Saturday 21st March, 2026 at 3:07am
Partick Thistle were forced to settle for a point in their top of the table clash at The Wyre Stadium at Firhill, sharing the spoils with St Johnstone following a 0-0 draw.
Thistle came into the game knowing that a win would cut the gap between them and the league leading Saints to five points with a game in hand, whilst an away win would see the Perth side go 11 points clear with six games to go.
There was one change to the side that had prevailed over Greenock Morton a week prior, with Luke McBeth coming into the XI in place of Tony Watt, who came off at Cappielow with a hamstring problem. Watt joined Oisin Smyth, Fraser Taylor, Dan MacKay and Logan Chalmers on the injury list with Dan O’Reilly also missing through suspension.
St Johnstone started the brighter of the two teams, dominating the opening moments. McBeth was called into action early, heading away a dangerous Josh McPake cross from the right on three minutes.
The first real threat came on six minutes when Ruari Paton managed to find space inside the box but the Irishman fired wide of Josh Clarke’s right-hand post.
Paton continued to menace the Thistle defence, going close on 16 minutes. Some lackadaisical defending on the edge of the box allowed the ex-Queen’s Park man to slink in but his low shot was gathered by Clarke at the second attempt.
The Jags got on the front foot 25 minutes in, first forcing a corner via a deflected Robbie Crawford shot with the John Lambie Stand responding well to their endeavours.
The initial corner was cleared by Jack Baird, only for Lets’osa to reclaim the ball on the right-hand side before crossing. Steward managed to paw it partially clear, but Ben Stanway fought hardest for the loose ball and subsequently put a shot towards goal from 10 yards out with Baird on-hand again to get it away.
The game would then become a much cagier encounter with the frantic early pace settling down, inadvertently stifling the rhythm of each team. As such, the match remained goalless going into the break.
Half-time – Partick Thistle 0 St Johnstone 0
It was more of the same in the second half, with both sides hesitant to make a mistake. Alex Samuel had a rare sight of goal on 52 minutes as he cut in from the left flank, however, his powerful effort was close enough to Toby Steward to make it a comfortable grab.
Samuel was involved again two minutes later when he was knocked to the ground by Jack Baird as the Jags counter-attacked; an incident which would result in the Saints man getting booked.
Paton went close on the hour mark as he whipped a free kick in from near enough the byline on St. Johnstone’s left side. Morgan Boyes looked to be in prime position to flick a header home but he missed it completely and the ball flew past the back post for a goal kick.
Almost immediately following that there was another threat on the Thistle goal when Reece McAlear took aim from 25 yards. The midfielder had scored the winner last time out for Simo Valakari’s side against Ross County but saw this effort skirt past the post.
Those moments of discomfort inspired Mark Wilson to switch things up with Ricco Diack and Kyle Turner being introduced in place of Luke McBeth and Robbie Crawford as the Jags went to a 4-3-3.
The substitutions didn’t shake things up much but there was a moment that could have swung the match on 74 minutes. Already on a booking, Jack Baird was seen to catch Aidan Fitzpatrick in the face with an elbow while backpedalling to get into position, however, the incident went unpunished.
Both sides rolled the dice in the last fifteen minutes to try and find a winner, with Josh Fowler replacing Jamie Gullan whilst Lets’osa made way for Ethan Ingram. Ingram chipped a ball forward for Ben Stanway to run onto in the Saints’ area, but the midfielder’s left-footed swing flashed wide of the far post.
The Jags had a couple of injury time corner kicks which came to nothing and the match finished all square.
Full-time – Partick Thistle 0 St Johnstone 0
The result keeps the gap between the sides at eight points with Thistle set to play their game in hand against Raith Rovers in Kirkcaldy on Tuesday night.
Teams
Partick Thistle: Josh Clarke; Cale Loughrey, Lee Ashcroft, Luke McBeth (Ricco Diack, 63’); Paddy Reading, Ben McPherson; Ts’oanelo Lets’osa (Ethan Ingram, 75’), Robbie Crawford (Kyle Turner, 63’), Ben Stanway; Aidan Fitzpatrick, Alex Samuel.
Unused Substitutes: Lewis Budinauckas; Cammy Logan, Matthew Falconer, Liam Dolan, Daniel Gray.
St. Johnstone: Toby Steward; Morgan Boyes, Cheick Diabate, Jack Baird, Liam Smith; Jason Holt, Reece McAlear, Josh McPake, Jamie Gullan (Josh Fowler, 74’), Sam Stanton, Ruari Paton.
Unused Substitutes: Ross Sinclair; Matty Foulds, Louis Lloyd, Taylor Steven, Kai Fotheringham, Stevie Mallan, Alfredo Agyeman, Adam Forrester.
Referee: Duncan Nicolson
Attendance: 6,137 (1,447 away)
50/50 draw results
First prize – Cash prize – Ticket No. 293156
Second prize – Chance to take part in crossbar challenge – Ticket No. 292883
By David Forrest
