Partick Thistle 1 Dunfermline 1
Tuesday, 10th Mar 2020Ladbrokes Championship: one change - Gabby McGill started in place of Lewis McCann. Euan Murray (72) 0-1: Brian Graham (90+4) 1-1
A Brian Graham goal in the fourth minute of time added on salvaged a point for Partick who felt that was as little as they deserved. The home side dominated the first half, had a penalty saved and then conceded to a great setpiece routine finished by Euan Murray.
The Pars travelled to Glasgow in search of full points to strengthen their play off place challenge. With only Alloa Athletic taking full points at the weekend, Stevie Crawford’s team still occupied fifth place with 36 points, Thistle were still on the bottom of the pile 11 points worse off but with a game in hand.
Ian McCall named an unchanged Thistle starting eleven, the same players and subs as featured in the 1-1 draw at Tannadice on Saturday. Both former Pars Ryan Williamson and Joe Cardle were missing through injury.
For the match at the Energy Check Stadium Stevie Crawford brought back 19 year old Gabby McGill. The Yorkshireman made his Championship starting debut in the first meeting in September his inclusion meant Lewis McCann was returned to the bench.
In the week when he was named in the Scotland squad for the UEFA European Under-19 Championship elite round later this month, Ethan Ross was given his fourth Dunfermline start. The Under-19‘s will take on France, Russia and Georgia in Group 3 between 25th and 31st March.
Dunfermline kicked off attacking the goal at the open end of the ground. The stadium announcer had asked their supporters to welcome the ‘Mighty Thistle’ and in the opening three minutes they certainly looked that as they put the visitors defence to test. It was just the second minute when Lewis Martin had to scoop away a Shea Gordon cross and next minute Williams had to fist away a Reece Cole shot.
The Pars were penned back in their own half for the first fifteen minutes during which Stuart Bannigan received a Gordon pass to crash a shot over the bar from the edge of the box. Martin was alert to stop Zak Rudden getting in an effort from 18 yards and then Danny Devine headed away another Gordon cross.
Thistle forced the first corner of the evening and when James Penrice sent that in from the right Brian Graham’s attempt was touched over his bar by Owain Fôn Williams. The corner from the left by Cole again saw Williams punch clear.
Martin headed a Gordon cross behind to hand Thistle a 18th minute corner. Devine scrambled the low cross behind and the next corner Jon Afolabi headed out but in his efforts to clear further brought down Penrice and referee Steven Kirkland awarded a 19th minute penalty kick. Captain Stuart Bannigan approached from an angle on right, sent the shot right and Williams stretched to his left to save.
The Fifers has the opportunity from a free kick when Afolabi was fouled and Dom Thomas tried to pick out Murray at the right side of the six yard box but he could not get enough on his attempt.
In 26 minute a chipped ball over the top reached Rudden and thankfully as Fôn Williams came out to meet him the attempt to lob the keeper cleared the bar. Two minutes another Thistle corner after Murray was forced to turn a Gordon cross behind, was held by Fôn Williams.
Fôn Williams next had to hold a header from Graham after Rudden had made ground down the right and successfully delivered a cross to the far side of the Pars six yards box. Ten minutes from the break the Pars threatened on the right side with Turner cutting in seeking Thomas but only a corner ensued. That turned out to be dangerous since when Ross sent that in Graham’s header sent Cole away and only a great last man tackle by Comrie saved the day.
The home side continued to press with Tommy Robson sending a cross through the six yard box in 42 minutes and just before half time Rudden sent the ball over off the crossbar after he had lifted his effort over Martin and Fôn Williams.
It had been all Thistle and their keeper must have been very cold. There had been only one Dunfermline shot, Thistle had managed seven and had seven first half corners. Possession had been 60/40 in the home side’s favour.
Half Time: Partick Thistle 0 Dunfermline 0
There was a double substitution for Dunfermline at half time Ethan Ross and Gabby McGill going off and Tom Beadling and Josh Edwards coming on.
Thistle had the Pars under pressure from the restart and Comrie was rather close to turning in a cross from the right just outside the right goalpost. Then the Fifers made two chances Thomas breaking through only for Fox to come out and clear and then on 55 minutes Edwards and Turner combining to tee up Thomas but his good connection was just wide left.
Two more minutes past and the Jags had another near thing. Fôn Williams pulled off a great save and Martin’s last ditch boot denied the home side the opener. While at the other end Turner was unlucky not to get enough control in front of goal to execute a shot.
Afolabi broke in 62 minutes, laid the ball off to Turner to his left but the final pass into the box just evaded Thomas.
A Tom O’Ware shot was headed over by Beadling and a reprieve came when Afolabi was sent up the left by Turner but he just could find anyone with a cross except Penrice whose headed just cleared the bar. Thomas’s corner from the left was a daisycutter and MURRAY met it brilliantly to melt the ball home. 0-1
The 370 Pars fans at last had something to sing about and how they enjoyed that. There was still plenty of defending to do as Thistle brought on Dario Zanatta for James Penrice and then Lewis Mansell for Zak Rudden.
