Although Jags hopes of promotion are now hanging by a thread, there is still a need to try and keep winning our games till the end of the season as Scottish Cup entry comes into play and we also have the slight possibility that league reconstruction may take place.

Somerset Park is playable at this moment in time and covers are down due to the possible threat of frost to-night [Tuesday] anyone intending to travel should check the Official site before leaving for Ayr.

Trains

Trains to Ayr leave Glasgow Central on hour and half hour taking around 50mins.Trains return at 21.43- 22.13.-22.36 [Fare £8.85 rtn £5.85 with rail card]
Trains to Newton-on-Ayr leave at 17.00-17.30-18.00-18.30 and return at 22.16 £8.60 rtn - £5.70 [with Rail card]

It might be something you already realized but MET office figures out this week confirmed that this winter has been very very cold. The coldest since 1979 in fact with the temperature between December and February barely a chilly 1.5c “Jags” fans heading for Palmerston Park on Saturday will I am sure will be covered in head to toe with gloves, scarves and hot water bottles, just to give the team the much needed support it will need to gain victory at this difficult venue.

Ian McCall should have a full squad to pick from and it is possible you may see Jackie McNamara in a deeper roll this Saturday.

Queen of the South have Rocco Quinn and Leon Knight suspended.

Trains
Trains leave Glasgow Central at 10.12 and 12.12 taking 1 ¾ hours Returning trains at 18.30 and 19.55
Fare £15.80 day return - with Rail Card £10.45

This was the second time Ross County this season had made the long journey to Glasgow. The trip this time no doubt made considerably more difficult by the heavy highland snow that has fallen over the last few days shutting down their A9 route.  During the first game, Thistle, on a smooth late summer pitch, passed and moved but to little effect against a stuffy , defensive County side intent on a draw.  However those Jags fans who thought that they would see a re run of the August meeting between the two sides were to be proved very wrong.

This time it was clear the roles were reversed. County, very much in the promotion race, were bringing a scintillating goalscoring form to Firhill and were out to take maximum points. To curb this threat Thistle lined up with three central defenders, supplemented by Jackie McNamara, who provided extra cover, sitting just in front of them. Ian McCall obviously deciding that his team would be best served with a more cautious 3 5 2 formation. A ‘difficult to beat’ philosophy that will hopefully see us through three up coming tough away matches.

Early on the signs were not good for the Jags.  Our ball retention was poor and, hindered by a lack of wide options, we played it long far too often. Ross County, in contrast were free flowing and neat and tidy. But despite this and their recent scoring form they produced little in front of goal. All of this made for a turgid first half, with only one or two half chances shared between the two sides.

A goal unexpectedly did come and it brought the only real moment of first half quality for Thistle. Jackie McNamara breaking from his defensive duties strode forward and scooped a clever pass over the heads of the County centre backs for Liam Buchanan to run onto. Liam took a few strides over the crumbly surface before placing a coolly placed shot into the right hand corner of the County goal. The one nil half time score line, provided a welcome relief.

At the start of the first half County added to their attacking options with the defensive midfielder Kettlewell replaced with striker Steven Craig meaning they would be playing three up. This extra attacking emphasis almost brought an equaliser. The right back Girvan firing in a low cross from the right into Woods, who, from point blank range, looked like  he only had to get a touch to turn the driven ball past Tuffey. However the Northern Irish international pushed out an arm to deflect and the ball was cleared.

The Thistle fear of a County equaliser at this point was soon allayed with a second goal from an unlikely source. It has to be said that Brian Hodge did not do an awful lot right in this game- clumsy in touch, careless with pass, he certainly was unable to bring last week’s decent form up in Dundee back to Glasgow. However his one real
piece of quality- firing in a rocket of a volley from the edge of the box ultimately won Thistle the game.  It also earned him an extra ten minutes on the park as it looked as though Stephen McKeown was stripped and ready to replace him just before his moment of magic.

