One team in Glasgow Partick Thistle

Match report Partick Thistle v Dundee

Partick Thistle 0-0 Dundee scottish League Division One

4 October 2008  Firhill 3.00 pm.

Reporter: HonkHonk.

Attendance: Att: 2,556

Partick Thistle and Dundee served up an exceptionally dull and uninspiring game at Firhill, which although played in poor conditions was severely lacking in any sort of quality or class. The pre match chat for some on the forum was concentrated on whether hilarious poster jimdelahunt had managed his prematch jobby in a tight time period, while others debated who would be playing up front. The identifications of Woodstock Jag showing the last time a Thistle striker had scored a league goal(Airdrie away) would have made concerning reading for Thistle gaffer Ian McCall who selected Mark Roberts and Simon Donnelly with Stevie ‘the championship’ Lennon dropping to the bench and Gray out the 16. Dundee, without their troubles to seek, were only able to name a bench of 4 with Thistle fans favourite Alex Rae resisting temptation to bring himself or Davie Farrell (remember him) out of retirement.

An average sized Thistle support, and a paltry Dundee support welcomed the teams onto the pitch. The size of this away support was in sharp contrast to a previous visit of Dundee in The Premier League days- where late goals by Nacho Novo and a sensational Barry Smith(remember him as well) strike sent a huge Dundee support wild and essentially consigned Thistle to relegation at around Christmas.

Dundee kicked off, with Thistle as ever shooting towards the ‘away end’ and it was pleasant to see a team keeping the ball from kick off instead of a rash blast out of the park. The early encounters were scrappy with Simon Storrie and Ian Maxwell tidying up anything loose when Dundee came forward and the impressive Craig McKeown doing the same at the other end. The Shed, with forum regulars ianmac, wee Gus, and uberteeb in good voice, launched into a song regarding Alex Rae receiving his p45 on Monday which drew sniggers from around the ground. An early free kick appeal from Mark Roberts fell on deaf ears and indeed it was Dundee who had the first real chance of the game in the 8th minute. A corner was met by the head of McKeown and his header was cleared off the line by Paul Paton. Gary Harkins then went on his first mazy run of the day but a poor touch lead to this run being halted by Eric Paton- indeed this was a theme which ran throughout the game. Most of Thistle’s play at this point, as identified by jimthejag, was far to tight with players eventually getting caught on the ball, or punting the ball aimlessly at Simon Donnelly who was doing well in the circumstances. Mark Gilhaney was causing the Thistle defence a few problems, and with Paton nowhere (another theme of the day) his header across goal almost found Corrieu for a tap in, however an offside flag saved Thistle. Johnny Tuffey then launched a goalkick straight out the park and at this point of the game- with no shots worth of note, only David Rowson, the 3 central defenders and Simon Donnelly would receive pass marks.

Thistle established their first promising position of the day in the 17th minute, when Donnelly found McKeown who found Rowson, but his attempted spread of play to Paul Paton came up short, so far it wasn’t Thistles day. Strong tackling form the midfield led to Roberts winning a corner however it went straight to Rab Douglas, and in the 19th minute Thistles first shot of the day arrived- with Paton rifling the ball high and wide of the goal. The Arch, at this point, kept leaning over my shoulder telling me what to write and say. I suggested him to takeover the reigns of the PukkaPad but he respectfully declined. Some slack play in the middle then led to Dundee moving forward with vigour and Gilhaneys eventual cut back was spooned high over the bar by the ineffectual Curier. Thistles next foray forward with good link up play between Donnelly and Twaddle led to a dangerous ball flashing across the 6 yard box and indeed, in the 34th minute another excellent cross ball from Twaddle was completely missed by Douglas who was bailed out by Rhian Dodds who headed behind. The corner came to nothing and from the resultant goal kick the referee fell over- bringing cheers from the home support, and the first noise of the day from those from Dundee. Probably the best chance of the half arrived in the 38th minute. It was again good link up play on the left, and a Twaddle cross. Douglas flapped and the ball ran loose- the Thistle fans held their breath looking for inspiration- however Roberts was slow to react and a mixture of Dodds and McKeown cleared the danger. Jagsfan1876 began getting very restless at this point, while a young gent behind me started reading a book and others discussed BBC Alba and the Wigan v Middlesbrough match. One final chance came from the 1st half- Donnelly, Harkins and McKeown progressed the ball from the half way line to the edge of the box, where Donnelly’s well struck shot went just wide. As the half time whistle sounded, Im sure I was not the only Thistle fan who hoped that Ian McCall would deliver and John Lambie style teamtalk that would galvanise the team and lead us to score at least 4 goals. Wee Honk brought me some half time refreshment, and brought word the partickthedog believed that Simon Storrie had been having an excellent game. Sadly I had to disagree on this occasion, as the only thing excellent about the first half was that it was over!

