One team in Glasgow Partick Thistle

Airdrie United 0-1 Partick Thistle Alba Challenge Cup
Saturday 25 July 2009 3.00pm New Broomfield
Reporter Kieron Dempsey
Referee: Calum Murray
Attendance: 1,325
 
The Challenge Cup tournament is one that a lot of people feel is superfluous at best and a waste of time at worst in the Scottish Football season callender. Perhaps that is why only  1,325 turned out for a match which was a repeat of last season’s semi-final with Thistle putting last season’s cup winners out of the tournament in the first round. This time the match was held in Airdrie’s territory at New Broomfield - a stadium that provides a fine example of a tidy modern football arena. Clean, modern and, crucially, four sided and proportionate, the stadium has a capacity of 10,000. However, there was a distinct lack of atmosphere as the two sides faced each other with the Thistle support narrowly  outnumbering the home support.

It was a very different Thistle squad that faced the diamonds: no Gary Harkins, no Twaddle but featuring the new faces of Patrick Boyle and Bryan Hodge who were playing their first competative game for the club. There were a further four newcomers on the bench which saw Jim Hamilton, Paul Cairney,  Chris Erskine and Martyn Corrigan sitting together for the first time.

Thistle dominated the first half, but it was the diamonds who had the first chance when in the third minute Baird crossed the ball over for Nixon at the back post. Fortunately Nixon was unable to connect properly, his header floating over the bar.

Thistle threatened for the first time themselves in the 9th minute. With a corner coming from a clearance due to an excellent long throw from ex Dumbarton and Everton player Patrick Boyle, Doolan was unable to convert Paton’s cross into a threatening shot at goal.

As the game progressed, the Jags began to take the initiative. In 24 minutes Paton passed the ball through to Buchanan who just failed to push the ball into the Airdrie net. Then in 39 minutes former Blackburn, Mansfield Town, Millwall and Darlington player Bryan  Hodge put a deft pass through to Buchanan who only narrowly missed opening the scoring. Four minutes later a deflected Paton cross put the Airdrie keeper under pressure and forced him to push the ball out for a corner.

Manager McCall made one change at half time with former Kilbirnie Ladeside player Chris Erskine coming on in place of striker Doolan.

Thistle continued to dominate the match in the second half. After facing the slight anxiety of a long range effort from Baird who saw Tuffey off his line, the Jags pressed forward and in the 51st minute Thistle got their reward. With the kind of accurate through pass that we have come to expect from Rowson, Buchanan took the ball and confidently pressed the ball into the corner of the net.

Liam nearly made it two a few minutes later with a run and shot that the Airdrie keeper could only block with his legs. That elusive second goal nearly came in 61 minutes when Erskine put the ball through to McKeown. Unfortunatley, the former Airdrie favourite was unable to convert with a weak shot that the Airdire keeper was able to save with ease.

Airdire were not out of it though and two efforts involving Lagana had Thistle fans’ hearts in their mouths. The first in 67 minutes saw his shot from the edge of the box shave the  Thistle post. The second effort, five minutes later, put McLaughlin in position for a shot but the danger was thwarted by an excellent Paton tackle.

In  a five minute spell, manager McCall made more changes to the side with Cairney who spent last season on loan to Queens Park replacing Hodge in 70 minutes and former Aberdeen, Hearts, Dundee United and  St. Mirren player Jim Hamilton replacing McKeown.

The last ten minutes of the match were mainly Airdrie’s. A sure equaliser was spurned by Gemmill who with only Tuffey between himself and glory sent his shot over the bar. There were a couple of testing moments for both sides as the match drew to a close but nothing particularly threatening.

Overall, this was an entertaining enough affair, but the key positives for us all must be the way that the manager has dealt with the loss of key players and the introduction and blending of the new.

Man of match: This is a difficult one so I will go for Liam Buchanan simply because he scored the winning goal. However, there was a lot to praise on the park and in particular Chris Erskine who came on early in the second half definitely impressed.

The teams:

Airdrie Utd: Robertson, Smith, Lovering (Waddell 73), McDonald, Donnelly, Nixon, Trouten (Gemmill 68), McLaughlin, Keegan (Watt 68), Baird, Lagana.
Players not used: McCabe, Hollis.

Bookings: Lagana.

Partick: Tuffey, Paton, Boyle, Maxwell, Robertson, Archibald, McKeown (Hamilton 76), Rowson, Buchanan, Doolan (Erskine 46), Hodge (Cairney 71).
Players not used: Corrigan, Hinchcliffe.

Scorers: Buchanan 51.

Attendance: 1,325

Referee: Calum Murray