Match report - Partick Thistle v Dunfermline
Partick Thistle v Dunfermline
Firhill Stadium Glasgow
Saturday 23th January 2009
Referee- S.Finnie
Attendance: 2,607
by Alan Murray
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.