My first notes from the second half read ‘throw-in farce’ and ‘ball goes over roof’. This will surely tell the reader that there were no immediate raised standards in the second half. Eddie Malone and Mark Twaddle both delivered cross balls which were dealt with, albeit it unconvincingly and the only highlight was some excellent tackling from David Rowson. This was a far improved performance from David; he was strong in the tackle, constantly in the Dundee players’ faces and normally available for a pass. A cynical shirt grab by Pozniak in the midfield on Donnelly should have yielded the first card of the game, but didn’t, and the next moment of interest was when a ball girl slipped in front of the Shed when attempting to collect the ball. Some cruel taunts by the Shed brought smiles to the faces; however these were wiped off at the appearance of The Championship from the dugout out to replace the ineffectual Roberts. Thistle moved forward, Donnelly played a ball to Lennon, who slid to collect and pass to Paton. Unfortunately his pass was travelling at the speed of a train when it reached Paton and went out of play. The next 10-15 minutes were scrappy, with only moments worth mentioning being substitutions. First Chaplain replaced McKeown who had been quiet, and then Alex Rae shuffled his pack bringing on Brian Deasley to replace Curier. Dundee were slightly in the ascendancy at this point with Freddy Daquin putting in some useful cross balls, and a corner was punched away by Tuffey. A rasping drive from Eric Paton, so far easily winning the battle of the Patons, was also well held by the keeper.

It was then Thistles turn to attack. Donnelly fed Lennon who moved forward threateningly however his shot was powder-puff and he would have done better to look up and recognise various teammates in better positions. Harkins was not himself today, and was dispossessed again before playing another poor pass. He looked tired, and I fell could have done with a break, possibly a bench place. McCall made a tactical change with 20 minutes to go with Kevin McKinley replacing Paton and Thistle changing to a 4-3-3 in an attempt to win the game however sadly there were no signs of urgency from the team. To the disbelief of the Jackie Husband stand Douglas was allowed about 2 minutes to dither on the ball- with no one going near him to pressure him to kick. However he eventually did and this led to the best chance of the game. Both Donnelly and Chaplain were influential in finding Lennon completely unmarked 10 yards out. His effort was scuffed and well wide to the disgust of not only the fans but also to Ian McCall who turned away in dismay. Thistle though still continued to press and an excellent Chaplain turn and cross was dummied by Donnelly and cleared for a corner. The corner came in and found McKinley at the back post. His shot was blocked well and the ball fell to Chaplain just behind the penalty spot, who blasted high onto the bing. Mark Twaddle picked up an injury but battled on none the less, but it was Dundee who almost stole an undeserved 3 points late on. They broke with pace but Deasleys shot was poor, they then forced a corner which was headed wide by Dodds. The MoM was announced as Ian Maxwell, who although solid was hardly outstanding. A more deserving winner would have been Rowson or the tireless Donnelly. Misplaced passes were rife in the final minutes and this was summed up by the final moment of the match. In plenty of space Chaplain passed straight to McKeown instead of finding Lennon or Donnelly. As correctly identified by Danny Legend the booing at the full time whistle was unnecessary but was probably more out of frustration than displeasure. Honveds dream revelations regarding the conduct if William ‘Bombscare’ Kinniburgh brought out a chuckle and the match was well summed up by Ted Hankey Fan- ‘boring, boring, boring.’ Finally the wasps deserve a mention; they managed to annoy every person in the ground- they surely have got to go. Ill end on a question- who would you rather have- the wasps or Stevie Lennon?? Onwards to Airdrie……..!!

MOM- Rowson/Donnelly

Teams and ratings in brackets.

Partick Thistle: Tuffey(6) Paton(5) (McKinlay 73)(5), Twaddle(5), Storey(6), John Robertson(6), Maxwell(6), McKeown(4) (Chaplain 62)(5), Rowson(8), Donnelly(8), Roberts(3) (Lennon 58)(3), Harkins. Subs Not Used: Hinchcliffe, Kinniburgh.

Dundee: Douglas, Paton, Malone, Dodds, McKeown, Cowan, Daquin, Pozniak, Antoine-Curier (Deasley 63), Davidson, Gilhaney. Subs Not Used: Mearns, O’Brien, A Trialist.

Att: 2,556

Ref: E Smith

Match report provided by HonkHonk.