Match report - Partick Thistle v Queen of the South
Partick Thistle 1 v 2 Queen of the South
Tuesday 25nd August 2009 3.00 pm Firhill Stadium
Reporter Alan Murray with help from Calvin Murray
Referee: George Salmond
Attendance: 1,527
Standing in a rather long queue waiting to get my ticket to get in, I overheard Lance being told there was a late change in the line up. This change turned up to be Bryan Hodge who had suspected conjunctivitis. McCall then turned to David Rowson - who was expected to be rested for this game due to a sore shoulder.
Jags started shakily and Johnny Tuffey was lucky nobody from the Queens could profit when he dropped a cross within the first few minutes of the game starting.
In the 5th minute Alan Archibald failed to clear his lines but Derek Holmes’ shot was directed straight at Johnny Tuffey. Poorer defending could have cost us but Paul Burns’ shot only hit the side netting.
Holmes again found space to shoot after the 10th minute however Tuffey dealt easily with his shot.
Jags were now starting to string passes together and both Archie and Robertson were settling down after a shaky start. Thistle was putting Queens under pressure as they started to take a grip of the game however a series of corners could not be converted into goals.
After the 25th minute Paul Burns was presented an excellent opportunity after indecision between Archie and Tuffey. Tuffey was out of position but Burns could not take advantage of his mistake.
Thistle then took the lead through a well executed free kick by Donnelly. Paul Cairney was also in a position to take the kick then Donnelly fired the ball into the top left hand side of the net.
Half time came and Thistle was deservedly up and I was disappointed we were unable to convert our position into more goals.
Queens started the second half better than they ended the first and were the first to threaten with Barry Wilson having a cross, punched clear by Tuffey.
Thistle though again took control of the game but were unable to convert this play into goals. Good play down the right wing by Liam Buchanan gave Donnelly the opportunity to shoot but was blocked by a Queen’s defender.
On the other wing Corcoran showed good pace but was unable to find a Jags player with his cross.
After the 62nd minute Jags would make a substitution that would in the reporters view change the game in the way of Queens.
Queens broke down the right and the ball was squared to Weatherston who made no mistake from around 8 yards. Questions have to be asked on where was the Jags defense?
David Rowson after 65 minutes had a thunderbolt shot rise just too quickly over the bar.
With only 15 minutes remaining McCall called on ‘big bird’ Chris Erskine to the field of play replacing Mark Corcoran.
7 minutes to go and McCall replaced the disappointing Stephen McKeown with Martin Corrigan.
Queens were coming more and more into the game now but no team had an outstanding chance to score.
With the announcement of two minutes remaining, Weatherston broke free on the left hand side to slip the ball under Tuffey to put Queens through to the next round. A goal that triggered a mass exodus from the Jackie Husband stand.
Man of the match - David Rowson was good but Paul Cairney still gets the award by some distance.