When McKeown  did eventually come on Thistle looked a far better side. He not only added extra tenacity, but also provided a bridge between the forwards and the midfield. Thistle now had a spell where they took the game to County and looked as they could add another. The best chance of this period fell to the other sub Donnelly, who in one movement brilliantly dummied a through ball, span of his marker then took a lovely weighted lay off from Buchanan before forcing McGovern into a good save at his near post.
Despite this period of excellent Thistle play Ross County, with 15 minutes remaining found themselves back in the game. A lofted ball into the back post found Craig- who was allowed to simply nod back across goal for Barrowman to net from close range.

What followed was a very nervy remainder of the match not helped by the referee bizarrely finding four minutes of injury time. However despite managing to negotiate their way through four foot of snow and  the A9 snow gates  to get down to Glasgow, the Ross County forwards could not find a way past a solid looking Thistle back three, meaning the Glasgow side saw out the game and earned a deserved three points.

MOM: David Rowson- back to his best.

League challengers Ross County are the visitors to Firhill this Saturday and they will bring their own style of football with them. Grant Smith a new signing [son of a famous father] may make is debut; also in the squad will be Scott Boyd and Paul Di Giacomo.

Ross County supporters are running a free bus [just one] for this game, so expect an increase in the attendance this week!

Ian McCall is waiting on fitness reports on Robertson, Paton and Donnelly but Stephen McKeown is fit and ready to play.

The Jags need the three points in this game to keep the season alive; if it does not happen then the tavern will be a quiet place on Saturday night.

Once more the Jags faithful came away from Dens Park feeling that they had witnessed the team in red’n'yella put in the better performance than the home side, but leave empty handed, as despite a polished showing for much of the first half, a lack of punch in the final third proved their undoing.

A chilly day that put paid to the SPL match at McDairmid Park was no obstacle to the few hundred Thistle fans in the Bob Shankly stand who made the trip to Dundee, a number possibly boosted a little by those curious to see the debut of Jaggy (aka Jackie) McNamara. Thistle lined up in front of the Bobby Cox stand to pay tribute to the Dens legend who passed away on the morning of the match and whose death was marked by a minute’s applause, respectfully observed by both sets of fans.

Ian McCall rang the changes both in personnel and formation, with McNamara slotting in to the centre of midfield in front of a back three with Shields at sweeper. Paton claimed the right wing back position in preference to Corrigan with a Lovell - Buchanan partnership up front.

Thistle started brightly with early pressure on the left leading to a Conroy free kick which Archibald should have buried as he rose above a static Dundee defence, but he placed his header wide. Very shortly after, the Jags went behind to another early goal at Dens, this time from Eric Paton whose deflected shot from the corner of the box flew past Tuffey. Dundee almost added to their lead straight after when Hutchison looped the ball over after a McKenzie flick on from a corner.

The Jags midfield dug in though and the industrious Cairney and silky Hodge paired up well with McNamara going forward, with some neat interplay. A notable feature was Buchanan’s willingness to chase the ball into the corners and ask questions of Dundee’s creaky back four. At times he looked back to his pacy best, racing on to through balls and easily outpacing his opposite number. He was unlucky at least twice as useful balls were played just too far ahead or just too wide. His partner Lovell was having a harder time and the couple of times that he saw sight of goal, he seemed uncharacteristically hesitant, being tackled twice just as he was pulling the trigger.

Buchanan’s movement was causing problems and creating space for the midfield with Hodge and Paton both shooting wide from half chances. The Jags had the ball in the net just after the half hour as Douglas fumbled under Lovell’s challenge but unsurprisingly Mr McKendrick blew for an infringement even as Buchanan tapped in. Dundee began to compete better in midfield as the half wore on and the game evened out. Lovell though still had another half chance just before half time from a Paton through ball but his lob lacked composure and he fired over.

As the second half restarted the away stand was abuzz with the anticipation of another forty five minutes of midfield dominance and perhaps a bit more luck in front of goal, but the luck was at the other end as Hutchison slammed wide from a Griffiths low cross. While Thistle fans’ heartbeats returned to normal, Buchanan was replaced by Donnelly on 47 minutes, possibly due to injury.