Thistle were penalised for pushing at an 83rd minute corner before Thomas took the heat off winning one at the other end. The home defence cleared and the frustration grew in the home support as Thistle lost their impetus and with the clock running down the visitors defence stuck to their task.
In 90 minutes Afolabi went down in the box as Mansell tracked him but no penalty. It was a nervy period of added time, the Pars took their time when possible but in the fourth minute added Brian GRAHAM rose to head in the late late equaliser with Fôn Williams complaining bitterly that he had been fouled and that the goalscorer had been offside when the cross came in that led to the equaliser. 1-1.
It was another case where decisions, and this time lack of them, went against Dunfermline. It has been one sided for the first 45 minutes and the Fifers were fortunate to go in all square at half time considering the amount of pressure from Thistle and the penalty saved by Fôn Williams. To go ahead and then hold out would have been a bit smash and grab but would we have complained.
Thistle put in a huge performance and probably deserved something from it but definitely not in the manner they did. So Pars still 5th and face Dundee at the Kilmac on Saturday in what will be a six pointer.
SUBS NOT USED: Jamie Barjonas, Lewis Mansell, Darian MacKinnon, Steven Saunders, Lee O’Connor, Jamie Sneddon (GK)
SCORERS: Graham (90+4)
DUNFERMLINE: Owain Fôn Williams: Aaron Comrie, Lewis Martin, Danny Devine, Euan Murray: Dom Thomas, Paul Paton (c), Kyle Turner (Joe Thomson 72), Ethan Ross (Josh Edwards HT): Gabby McGill (Tom Beadling HT), Jonathan Afolabi
SUBS NOT USED: Matthew Todd, Lewis McCann, Miller Fenton, Cammy Gill (GK)
SCORERS: Murray (72)
YELLOW CARD: Beadling (61), Devine (69)
REFEREE: Steven Kirkland
WEATHER: Clear 6°C
ATTENDANCE 2078
NEXT MATCH: Ladbrokes Championship (away) v Dundee Saturday 14th March 2020, kick off 3.00pm at the Kilmac Stadium at Dens Park.
Views : 7,239
Related Stories
- Managers post Partick Thistle
- Reserves v Hearts
- Dunfermline 1 Queen of the South 1
- Arbroath 0 Dunfermline 0
-
Partick Thistle 1-1 Dunfermline
Tue, 10th Mar 2020
-
Stevie Crawford post Partick Thistle..
Tue, 10th Mar 2020
-
Paul Paton post Partick Thistle
Tue, 10th Mar 2020
Check out the Gallery for more photo's -- the images below will scroll through automatically.
Preview Partick Thistle
Tuesday, 10th Mar 2020Ladbrokes Championship (away) Tuesday 10th March 2020, kick off 7.45pm at the Energy Check Stadium at Firhill.
This is the match postponed from Saturday 22nd February, one of only two Pars matches to succumb to the Scottish winter. Stevie Crawford takes his side to face an Ian McCall’s side that sits bottom of the table.
Partick Thistle may well sit bottom of the Championship table but they are unbeaten in their last two league matches and will be boosted with their point at Tannadice on Saturday. Dunfermline missed out on the possibility of closing in on a play off place by only drawing on Saturday against Queen of the South and they will be out to take the three points back to the Kingdom.
Milestones Partick (away)
Last League Victory | 21/09/19 | 3-0 | Championship
Last League Defeat | 08/12/18 | 0-2 | Championship
Best League Victory | 20/04/66 | 6-2 | Div One*
Worst League Defeat | 10/11/34 | 1-7 | Div One*
*Pre league reconstruction
In the previous 88 league meetings Dunfermline have won 37, Partick 27 and 24 have been drawn but at Firhill the home side has the upper hand with 18 wins to 15.
Dunfermline v Partick Thistle: The Full League Record
P | W | D | L | For | Agst
45 | 22 | 14 | 9 | 78 | 58 | At East End Park
43 | 15 | 10 | 18 | 55 | 73 | At Firhill
45 | 18 | 14 | 13 | 77 | 72 | Division One (up to 1975)
6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 10 | Premier Division (since 1975)
30 | 12 | 7 | 11 | 32 | 40 | First Division (since 1975)
6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 5 | Championship
88 | 37 | 24 | 27 | 134 | 130 | TOTALS
The Pars recorded a 3-0 victory in the first game between the sides this season at a time when Thistle were under the interim management of Gerry Britton. In the St Andrews Day return at East End Park the Pars ran out 5-1 winners as Kevin Nisbet knocked in four.
