Sunday 18th September, 2016 at 10:00am
Having made an unexpected appearance off the bench in the match against St Johnstone a week ago Thistle keeper, Ryan Scully, started Saturday’s clash with Killie at Rugby Park. Although Tomas Cerny is considered the number one at Firhill, injury has seen Scully play more regularly than he might have expected to when he returned to the club from a loan spell with Dunfermline at the start of last season.
Ryan spoke exclusively to ptfc.co.uk after the final whistle on Saturday to give the rundown on his view of the game that ended in a 2-2 draw, a game in which he made a number of outstanding saves.
Ryan said: “It was obviously great to get the gloves back on in competitive action and to get that save in early on really helped settle me into the game. It would obviously have been nice to convert that performance into three points but it wasn’t to be.
“We played very well for a lot of the game today and it would have been a crime if we hadn’t come away with something. I thought we were the better team today and even right at the end we looked like we might have nicked it. We knew going into the game that they were going to knock a lot of balls long to Boyd and they will always get at least a couple of chances but we have to deal with that better as they were poor goals to concede.”
With the last kick of the game Ade Azeez looked as though he might have sent Thistle back to Glasgow with all three points as he went one on one with the Jamie MacDonald, only to see the Killie custodian get a fingertip to the dinked shot.
Scully said: “Obviously I was a long way away but I thought he was going to win it for us. It couldn’t have been set up any better either – with it being the last kick of the game and everything. Their keeper has done well to be fair as he’s made himself really big to put the pressure on Ade but I really did think that was going to be the winner. That combined with what I thought looked like a stone wall penalty makes that quite a tough one to take tonight.”
Scully isn’t new to being dropped in to the limelight mid-way through a season as he did it a number of times last season and the Thistle man know that he has to grasp the opportunity with both hands.
“It’s never nice seeing one of your team mates injured especially when it’s someone you work with every day but I also have to recognise that it’s a huge chance for me as well. From a purely selfish point of view it’s good that it has happened at this stage of the season as it gives me a chance to make the spot my own with a few good performances.
“Obviously you want Tomas to get back as quickly as possible but I have to be selfish to a certain extent too because that’s football and there’s only one place for goalies.”
There was a new face in Maryhill this week as Thorsten Stuckmann joined the club to provide some extra cover in the goalie position – something Thistle’s number 12 sees as a positive thing even if it does put him under even more pressure to perform.
“I think the big man coming in is only a good thing and his experience will be really valuable. I don’t think our young keepers are quite ready to step up yet but Thorsten has played down south and has plenty of game time under his belt so he’s a great addition.”
