Match Report: PartickThistle V Forfar Athletic
Match Report: PartickThistle V Forfar Athletic CIS Cup 07/08/08
Partick Thistle 4, Forfar Athletic 3 (aet)
By Paul Murray
Last night’s game was a game full of mystery: the non appearance of Dick Campbell for one; why the Jags played in pink against blue shirted opponents for another. But the biggest mystery of the evening was quite simply this: how on earth did Marc Twaddle manage to produce a second half performance so good that he deservedly won the M.O.M? Make no mistake, for the first 45 mins Twaddle, deployed on the left side of a three man defence, was a liability; he gave away possession so many times it was inevitable that Forfar would put his remiss to good use. On 13 mins they did just that- picking up Twaddle’ s slack pass Lilley moved the ball wide to Fotheringham, who, from an extremely tight angle, somehow managed to stab the ball between the near post and Jonny Tuffy: one nil to the Loons.
Thistle up to this point had actually looked fairly at ease. Hogging possession they patiently swept the ball from one side of the park to the other. Ryan McStay was at the heart of this build up play- another chance to prove that his superior brand of passing could make a difference to this Thistle side. It was evident however that Forfar were extremely well organised and it would take something special from Ryan in order to create real openings.
That little piece of extra quality did in fact come from Simon Donnelly, when, on 39mins, he cleverly shuffled past two challenges and placed the ball into Damon Gray’s feet. Damon, closely marked, managed to spin off the defender and slip the ball back to McKeown, who thoroughly skellped the ball into the roof of the net. It was a goal of sheer brilliance and its quality was enough for the fans to forgive the players for a fairly listless performance as they were clapped from the field at half time.
Gerry Briton made one telling substitution at the break: Maxwell came on for the ineffectual McKinlay, allowing Twaddle to move into the wing back position. It was this switch along with the later additions of the excellent Harkins and Chaplain that finally gave the Jags the thrust required to break down the crowded Forfar defence. Twaddle was a man transformed as he powered past the full back on numerous occasions to rifle in crosses. Thistle were now starting to create good chances with McKeown and Donnelly almost making the good wing back play of Twaddle and Paton count. However, defensively they lost concentration when Lilley was able to nod home after Tuffey had touched a looping header onto the bar. The Jags needed a quick response if they were to avoid a shock exit. Thankfully Damon Gray’s wonderfully crisp header from Paton’s driven cross was enough to gain parity and extra time was required.
The young Geordie then capitalised on Forfar’s first example of defensive ineptitude- reacting quickly to slot home after the Loon defence failed to clear. The Jags were for the first time in the lead and with Harkins coming close on a couple of occasions with wonderful efforts it was thought the ignominy of being put out the CIS cup by Dick Campbell’s third division side was going to be avoided. However, Thistle suffered more slackness at the back; this time Storey was caught in possession allowing Smith to eventually fire home. The stress of penalty kicks was moving closer only for Scott Chaplain to provide relief, hooking the ball into the net on 113 mins and the game was finally won.
So the Jags move into the next round after beating a tough Forfar side. Marc Twaddle incredibly produced a second performance as good as his first half’s was bad and, along with the night’s other top performers- Harkins and Paton- will surely be one of Ian McCall’s first picks when Thistle visit Airdrie on Saturday.
Man of the match - Marc Twaddle
Jags
Jonny Tuffey
Paul Paton
Marc Twaddle
Simon Storey
John Robertson
Stephen McKeown (Scott Chaplain)
Ryan McStay (Gary Harkins)
David Rowson
Damon Gray
Simon Donnelly
Kevin McKinlay (Ian Maxwell)
Players Not Used
Craig Hinchcliffe
Graeme Eaglesham
Forfar Athletic
Name
Alisdair Brown
Stephen McNally
Stuart Ferguson
Stephen Tulloch
David Dunn
Darren Brady (Gary Fraser)
Kevin McLeish
Martin Fotheringham
Derek Lilley (Bryan Duell)
Craig Winter
Elliot Smith
Players Not Used
Barry Donnachie
Stephen Manson