Last time at Energy Check Stadium
Ladbrokes Championship, 22nd September 2019
Partick Thistle 0 Dunfermline 3
Midway through the first half the home side were caught out by a slick Pars move. Ryan Dow threaded the ball onto the path of Aaron Comrie overlapping up the right and his early cross was met by NISBET 15 yards out to fire the ball into the bottom left of the Thistle net with Scott Fox unable to get to it. 0-1
The second Pars goal in 32nd minutes was a tremendous solo effort from DOW. He ran in on a diagonal run from the right and as no one was able to stop him reached the inside of the Partick box to fire low into the bottom right. Fox was beaten and Kakay could do nothing on the line to prevent the goal. 0-2
The Fifers were to extend their lead in just the fourth minute of the half. Dow was slipped the ball from Kiltie who had popped up beside him on the right and Thistle paid for the stopping the cross. Half time sub Lewis McCann could have been the impact hero but 15 yards out he failed to get a proper connection but the ball was fed back to Kyle TURNER who thrashed a shot on target, albeit with the assistance of a deflection, to bulge the net from 25 yards out. 0-3
PARTICK THISTLE: Scott Fox: Osman Kakay, Tom O`Ware, Sean McGinty (c), James Penrice: Reece Cole, Stuart Bannigan, Shea Gordon (Lewis Mansell HT), Joe Cardle (Raffaele De Vita 56): Kenny Miller, Dario Zanatta (Tommy Robson 80).
SUBS NOT USED: Cammy Palmer, Ryan Williamson, Steven Saunders, Jamie Sneddon (GK).
DUNFERMLINE: Cammy Gill: Aaron Comrie, Lee Ashcroft, Lewis Martin, Josh Edwards: Ryan Dow (Tom Beadling 61), Paul Paton (c), Kyle Turner, Greg Kiltie (Harry Cochrane 79), Gabby McGill (Lewis McCann HT), Kevin Nisbet.
SUBS NOT USED: Josh Coley, Andy Ryan, Stuart Morrison, Ryan Scully (GK)
Thistle have won nine of their 26 games since Ian McCall took charge in September, three of those wins were in cup competitions.
Form Last Six Matches
Dunfermline have won three of their last six matches and away from home this season have taken three points from Partick, Ayr United and Queen of the South.
Partick Thistle have now gone nine games without a victory and are six points behind Alloa Athletic in the safety of eighth place. It is seven league games back since Thistle’s last win which was at Cappielow on the last Saturday of 2019.
DUNFERMLINE
Queen of the South (H) D 1-1
Arbroath (A) D 0-0
Dundee United (H) W 2-0
Inverness Caley Thistle (H) L 1-2
Queen of the South (A) W 3-2
Dundee (H) W 2-0
PARTICK THISTLE
Dundee United (A) D 1-1
Queen of the South (H) D 0-0
Raith Rovers (H) L 1-2
Dundee (A) L 0-2
Ayr United (H) D 1-1
Arbroath (A) L 1-2
Current League Stats
DUNFERMLINE
League Position: 5th
League Points: 36
Goal Difference: +5
League Record: P27 W10 D6 L10 GF40 GA35
Away League Record: P12 W3 D3 L6 GF15 GA18
Last Six League Match Form: WWLWDD
PARTICK THISTLE
League Position: 10th
League Points: 25
Goal Difference: -15
League Record: P26 W6 D6 L13 GF31 GA46
Home League Record: P12 W2 D3 L7 GF12 GA21
Last Six League Match Form: LLDLDD
Patrick’s six league victories have been two v Inverness, two v Morton, one at Dundee and one at Queen of the South. They have only won two league matches at home this season, the last over Inverness on 14th December.
Last time out
DUNFERMLINE (v Queen of the South): Owain Fôn Williams: Aaron Comrie, Lewis Martin, Danny Devine, Euan Murray: Dom Thomas, Paul Paton (c), Kyle Turner, Ethan Ross (Joe Thomson 85): Lewis McCann (Matthew Todd 67), Jonathan Afolabi (Gabby McGill 85).
SUBS NOT USED: Josh Edwards, Tom Beadling, Miller Fenton, Cammy Gill (GK)
PARTICK THISTLE (v Dundee United): Scott Fox: Lewis Mayo, Tom O’Ware, Darren Brownlie, James Penrice: Reece Cole, Stuart Bannigan, Tommy Robson, Shea Gordon (Jamie Barjonas 80), Zak Rudden (Dario Zanatta 67), Brian Graham (Lewis Mansell 85).
SUBS NOT USED: Darian MacKinnon, Steven Saunders, Lee O’Connor, Jamie Sneddon (GK).
The referee will be Steven Kirkland.
Other Championship fixtures
Dundee v Ayr United
Inverness Caledonian Thistle v Queen of the South
Views : 10,624
Related Stories
- Queen of the South 2 Dunfermline 3
- Player of the Year 2020 - Save the Date!
- Curry and a Pint at East End Park
- Match Sponsorship – Inverness CT