Brian Kerr’s constant moaning seemed to spur Dundee to dig in and make the game more physical, with a string of niggly fouls breaking up the flow. Neither team could get to grips with the game and Thistle’s lack of pace up front failed to trouble Dundee, but there was still only one team looking to play football. Unfortunately as Dundee clawed their way towards the finish line, Thistle found themselves lumping the ball forward more often, with the quality of final ball fading as time wore on.

A brief flurry of half chances for both sides around the 75th minute brought some excitement including a good through ball from the debutant McNamara that found substitute Erskine lacking in the shot department, with Harkins hammering wide a speculative volley at the other end.

Whilst the distance did make it hard to see for certain, it looked like Thistle had a good shout for a penalty in the final minute as Ryan Conroy was felled as he took the ball past Eric Paton, but as the players waited for the whistle, the ref waved play on.

In the spirit of glass half full, this was a better performance than we have seen for some time, with the big Dens pitch suiting a more populated midfield and the space available for Hodge in particular to pick out some decent through balls. Thistle’s interest in the top of the league is fast receding, but if this is an indication of McCall’s planning for next season, it doesn’t look too far away. The return of Rowson next week will ask some questions and it will be interesting to see where and how he slots into the redesigned midfield.

Man of the match - Bryan Hodge despite being subbed late in the game, Hodge looked confident and assured for much of the first half and had one of his best games in a red and yellow shirt.

The teams emerged from the tunnel in bright sunlight, with the Jags in their Camouflaged Pink strip in honour of think Pink day and Airdrie in their normal White, with Red diamond.

The game started poorly and went steadily downhill, with passes continually going astray and I hope I’m not being biased when I say this was mainly Airdrie’s doing.The crowd in the Jacky Husband, was so quiet you could have heard a canteen of cutlery drop. The first cheer of the day came when Lovering, who looked like he was doing an audition for “So you think you can dance” tripped over his own feet, did a twirl and then collapsed to the turf, much to the amusement of the Firhill faithfull, who gave him a chorus of “He Haw” “HE Haw” on his way back to his position. The game burst into life, when, in 29 minutes, Buchanan finished a great run with a shot from just outside the box. Robertson in the Airdrie goal, failed to hold and Paul Cairney was first to the ball, to force it into the net.

Airdrie were unlucky not to equalize when after a free kick by McLauchlan, Mark Smyth who must have seen an image of Adam Strachan on the Firhill crossbar, thundered a tremendous drive against the a fore mentioned, luckily cleared by the Thistle defence on the rebound.

With Three minutes to go to half time, Thistle stuck again. Buchanan and Rowson combined to create an opening for Paul Cairney to crash home Thistle’s second from just inside the box, causing an Exodus[well a few]of Airdrie fans to the exits.Thats how bad it was.

Airdrie made two substitutions at the start of the second half with Alan Trouten and the industrious Scott Gemmill coming on for McCann and McDonald. This seemed to give Airdrie a boost and a penalty seemed on the cards when after a great run, Gemmill was pushed in the box. There was a sigh of relief from Jags fans when the ref., waved away the Airdrie protests. Airdrie were starting to get their passing game going and when Gemmell again burst into the box, only a well timed tackle from Corrigan stopped a certain score. The referee must have then decided to liven up the crowd at this point, as he booked the poor Airdrie boy for diving and then started booking any player that made a tackle, including Trouten for taking a free kick before the whistle. As this was the boys second booking, he was given his marching orders; this was followed by the departure of Rowson, shown the Red card for a couple of simple fouls. I was surprised not to hear the chant of “Who’s the Fuhrer in the Black” from both sets of fans, after the way his arm went up and down in the second half.

The rumour from both dressing rooms is that a letter is on its way to Nicola Sturgeon asking for her intervention in the matter.

Paul Paton, who had just come on for Hodge, missed an unbelievable chance to make it three for the Jags, when he completely missed Liam’s cross into the box.

