spot kick, which was promptly converted by Dylan Easton to reduce the deficit.
Raith eventually restored parity on 35 minutes. After toying with the offside trap multiple times before, McMullan got himself on the end of a ball which flew over the top of the Thistle backline. The angle was deemed to be too tight though for a shot, so he crossed over for Ross Matthews to dispatch home from a few yards out.
The sides went down the tunnel level, a fair outcome considering the chaotic nature of what had unfolded.
Half-Time – Partick Thistle 2 Raith Rovers 2
As the rain continued to pour down in Maryhill, the game became more cagey as both sides tried to take control of the game.
Raith’s Lewis Vaughan would soon pick up a yellow card after coming on. Vaughan went down in the box only to be booked for diving instead by the official who viewed it as an attempt to engineer a second Raith penalty.
Despite the frenetic pace, the goals looked to have dried up until the 74th minute, when the Jags regained the lead. A misplaced pass from the Raith defence was picked up by Fitzpatrick, who was able to square the ball over for LOGAN CHALMERS to hit home at the back post for 3-2.
Despite some late pressure from the Kirkcaldy side, Thistle showed grit and managed to hold their nerve, claiming the three points at the end of a highly entertaining encounter.
Full-Time – Partick Thistle 3 Raith Rovers 2
Partick Thistle now face an extended layoff with next week’s fixture away to Queen’s Park postponed due to international call-ups for Josh Clarke, Ben McPherson and Ts’oanelo Lets’osa. Thistle’s next game sees them return to the Wyre Stadium at Firhill to face Airdrieonians under the lights on Friday the 12th of September.
Partick Thistle; Josh Clarke; Paddy Reading, Lee Ashcroft, Dan O’Reilly, Ben McPherson; Robbie Crawford (Kyle Turner 73’), Ts’oanelo Lets’osa (Luke McBeth 80’), Ben Stanway, Logan Chalmers (Steven Lawless 80’), Aidan Fitzpatrick; Tony Watt (Alex Samuel 62’).
Unused Substitutes: Lewis Budinauckas; Cammy Logan, Zander MacKenzie, Thomas Horn, Matthew Falconer.
Raith Rovers: Josh Rae; Jordan Doherty, Callum Fordyce, Paul Hanlon; Scott Brown (Jack Hamilton 73’), Dylan Easton (Richard Chin 76’), Ross Matthews, Shaun Byrne, Lewis Stevenson; Josh Mullin (Lewis Vaughan 53’), Paul McMullan.
Unused Substitutes: Aidan Glavin; Jai Rowe, Ewan Wilson, Darragh O’Connor, Josh Gentles, Kai Montagu.
Referee: Peter Stuart
Attendance: 3,871
By David Forrest
50/50 Prize Winners
First Prize – £645 – Ticket No. 255280
Second Prize – Chance to enter Crossbar Challenge – Ticket No. 256181
