One team in Glasgow Partick Thistle

PARTICK THISTLE 4 PETERHEAD 2 (after extra time)

Challenge Cup 2nd Round
Match report-Tuesday 12 August 2008
by Partick the Dog (with assistance from Wee Honk)

It was another long Tuesday evening, but Thistle again scored four goals against lower league opposition and progressed to the next round of a Cup, in the process recording their first ever home victory against Peterhead.

Around 1100 Thistle fans, and approximately 33 from Peterhead, tore themselves from the feast of varied sporting action available at the touch of a red button from Beijing to make their way on foot or by car, bus, train or trawler to a damp Firhill. On a night so wet you would not even take your pet fish out for a walk, what dreams drew these loyal supporters? Reliving or avenging that never to be forgotten play off finale only two years ago? After watching British success in canoeing, cycling and swimming, would the players be inspired by the proximity of the Forth and Clyde Canal, the towpath walkway and the Firhill Basin, all potential venues for these sports when the Commonwealth Games comes to Glasgow, to produce an exhibition of exquisite athletic endeavour?

Thistle’s season so far indicates that Scottish football is embracing the multisport philosophy. Weekend league action demands the marksmanlike precision of the single bore rifle arena. Steady nerves and one accurate shot in the 90 minutes is all that it takes. The contrasting sport of midweek cup football, played over 120 minutes, is more like basketball. Shots rain into the net at both ends, and you just have to hope that when it comes to the final countdown, your team has scored more than the opposition (and as Wee Honk has pointed out, having been to see High School Musical at the Kings Theatre on Monday night, it helps if you have Troy Bolton on your side).

Thistle’s chef d’equipe Ian McCall compensated for the unavailability of Mark Twaddle due to injury by moving Simon Storey to left wingback and introducing Willie Kinniburgh as right centre back with John Robertson shunting across to the centre of defence. It has to be said that Storey looked like a kangaroo out of water on the left and could not replicate Twaddle’s rampaging touchline bursts. Kinniburgh produced one excellent clearing header from an angled ball which seemed to be dropping behind him, but also appeared uncertain at times, no doubt due to this being his first start of the season. Craig Hinchcliffe was given an outing in goals, while Simon Donnelly was initially rested, with Kevin McKinlay moving forward to partner the prolific Damon Gray in attack.

McKinlay showed up well in the early exchanges and was keen to shoot whenever opportunity presented itself, his first effort being screwed wide and his second attempt being charged down. Indeed it was an admirable feature of Peterhead’s defensive play throughout the game that Thistle shots were constantly being blocked by hardworking defenders, thus protecting their keeper Kula (could this be a Polish equivalent of Les Fridge?).

The best early chance was created by Gary Harkins as he drove at the defence in trademark style. Having fashioned an opening for himself at the edge of the box, the sidefoot finish was too weak to cause Kula to break sweat. This typified Harkins’ in and out first half. Some of his long passing is majestic, but at other times the ball flew straight to the keeper or out of play, when a simple short pass might have sufficed to keep play moving. Harkins did again come close to scoring, when an attempted hook shot was closed down by the Peterhead posse. Some clever combination play with Scott Chaplain also just failed to unlock the defence.

As always Paul Paton found hectares of space down the right, but this was not his night and even when Harkins was able to pinpoint him, he could not take advantage. Paton reminds me of “Banjo” McKinstry, he comes with strings attached, but he can play! He is exciting going forward, but must develop a stronger left foot to increase his options while keeping defenders guessing. A speedy and talented left winger can expose his defensive weaknesses, and so it proved when Peterhead took the lead midway through the first half, totally against the run of play.

The Peterhead Number 7, Sharp both in name and nature, turned on the pace to skin Paton and deliver a low cross which neither Hinchy nor Maxwell could deal with. The ball fell to Gunn on the edge of the six yard box, and he fired it into the net.

Thistle tried to counter immediately. Gray shot wide. A Chaplain pass for once beat the offside trap and put McKinlay through, but Kevin stubbed his toe in the act of shooting. Another pass, this time from Gray gave the persevering McKinlay a further opportunity, but again he missed the target. Kula mishit the resulting goal kick straight to Gray. Rather than control the ball and take it closer to the goal, Damon chose to try to surprise the keeper with the instant shot, but blazed it wildly into the empty North Stand.

Thistle players were queueing up to take shots at goal. Paton tried to create history by shooting with his left foot, but the power was lacking. The home fans were rather quiet as time went on with no obvious sign of where a goal might come from, and the hoarse Shreklike barking of Craig Hinchcliffe as he urged the team forward could clearly be heard on the night time breeze.

Having been inconspicuous up to that point, apart from requiring the ball to be substituted, the referee chose to enter the action by denying Thistle two obvious free kicks. Fortunately he also missed a reckless lunge by Kinniburgh which, if he had come anywhere near touching the elusive Sharp, could have caused serious injury.

A brilliant move involving Paton, Chaplain, Rowson and Harkins set Storey free on the edge of the box. However when the ball came in, neither McKinlay nor Gray could apply the decisive touch and Peterhead were able to scramble clear at the expense of an ultimately unproductive corner.

Halftime prompted a cabinet reshuffle. Paul Paton was withdrawn. Simon Donnelly came on, and it was encouraging to hear his introduction raising a big cheer from a previously unconvinced Thistle support. Storey returned to the centre of the back three, where he did not put a foot wrong. John Robertson moved over to right wingback where some strong runs showed that he has maintained his fitness and still has a modicum of pace. To accommodate Donnelly alongside Gray, McKinlay dropped off to left wingback where he made a telling contribution. Although occasionally reluctant to hit the byeline, apart from one early run which resulted in Harkins heading just wide, he did deliver some effective whipped crosses from further back.