When the Referee blew the whistle for full time, the lad sitting next to me said “That was dire “My reply was “I don’t think it was that good”

Partick Thistle-Tuffey,Corrigan,Conroy,Hodge,Robertson,Archibald,Cairney,Rowson,Buchanan,Donnolly,Corcoran
Subs: Paton, Erskine.Lovell, Greachan and Halliwell

Airdrie-
Robertson,Parratt,Lovering,Storey,Smyth,Lagana,McCann,McDonald,O’Carroll,McLaughlin,Waddell
Subs: Keenan, Gemmill, Trouten, Nixon, Hollis

Admission
Adults £16.00
Concessions £11.00
Under16’s FREE

Hallelujah! After searching high and low for years scientists now believe they have found a reason to suggest that beer is good for you! Apparently it contains lots of silicon and hey presto (sparing the rather dull explanation) that’s a good thing!

Let’s hope we are having a celebratory beer down in the Tavern after the game.

Mr. McCall has selection problems with Maxi, Shields and McKeown out and Rowson only 50-50 so it looks like Paton and Conroy in the full back positions and Archie moving into the middle alongside Robertson.

Admission
Main Stand:-
Adults £15.00
Concessions £8.00 [OAP’s and under16’s only]
Ground:-
Adults £15.00
Concessions £8.00 [OAP’s and under16’s only]

“Oh we do like to be beside the seaside “Not standing on a open terracing on a cold Wednesday night in Ayr  we don’t .I suspect that beach balls,short sleeve shirts and shorts will not be on the menu for the Jags fans.
Jags will travel the short distance with nearly a full compliment of players. Paul Cairney is very doubtful as is Stephen Mckeown.

Train times
Trains leave Glasgow Central to Ayr on the hour and half hour and it takes just under 1 hour
The 1630:17.30:18.00:18.30 will stop at Newton-on –Ayr
Trains leave Ayr at 21.43:22.13:22.36:23.00
Trains leave Newton-on –Ayr  at 22.16 and 23.03
Fare £8.60 Rtn [£5.70 with Rail card]

by Partick the Dog (with assistance from Wee Honk)

A controversial last minute spot kick fired home by Adam (remember the name) Rooney denied Thistle a deserved draw in an entertaining Battle of the Jags. The result was particularly hard on Jonny Tuffey who turned in a heroic performance, including saving an earlier penalty.  The effort and commitment displayed by an understrength Thistle side gave the supporters much more reason for encouragement than the previous two more abject defeats.

The first recorded visitor to Inverness was St Columba in 565. He dodged an attempted tackle by Ross Tokely and succeeded in converting the Pictish king Brude, though whether he would have had similar success with the current ICTish kingpin Terry Butcher is debatable. The journey north took the Thistle fans through a frozen waste dotted with snowclad mountains and past Scotland’s highest distillery at Tomatin. The last recorded wolf in Scotland reportedly met its end at Slochd Summit over which the A9 now runs and indeed there was no sign of Dougie Imrie in the Caley squad.

Signs pointing to Culloden brought back memories of past battles, Shaggy’s raging free kick, Marko’s late penalty and Archie’s wondergoal. A quick stroll under the Kessock Bridge (sadly no Kessock dancers in evidence), past two Thistle Directors out taking the air, led me to the Longman Bird Hide with descriptions of the cormorants, curlews and oystercatchers I might be privileged to witness.

Back to the Tulloch Teacake Stadium (or whatever it is now called), I found that Butcher had chosen to hide his bird and so Robert Eagle remained glued to his perch throughout the game. However, the absence of numerous regular players led to a rare early afternoon sighting of Avius Maximus (roughly translated as Big Bird) Chris Erskine who was in his favoured position on the left wing, with Mark Corcoran switching to the right. The unavailability of Paul Paton, Alan Archibald, Mark Cairney, Greg Shields and Simon Donnelly due to a combination of suspension, injury and illness also produced appearances for the almost forgotten Martyn Corrigan and Bryan Hodge.

