Friday 29th September, 2017 at 9:00am
Our results over the past few years have been anything but inspiring, but here and there we have struck a bit of good form and the match featured today was one such occasion. The previous six matches had included that famous “Geordie Shaw” 2-1 victory over Celtic at Parkhead, but also a 2-1 home defeat to Falkirk, so it was pretty much the cocktail of brilliance and ineptitude, to which we have become accustomed over the years. In other words, we headed to Motherwell without having the faintest idea as to what the final outcome might be. Maybe that’s no bad thing.
Anyway, to avoid the colour clash Thistle wore a predominantly white strip with red and yellow trim and black shorts. Motherwell were in their customary claret and amber. What an electrifying start to the match we made! We were two goals up inside the first 19 minutes and thereafter saw the game out reasonably comfortably. First on the scoresheet after 6 minutes was Willie Jamieson, a wee bit of a surprise although he had played up front at an earlier stage in his career. Fifteen minutes later the prolific Albert Craig added a second. I say prolific because “the ghost” was deadly in and around the edge of the penalty-box, but not really until season 1993/94 when he found the back of the net on no fewer than 18 occasions – quite remarkable.
The Thistle team on the day in question was as follows:- Andy Murdoch(record transfer fee paid), Martin Clark, Don McVicar, Ray Farningham, Willie Jamieson, Paul McLaughlin, George Shaw, Albert Craig, Gerry Britton, David Irons, Ian Cameron.
After the 44 league games played that season, Thistle finished 8th, one place above Motherwell. This was a creditable performance, given that we had just been promoted at the end of the previous season.
There are times when the football-obsessed among us have to stop for a minute, take a step back and see things in proper perspective. Playing for Thistle in the featured match was Don McVicar, while at outside-left for Motherwell was Davie Cooper. The ‘Well substitutes were Jamie Dolan and Paul McGrillen, both of whom also played for the Jags. Life can be so cruel at times. It’s sad to reflect that all four were taken from us at an early age. Does football really matter that much at the end of the day?
Robert R
