Crawford: There’s only one goal in it

Thursday 5th May, 2022 at 2:05pm

It was the usual rollercoaster of emotions at Firhill as Partick Thistle and Inverness contested the first leg of the cinch Premiership play-off quarter-finals. For a time it looked like Ian McCall’s Jags would be heading north with a goal advantage thanks to Robbie Crawford’s 54th minute goal, however, strikes from Shane Sutherland and Austin Samuels turned the game on its head in the final 20 minutes to give the Highlanders a one-goal advantage going into the return leg. Crawford spoke to ptfc.co.uk to reflect on Tuesday’s defeat and look ahead to the trip to the Caledonian Stadium on Friday:

“I thought it was a game on small margins in the first leg, to be honest. There weren’t many chances and it was probably an even game overall. We take the lead but then give away two goals that we probably shouldn’t have conceded but there’s only one goal in it so all we can do is go up there with confidence and see how it goes.”

The midfielder felt the Jags were deserving of their goal early in the second half and says he was more than happy to be the one to put it into the back of the net.

“There was a spell in the first half when we had them sort of pinned and then we started the second half well. For me, it was really pleasing to get on the scoresheet – we get the ball up to Brian, I make the run off him and he does well to find me then thankfully I was able to finish it off.”

Robbie then told us about the disappointment the team felt to go on and lose the game after that positive start to the second half.

“Obviously, it was really frustrating. When you take a lead in a play-off game, knowing that there are two legs, you want to hold that lead and put yourself in the best possible position going away from home but it wasn’t to be and now we have to go up there and look to win.

“I felt that if any team had the chances to win the game, it was us. A lot of their shots were from outside the box and we had a couple of really good chances that we could have done better with so although the result was difficult to take, we feel like if those big moments go our way then there’s no reason why we can’t turn this around.”

Going away from home knowing a win is needed to keep the tie alive, Crawford reckons self-belief could be an important factor for the Jags.

“No one in that changing room thinks this is over whatsoever. There’s one goal between us so we’re definitely not out the tie. The prize at the end of these play-offs is far too big to give up on so everyone will be ready to give it everything on Friday and hopefully we can get the result we need.”

Exclusive video interviews with Ciaran McKenna and Thistle manager Ian McCall will be available for JagZone subscribers to watch today – log in to view.

JagZone subscribers will be able to tune in to live audio commentary for our clash with Inverness, starting at 7:15pm – click here to tune in.

The game at the Caledonian Stadium will be broadcast live on the BBC Scotland channel.

We’ll have extended highlights and a full game replay of the fixture on JagZone following the game.