Volunteers had swept snow to the edge of the pitch, though to venture beyond risked being lost in a snowdrift. New signing from Stirling Albion, Martin Grehan, joined fellow striker Kris Doolan and Paddy Boyle, Ryan Macbeth and Bryn Halliwell on the bench. There was an award ceremony to mark a 500th appearance by Ross Tokely (for whom the cliché good honest pro might have been invented) and he was given the privilege of sporting Number 9, the only number he had not previously worn. The unseasonably named David Somers blew his whistle and we were under way.

The first attack of the game revealed who were going to be the dramatis personae of this encounter. Tricky winger Jonny Hayes played in Adam Rooney who was left with only Jonny Tuffey to beat. The goalkeeper was on to the striker like a flash, spreading himself superbly to block the shot. Tuffey had to look lively again a few minutes later. The Thistle defence were conceding an alarming number of free headers in their own box and from one of these Richie Foran forced Jonny to palm wide.

Nevertheless, it was not all one way traffic. Corrigan and Corcoran on the right and Conroy and Erskine on the left were both combining well and there was good delivery into the box from crosses and corners. The Erskine Bridge was clearly inspired by running towards the Kessock Bridge and was arriving regularly at the far side of the box to meet balls which had made their way across. After a Conroy corner and a Maxwell flicked header, Big Bird’s shot was blocked.

As the Real Jags began to dominate the Fake Jags, Thistle took a deserved lead. Corcoran was finding a lot of joy cutting in from the right on to his left foot and by working out the angles, he realised that the same technique for hitting the byeline and delivering a cross from the left would work equally well for arriving at the centre of the pitch and firing in a shot. This was displayed to perfection in the 17th minute when his Andy Murray style passing shot from 25 yards gathered pace as it flew straight just inside the tramline to scud into the bottom corner of the net. He tried the same trick from even further out a few minutes later, but this time Esson was able to get down to make the save.

The Thistle fans were in fine voice with chants in support of Ian McCall being mixed with “We are Thistle, we are Thistle, you’re no, you’re no”. The dangerous Hayes tried to go past Corrigan in the box. The slightest touch sent him spinning around on the icy ground like an extra from Happy Feet. There was a slight intake of breath as Mr Somers ran up, but relief all round at the Thistle end as he administered a yellow card to the diver (another bird in evidence today).

Caley were becoming frustrated as frequent long balls skidded over the byeline. Thistle gradually took the ascendancy with Erskine having two more shots blocked. Hodge was showing up well and spraying passes from the quarterback position. The only negative note was that all the threat came from out wide and our much vaunted best strike force in the First Division could not get into the game. Stevie Lovell looked as if he had perhaps been out too late attending his wife’s Keltik Konnections Koncerts (spelled that way to avoid any allegations of Old Firm bias) while my notes constantly record “LB surrenders possession”. Perhaps we missed the industry of Cairney, as generally there was too big a gap between the midfield and the strikers.

However as the Jags fans began to sing, “We all dream of a team of Paddy Boyle”, Caley reminded us that while there may be only one Thistle, there were certainly two teams in this match. Their equalising goal was swift and clinical in its execution.  A through ball into the right hand side of the Thistle box for once evaded the otherwise excellent Martyn Corrigan and John Robertson. In virtually one movement Hayes brought the ball under control and despatched it unerringly in off the far post, the one place which Tuffey could not possibly reach.

Thistle came back and yet another corner by Ryan “Ten Four Good Buddy” Conroy arrived at the feet of Big Bird who smacked a shot off the crossbar. Another blocked Chris Erskine shot, this time from a Conroy free kick, took us to half time. No one seemed quite sure how to react when the news came through that Ross County were winning 1-0 at Dundee.
There was an early chance for the misfiring Thistle strike force in the second half. A pass from Lovell looked like it would be dealt with by a defender, but instead squirted through. Buchanan was back on his heels, whereas if he had been pressing forward he might have reached the ball before the keeper. Action quickly moved to the other end with Thistle rejectee Dani Sanchez forcing Tuffey to push his shot wide.

