Saturday 14th December, 2013 at 2:28pm
Thistle’s final home game before Christmas didn’t get beyond half-time as the heavy rains that had bombarded Glasgow since mid morning Saturday left a section on the pitch waterlogged. Referee Kevin Clancy, who has passed the pitch as playable before kick-off, took a prolonged look at the pitch again during the half-time interval before deciding that the game couldn’t continue.
The 45 minutes of football that were played in dreadful conditions could scarcely have been described as a classic. Thistle, with Stuart Bannigan replacing Steven Lawless the only change from the side that drew with Hibs, had the strong wind at their backs in the first half but they seemed to cause more problems as any forward balls just drifted away from the Thistle frontline.
Thistle really had just two efforts on goal during the 45 minutes that were played. A Kris Doolan header dropped wide of goal in the 16th minute and after 34 minutes James Craigen tried to lift the ball over Mannus from 30 yards out but didn’t get enough elevation on his shot allowing the St Johnstone keeper to make a comfortable save.
The best chances both came the way of St Johnstone and Stevie May. In the 11th minute May nearly found the net with an overhead kick from a Wotherspoon cross; his audacious effort just clearing the Thistle crossbar.
May didn’t score against Thistle while on loan with Hamilton last season but he was close again to finding the back of the Thistle net as a St Johnstone player in the 20th minute when he cut in from the left corner of the Thistle penalty area before firing narrowly wide of Scott Fox’s right hand post.
Worryingly for Thistle, Isaac Osbourne picked up a knock shortly before the interval which saw him replaced by John Baird. It would unquestionably be a blow to lose a player to injury in a game that ultimately doesn’t count towards anything. Yellow cards, however, collected in an abandoned match do still remain on a player’s disciplinary record which means that Gabriel Piccolo’s yellow card will stand.
