Saturday 2nd August, 2025 at 10:12pm
Partick Thistle tasted defeat for the first time this season with a chastening 5-1 loss to St. Johnstone at McDiarmid Park in the William Hill Scottish Championship.
Mark Wilson named an unchanged side from the 3-1 victory over Ross County up at Dingwall last Saturday as Thistle returned to the Fair City for the first time in seven years off the back of a 100% record in the Premier Sports Cup group stages.
The Saints had the advantage in the early going, launching attacks on the Jags goal, with Adama Sidibeh coming perilously close on four minutes.
Lewis Budinauckas made a number of vital saves early on to keep the game goalless, as St. Johnstone heaped on the pressure.
After a Jamie Gullan effort saw both Dan O’Reilly and Lewis Budinauckus (twice) get called into action to stop the ball from going over the line, the Jags raced forward on the counter to open the scoring.
A clever backheel from Logan Chalmers to Cammy Logan allowed him to launch the ball over to PADDY READING, who slotted home for his first goal in red and yellow from six yards.
The lead would be short lived though as Jamie Gillian raced into space two minutes after, firing past Budinauckas to equalise for the Saints.
St. Johnstone then took the lead ten minutes later. Josh McPake curled a shot in from the left-hand side to nudge the home team in front.
The Jags were looking to get a route back to equality with Tony Watt and Dan O’Reilly going close with headers.
St Johnstone, however, tried their best to kill the game off in the first half with Reece McAlear and Reghan Tumilty both coming dangerously near.
The third goal did eventually come before half time though, as McPake grabbed his second. A stramash in the box saw McPake squeeze home the ball to give Saints a two-goal lead.
Despite some good counter attacking play from the visitors it was the Saints that found themselves deservedly in front going down the tunnel.
Half Time – St. Johnstone 3 Partick Thistle 1
With Thistle looking for a route back into the game, Wilson made a change at half time, with Aidan Fitzpatrick coming off. Ben Stanway took his place, as Thistle reverted to a 3-5-2 formation.
That route was further away, as McPake once again found himself with space on the left wing. With the Jags backline backing off, McPake was able to complete his hat trick with a facsimile of his first goal two minutes after the interval.
With the game looking well and truly done, the tempo slowed as Thistle failed to get any traction going forward. Saints played the last half hour, dominant in possession.
Salt was rubbed into the Thistle wound on 81 minutes though when Stevie Malian curled a stupendous free kick into the top corner past a powerless Budinauckas for St. Johnstone’s fifth.
Full Time – St. Johnstone 5 Partick Thistle 1
It was a painful full stop on a poor Jags performance, as the Harry Wraggs were brought back down to reality after a superb Premier Sports Cup campaign.
Mark Wilson’s side will hope to bounce back next Saturday, when they welcome Greenock Morton to the Wyre Stadium at Firhill for our opening home game of the campaign.
Partick Thistle: Lewis Budinauckas; Cammy Logan, Lee Ashcroft, Dan O’Reilly, Paddy Reading; Luke McBeth, Ts’oanelo Lets’osa (Steven Lawless 61’), Robbie Crawford; Tony Watt (Thomas Horn 74’), Aidan Fitzpatrick (Ben Stanway 45’), Logan Chalmers
Unused Substitutes: Josh Clarke (GK); Zander Mackenzie, Mathew Falconer, Liam Dolan
St. Johnstone: Toby Steward; Matty Foulds, Jack Baird, Cheikh Diabate, Reghan Tumilty; Jason Holt, Reece McAlear (Sven Sprangler 45’), Josh McPake (Makenzie Kirk 61’), Jamie Gullan (Jonathan Svedberg 69’), Stevie Mallan (Fran Franczak 83’), Adama Sidibeh (Uche Ikpeazu 82’)
Unused Substitutes: Ross Sinclair (GK); Scott Bright, Sam Stanton, Taylor Steven
Referee: Ross Hardie
Attendance: 4,991
By David Forrest