Thistle then enjoyed their best period of the match, rousing the crowd to their feet with a succession of corners and half chances. The best series of opportunities fell to Liam after yet another Conroy corner. He had three bites at the cherry. His first shot cannoned back off Esson in the Inverness goal. His second attempt was a low driven cross which the defence scrambled out, before finally he turned the ball back to Hodge whose dipping shot was turned over the bar. Shortly thereafter Liam had an even better chance but seemed to hit his shot into the turf from where it bounced on to the roof of the net.

Corcoran went to ground in the box in a similar manner to Hayes and was perhaps fortunate to be awarded a corner rather than a booking. Liam fired a cross along the six yard box but neither Lovell nor anyone else had made a run in anticipation of this.

Like Andy Murray in the tiebreak against Roger Federer, the failure to convert this period of pressure into points or goals on the board inevitably led to a momentum switch. It is at this point that the management team’s tactics could be questioned. The strikers were not on best form and the wide players Corcoran and Erskine were clearly tiring and going down a notch from their first half excellence. Even if one-eleventh of a team of Paddy Boyle was not really a serious option, why were all or at least some of strikers Martin Grehan and Kris Doolan and wide midfielder Ryan Macbeth not pressed into action, especially as they would all have been surprise packages for Inverness? They could not have been less effective than those on the park and at the very least they would have brought the famous “fresh legs” and perhaps some fresh imagination to the Thistle approach.

Midway through the second half, Hodge was dispossessed by Rooney and in trying to recover brought down the Inverness striker. It was a penalty out of nothing. Jonny made himself big and Rooney’s too straight attempt struck the goalkeeper and was lifted over the bar. Inverness were now streaming forward, but still vulnerable to a Thistle counter attack. From one of these Erskine was chopped by Munro (who was booked), leading to a free kick at the edge of the box. With such clean ball strikers as Conroy and Hodge available, it was disappointing that Thistle resorted to the tippy tappy routine and it was no surprise when Rowson’s effort was charged down.

More Caley corners resulted in some brilliant headed clearances by the defenders and some good catches by Tuffey. The Thistle goalie was working hard to earn his corn and twice had to get down low to thwart Rooney and Sanchez. Lovell played Buchanan through and he took the ball round Esson. However, the goalkeeper had forced him slightly too far wide and Liam perhaps then needed a cool head to assess his options. Sadly, he quickly snatched his shot into the side netting.

Rooney broke through again, but, confronted by the whites of Tuffey’s eyes, he shot meekly wide. Butcher threw on Odhiambo for Foran as Caley went for the winner.

In the last act of the drama, Rooney raced towards the Thistle box. There was a coming together with captain for the day Ian Maxwell which (admittedly from the stand at the opposite end of the ground) looked to be in the “D”. The ball moved sideways, indicating that Maxy had got something on it. Mr Somers turned from being unseasonable to unreasonable and brandished a red card at alleged last man Maxwell. Jonny Tuffey interrogated the linesman more effectively than the Chilcot Inquiry, but like Tony Blair he had managed to convince himself that he had made the right decision. Somewhere in the middle of what the late great commentator Bill Maclaren would have described charitably as “a wee bit of argy bargy”, the linesman allegedly swore in the hearing of eight Thistle players, though no doubt he was only doing so in self defence.

We all settled back for the freekick at the edge of the box and were amazed when the award turned out to be a penalty. Although Tuffey was leading Rooney by at least Five Love in their personal record of head to heads, there was a feeling that this run could not go on forever and it was regrettably no surprise when the perfectly struck penalty sped low into the left corner. There was no way back for the team (but unfortunately a very long way back both for the team and for the supporters).

Jonny collapsed to the ground at the end and had to be picked up by Ryan Esson for the traditional sporting handshake. He recovered his energy sufficiently for a further futile blast at the referee and linesmen on the way off. Dundee’s loss to Caley’s Highland cousins made this late defeat even more difficult to stomach. However, if the team continue to display the same spirit and energy as was apparent for the first three quarters of this game, Thistle may begin to climb the table again.

