Tuesday 11th March, 2025 at 11:21pm
Partick Thistle struck a positive blow in the battle for the play-off places with a 2-0 win at Hampden Park against city rivals Queen’s Park.
Goals from Logan Chalmers and Alex Jakubiak ensured the Jags returned to The Wyre Stadium at Firhill with the Glasgow Derby bragging rights.
Thistle named an unchanged side from the 1-1 draw at home to Livingston ten days ago. Ben Stanway was the only absentee from the bench, having picked up an injury earlier in the day.
It was a Tuesday night clash under the lights of the National Stadium, after the original tie was rearranged from Saturday due to QP’s involvement in the Scottish Cup Quarter Finals.
The two sides met for the sixteenth time in three seasons, with Thistle knowing a win over the Hampden side would see them go eight points ahead of their hosts and seven in front of nearest rivals Morton.
It was a dream start for the Maryhill men, taking the lead after just four minutes when Brian Graham intercepted a loose pass out from goalkeeper Calum Ferrie. Graham then fired across the box to Chalmers who launched a rocket over Ferrie and into the net from about 15 yards out.
Thistle were then forced into an early change after Scott Martin appeared to take a knock upon conceding a free kick. Martin was unable to continue, with Kyle Turner taking his place.
The game then settled into a rhythm, with Queen’s having plenty of possession, but rarely threatening Lewis Budinauckas in the Thistle goal.
Thistle turned things around, penning The Spiders into their own half and the pressure nearly brought a second goal on 26 minutes as an errant backpass saw Ferrie forced to claw the ball away to prevent an own goal.
On 34 minutes, another lovely cross into the box from Josh Reid saw Graham flick on a header, with Kanayo Megwa unable to get anything on it as the ball travelled wide.
Four minutes later, Stuart Bannigan came agonisingly close to doubling the lead. His long-range effort got the better of Ferrie but clipped the post as Thistle continued to mount the pressure.
Graham also nearly got on the scoresheet, as he flicked on a cross from the right hand side, but Ferrie was able to get to the attempt with ease.
Four minutes of stoppage time saw a late surge from QP, but Thistle held strong, taking a 1-0 lead down the tunnel.
Half Time – Queen’s Park 0 Partick Thistle 1
Queen’s came out the traps early on, desperate to grab an equaliser. An early home free kick came to nothing, as did a resultant corner.
Eight minutes after the restart, Chalmers had the ball in the back of the net, after picking up a lovely pass from Graham. Unfortunately, the assistant’s flag was up and it was deemed offside.
With twenty-five minutes to go, Thistle had a sustained period of possession in the QP final third. Megwa had a lot of joy down the right-hand side, pinging crosses in, whilst Bannigan controlled the ball well, distributing from the outside of the box as Callum Davidson’s side struggled to get a sniff of the ball.
Dan O’Reilly stung the gloves of Ferrie with a long-range effort, but no one was able to get on it quickly enough to convert. Shortly after, Ferrie was called into action again, fisting away a Kyle Turner corner.
79 minutes in, Graham got his head to Dan O’Reilly’s free kick, but once again, the offside flag went up.
A nervy finish saw Thistle appeal for a handball and a penalty, but the referee ignored their pleas, waving on play.
The matter was settled in stoppage time when Chalmers broke through on the right-hand side, getting to the edge of the box.
Chalmers then tracked the ball back over to the path of substitute Alex Jakubiak who fired home to the delight of the sizable Thistle contingent in the away end.
Jakubiak’s second Thistle goal came a mere 1047 days after his first against Ayr in April 2022.
Full Time – Queen’s Park 0 Partick Thistle 2
Teams
Partick Thistle – Lewis Budinauckas, Kanayo Megwa, Lee Ashcroft, Dan O’Reilly, Josh Reid (Sean Kelly 82’), Scott Martin (Kyle Turner 10’), Stuart Bannigan, Luke McBeth, Robbie Crawford (Aidan Fitzpatrick 67’), Logan Chalmers, Brian Graham (Alex Jakubiak 82’)
Unused substitutes – David Mitchell (GK), Luis Cameron (GK), Zander Mackenzie, Matthew Falconer.
Queen’s Park – Calum Ferrie, Leon King (Sebastian Drozd 86’), Benjamin Jackson, William Tizzard, Adam Devine, Jack Turner, Louis Longridge (Rocco Hickey-Fugaccia 74’), Ryan Duncan, Jadan Raymond (Kyle Hurst 61’), Reece Evans (Roddy MacGregor 61’), Zak Rudden
Unused substitutes – Jack Wills (GK), Sean Welsh, Josh Hinds, Timam Scott, Jay McGarva
Referee – Ross Hardie
Crowd – 1,758
By David Forrest
