One team in Glasgow Partick Thistle

Saturday 07 September 2009 3.00 pm Firhill Stadium
Reporter Paul Murray
Referee: William Collum
Attendance: 1,746
Partick Thistle 1 v Inverness CT 1 (aet)

Inverness CT won 3-4 on penalties.

When Claudio Ranieri was at Chelsea he was known as the ‘tinker man’ because of his constant experimentation with his team. After the game on Sunday I was beginning to think we have, in Ian McCall, our very own tinker man. How many systems is he going to try before he finds the right blend for his squad of talented players? Last Saturday, against Morton, he ditched the impotent 4-3-3 and went 3-5-2, and what dividends it brought. For Sunday’s Alba cup game against Inverness Caledonian Thistle we could expect the same formation couldn’t we? Well, more or less, but this time Ian tinkered a little bit more- introducing a diamond shape into the midfield with Chris Erskine playing an attacking midfield role just in front of  Rowson and Cairney.

However, it was plain to see that that this system was not working, as we looked narrow in the middle of the park allowing Inverness to close us down quickly and break using the extra space in the wide areas. Unfortunately the Highland side looked  the likelier side to score, with the penetrating running of Ritchie Foran and the clever ball retention of Danny Sanchez, in particular, causing problems. It was to be the ex Jags trialist Sanchez ( who else)  who opened the scoring, with a fine, low, crisp finish into the corner of the net from just inside the area. Thistle’s chances at this point were seldom- only a near post Cairney effort, after determined play by Corcoran (who mysteriously went off for Donnelly before half time) had presented the opportunity.

Half time arrived and Thistle, whilst still in the match, needed more McCall tinkering if the semi final stage of this lower division cup was to be achieved once more.

Thistle came out at the start of the second half with Boyle absent, Archie at left back, Hodge introduced into the midfield, and another system- this time 4-4-2 . With this remoulding, it was Thistle who were now utilising the wide areas to good effect. Wide players Erskine and Cairney, were starting to see more of the ball, and the opposition full backs suddenly found them selves in a game.  However, Thistle’s best chance of the match arrived through more effective wing play from right back Paul Paton, who arrowed a fantastic cross onto the head of Liam Buchanan- only for Liam’s excellent header to be clawed out from under the bar by the impressive Esson.

Liam’s certainly a man playing near the top of his game and Esson was soon staring at the ball in his net after the Jag’s striker had skelped home a loose ball in the ICT box after a period of strong Thistle pressure .

However, this period of dominance had come too late to add a second goal. Extra time was required. It was obvious that during this time Thistle had tired a little and the game was becoming again more evenly matched. ICT boss Butcher had cleverly introduced a few of his more youthful players, whose energy, at this stage of the contest, tested Maxwell and Roberson to the full. But despite a couple of late ICT corners the Inverness side failed to reproduce their early threatening play meaning, at the end of extra time, an exhausted Thistle side had to come up with five willing penalty kick takers.

Coolly taken pens from Hamilton, Rowson and, a particularly cheeky Buchanan effort kept Thistle in it for a while. But in the end, through a combination of clinical spot kick finishing and excellent goalkeeping, it was to be the Thistle from the Highlands that went into the next round, and this time, no tinkering from Ian McCall could change that fact.

MOM: David Rowson . As ex Jag Alan Hanson would say- ‘ showed plenty of grit and determination’. Oh… that and fewer slack passes then usual.

Partick Thistle 1 v Inverness CT 1 (aet)

Inverness CT won 3-4 on penalties.

FT: 1-1; HT: 0-1

Firhill Stadium, Glasgow.

15:00 Sunday 6th September, 2009

Attendance: 1,746

Partick Thistle

Goal: Liam Buchanan (77).

1. Craig Hinchcliffe

2. Paul Paton

3. Patrick Boyle (Bryan Hodge, 45 mins)

4. Ian Maxwell

5. John Robertson

6. Alan Archibald

7. Paul Cairney

8. David Rowson

9. Liam Buchanan

10. Mark Corcoran (Simon Donnelly, 32 mins)

11. Chris Erskine

Unused Subs: Ryan Scully, Martyn Corrigan, Jim Hamilton.

Inverness CT

Goal: Danni Sanchez (5).

1. Ryan Esson

2. Ross Tokely

3. Mauris Bulvitis

4. Grant Munro

5. Stuart Golabek

6. Lee Cox

7. Robert Eagle (Adam Rooney, 83 mins)

8. Daniel Stratford

9. Richie Foran

10. Danni Sanchez (Andy Barrowman, 65 mins)

11. Jonny Hayes

Unused Subs: David Proctor, Russell Duncan, Kyle Allison.