Teams:-

Thistle (ratings): Tuffey 9, Corrigan 7, Conroy 7, Hodge 6, Robertson 7, Maxwell 6, Corcoran 7, Rowson 6, Buchanan 5, Lovell 5, Erskine 7

Unused Subs: Halliwell, Boyle, Grehan, Doolan, Macbeth

Inverness: Esson, Proctor, Bulvitis, Munro, Djebi-Zadi, Cox, Sanchez, Foran (Odhiambo), Tokely, Rooney, Hayes

Unused Subs: Allison, Duncan, Golabek, Eagle

Referee- David Somers
Assistants- George Drummond, Roddy Cobb

Goals:
Inverness: Hayes 38, Rooney 89 (pen)
Thistle: Corcoran 17

Attendance- 3107

McCall made one change from the defeat at Raith Rovers last week with Ian Maxwell returning and Liam Buchanan dropping to the bench. The formation was re-organized with Conroy out on the left and Paul Paton going to the right hand side of midfield. This meant Cairney playing central midfield with Rowson.

Dunfermline started the game well and David Graham had a shot which went wide of Tuffey’s post after the 8th minute. Nick Phinn just a few minutes later had a shot blocked.

David Graham came close after the 18th minute but was unable to get the shot on target.

It wasn’t till the 36th minute that Thistle managed to get their first corner but Ryan Conroy’s effort did not make any impact.

Dunfermline were on top for the first half and really should have taken more advantage of their possession and the corners they had.

Half time came and Ian McCall must have been looking to his bench. He made the choice to bring on Steve Lovell for Ryan Conroy. Dunfermline also made a substitution with Steven McDougall making way for Joe Cardle.

Cardle made the perfect start to the second half with an excellent goal giving Tuffey no chance.

Mark Corcoran nearly levelled just after the restart with a attempted cross that hit the bar.

The pace Dunfermline had was causing Thistle problems and Graham beat Paton and his shot hit off Tuffey. The ball broke out but luckily the flag went up for offside before Dunfermline could take advantage.

Ian McCall called over Liam Buchanan and the ‘out of sorts’ Simon Donnelly
made way for him.

Buchanan got himself involved in the game and was set up by Lovell. Buchanan was in the clear but from a tight angle and his shot didn’t have any power, Corcoran
made a run through the middle and was not too happy that Buchanan had chosen to shoot rather than pass.

Dunfermline were continuing to press Thistle and Greg Shields gave a free kick away just at the edge of the box. He was lucky to get away with just a yellow card. Willie Gibson took the free kick and his powerful shot just went past Tuffey’s post.

The next move really did sum-up Thistle’s day, with striker Steve Lovell electing to pass to Liam Buchanan when clear through on goal. You really expect a striker like Lowell to score from a situation like that. Liam was unable to convert the pass into the net.

Cardle was causing all sorts of problems and he set up Nick Phinn but his shot was off target.

After the 68th minute Thistle’s luck in front of goal continued. The ball hit off Buchanan and bounced clear. It just would not fall to Thistle.

Joe Cardle was seemingly untouchable and rounded off his afternoon by again skinning the Thistle defence and striking the ball high into the net.

David Rowson had a powerful shot on target after the 75th minute, Fleming in the Dunfermline goal managed to block Buchanan’s shot after the ball broke to him.

No doubt the worst Thistle performance I have seen under McCall. Every player seemed out of sorts. Maxwell was really the only guy I could give pass marks to. It’s in these types of situations when you need experienced player’s to come and show there ability. McCall must be thinking of making changes to his defence for next season.

Man of the match - Joe Cardle. This award normally goes to a Thistle player but it would be ridiculous for it to go elsewhere. He ran riot when he came on and  may have ended a few defenders chances at Firhill. McCall must be worried about how slow and cumbersome his defenders looked against him.