Sid seems to have been around longer than Steven Redgrave, and to have had more injuries and disappointments than Paula Radcliffe, but like both these Olympic icons, he has that touch of quality, and he keeps coming back for more. His introduction made an immediate difference, and he linked up well with Chaplain and Gray, both of whom were set up for shots which did not test Kula. His podium moment after more than a year off the scoresheet was not long delayed. After smart work from Chaplain and Rowson, Simon turned at the edge of the box and neatly placed a well-directed shot in off the post. He was even rewarded with a rendition of Sean Kilgannon’s signature tune.

Within a minute Damon Gray was clean through, but his dinked lob cleared the crossbar. Chances too many to record kept falling to Thistle players, including Harkins, Donnelly and Chaplain, but somehow the ball would not go in, often thanks to desperate Peterhead defending. However just occasionally Peterhead would give a reminder that they were still in the game. As was the case in the play offs, there best players were the aforementioned Sharp, and also Martin Bavidge who was a great target man, holding up the ball and playing others in. One attack was halted only by Hinchy sprinting from his blocks to dribble the ball round a Peterhead forward (whom we will not name to save his embarrassment) and hoof to safety.

Thistle almost produced the goal of the season when successive back heels by Donnelly and Chaplain (who had his best performance of the season so far) set up Gray, but his shot drifted agonisingly wide of goal. It was that sort of evening for the man who put the ball in the Rangers and Airdrie nets, but to his credit he tried hard throughout. Another who could not buy a goal was Chaplain, who was generally going for accuracy in his shooting, at times at the expense of power. For a second it did seem that one shot was nesting in the back of the net, but it had slid agonisingly wide and hit the back stanchion.

Most of Thistle’s football was of the free flowing and attractive variety, but there was one incredible sequence during which the ball pinged around the Peterhead box, while one of their players was trying to recover from an injury, thus confusing the offside position. Eventually McKinlay screwed a shot so far wide that it would have gone for a throw in if the ball had not been intercepted by Gray who in trying to shoot into the opposite corner almost screwed his shot back to Kevin.

Stephen “Dosser” McKeown replaced Gray in a direct exchange and looked totally at home up front, which is certainly a useful option in a squad which is tight for numbers. David Rowson almost recorded his first goal in the red and yellow for five years, but although he worked the ball round the keeper, the defenders got back quickly enough to clear.

A Thistle free kick 30 yards out produced a “Pires/Henry” moment, with the intricacy of the routine resulting in the ball being forgotten about. In the final action of the 90 minutes, a header from a corner was scrambled clear to Chaplain at the edge of the box. His bouncing ball into the six yard area was stopped by McKinlay who could not quite force it home.

For extra time, Chaplain was replaced by Ryan McStay who once more displayed some beautiful touches but failed to impose himself on the game.

It took only two minutes of extra time for Thistle to achieve what they had difficulty in doing throughout normal time, put the ball in the Peterhead net. Harkins’ header from a corner struck the bar and flew up into the air. Maxwell put a further head on the ball to keep the goalie at bay and Dosser came in with the third header from a foot out to force the ball over the line. Not pretty, but effective.

Peterhead responded to this reverse by bringing on the exotically named Konrad Kozminski who was clearly keen to make up for the disappointment of being excluded from the Russian Olympic team, and was soon yellow carded. Kinniburgh deservedly joined him in the referee’s notebook when another wild swing, which fortunately did not quite catch its intended blue-clad target, was this time spotted by Mr Conroy.

Thistle took the foot off the gas and were punished from a free kick. Moore got up really well to loop a header over Hinchy. It was not clear whether the ball would have reached the net under its own steam. Kozminski was lurking with an accomplice behind the keeper (both looking suspiciously offside), and it was he who applied the final touch.

As they had done in the first period, Thistle started the second period of extra time with a bang. Harkins twisted and turned at the corner of the box, but seemed to hesitate when the goal opened up before him. “You’re trying to walk the ball into the net” shouted the fan in front of me, and then immediately fell silent as Gary lashed the ball into the far corner. Even the fan behind me who had been berating Harkins all night gave me the thumbs up.

Peterhead’s hopes of mounting another fightback were quickly and efficiently extinguished. McKeown passed to Donnelly who weighted the return perfectly to take out the defence and spring the offside trap, Dosser went through one and one on the keeper and finished with a decisive strike.

Thistle played out time without further incident apart from David Rowson finding yet more ways not to score a goal as the keeper halted a driving run and his intended volley from the resulting corner was hopelessly mistimed. The referee rather unsportingly blew the final whistle when Willie Kinniburgh had joined the attack in the hope of showing Rowser the road to goal.

So it was time to award the gold medal to Simon Donnelly, the silver to Stephen McKeown and the bronze to Gary Harkins, before going home to watch more red and yellow success (this time of the Chinese variety) from Beijing.

Teams:-

Thistle (ratings): Hinchcliffe 6, Paton 5 (Donnelly 8), Storey 7, Kinniburgh 5, Robertson 7, Maxwell 6, Chaplain 7 (McStay 5), Rowson 7, Gray 6 (McKeown 8), McKinlay 7, Harkins 7

Unused Subs: Tuffey, Little

Peterhead: Kula, Donald, MacDonald, Skinner (Anderson), Moore, McVitie, Sharp, Gunn, Bavidge (Kozminski), Cowie, McKay

Unused Subs: Jarvie, Bagshaw, Munro

Referee- Steve Conroy
Assistants- Barry Cook, Peter Kinney

Attendance- 1133

Goals-
Partick Thistle- Donnelly (52), McKeown (92, 112) Harkins (107)
Peterhead- Gunn (22), Kozminski (102)