One team in Glasgow Partick Thistle

Partick Thistle v Clyde Scottish League First Division
8 November 2008  3.00 pm.
Reporter: Tom Hogg
Scorers: Liam Buchanan (8), Steven McKeown (72)
Attendance:  3,003

It’s churlish to look at three points, especially against Clyde , as being anything else than a satisfactory afternoon’s work, but for a while, this game had all the trapping of our visit to Broadwood earlier in the year, when an early goal by a confident Thistle, was pared back by an more agressive and tenacious Clyde team.  This time however, the Jags survived the mid game crisis and left the field with a job done, if not in the end entirely skilfully executed.

The Thistle DJ had high hopes for this game, billing it pre-match as “the big Glasgow derby” and it took all of seventeen seconds for the Clyde fans to start chanting about their hatred of Thistle and their disdain for Maryhill slums.  The Thistle support seemed nervous, clearly aware that a slip up today would see the gap between top and mid table begin to yawn but the men in red and yellow started much the brighter of the two teams, Maxwell delivering a good free kick to the back post for Kinniburgh to head down into space with no takers.

The Jags were spraying the ball around their favoured left side with abandon and some neat interplay between Harkins and McKinlay saw Clyde on their back foot on a couple of ocassions.  It seemed only a matter of time before the breakthrough was made and it came in only eight minutes.

Maxwell again floated a deep free kick to the back post and Kinniburgh, playing the Twaddle role at set pieces, rose above the defence to knock the ball down to Buchanan on the six yard line.  The diminutive goal getter seemed to take an age to connect, but he played the ball into the ground well away from Hutton and it bounced high into the corner of the net.

For the next fifteen minutes it looked like we could have a repeat of the St Johnstone game, with slick interchanges in midfield setting up half chances for McKeown and Buchanan, the second a header from a Kinniburgh cross that went just over and a Harkins turn and lay off to Buchanan that saw his shot strike the incoming McKeown and rebound to safety.

Clyde’s only response was to dig deep and that they did, with a few robust challenges, the worst of which, on Donnelly, resulted in a yellow card for Brown, closely followed by McLaren who was carded for a hissy fit moments later.  Inevitably the pace of the game began to drop and as the half wore on, more long high balls were being punted back and forth by the respective defences.  As half time approached we could have had a candidate for freak goal of the season.  Harkins made one of his signature driving runs, Buchanan peeled off his marker to find space on the right and Paton, running into the channel only just missed the cross.  The ball then cannoned off a Clyde defender before striking the prostrate Paton and going narrowly wide.

After the restart the away team came out with more resolve, but it was the Jags who had the first half chance, a spin and looping shot from Harkins after Paton had won a corner courtesy of a neat skip over Wilson who got a whack on the head for his trouble.  Buchanan then headed on target but without power from a Harkins chip shortly after Kinniburgh forced Tuffey to join in the fun with a short back pass intercepted by Gemmill which the goalie did well to clear.

Thistle could have doubled their lead when Buchanan knocked down a free kick to Kinniburgh at the edge of the box, but he snatched at it and blasted over.

Clyde grappled their way back into the game and had a period of pressure around the hour mark, with the travelling support in good voice in the North Stand.  Thistle seemed to concede the midfield and were pegged back on the edge of the box for much of a ten minute period and as the Jags fans began to twitch, the Bully Wee began to tighten the screw.  The culmination of this pressure saw Maxwell concede a dangerous free kick on the edge of the box which McLaren curled over the wall but wide of the post with Tuffey rooted to the spot.

As an ominous silence descended on the Jackie Husband Stand and nervous fans began to look at their watches, the Jags killed the game on 73 minutes with a McKeown bullet from the edge of the box, similar to his strike agianst the Pars on the opening day, which followed a Maxwell cross and a McKinlay knock down.  The relief was palpable and a few Clyde fans headed immediately for the exits, signalling their dismay that their team had failed to deliver a killer blow when it looked on the cards only minutes earlier.

Thistle could have added to the scoreline as the swagger returned to their play in the final period, but it was Clyde who had the best chance as McKay slipped through a static defence on 80 minutes only to find Tuffey out in a flash to block his low shot for a corner.  The game ended on a controversial note when Chris Higgins pulled down Gray as he twisted away from him  and homed in on goal.  Higgins received a yellow card for his pains, but a literal translation of the rule may have seen him receive a red, being the last man, but the incident was a good thirty yards out and having let the Clyde players away with pulling and kicking for much of the game, Mr Winter maybe felt sorry for them.

Usually a win over the Bully Wee is cause for jubilation, but the South Drive exit was the scene of mumbled conversations about the good fortune of three points won on a day that started well, flagged visibly and like a boxer against the ropes, was salvaged by a haymaker late in the contest.  On the bright side, Buchanan still looks like the man who can make a difference up front and the defence did most things competently, especially the peerless Maxwell.  Tuffey pitched in twice with exemplary saves but had little else to do, whilst McKinlay ran himself ragged in areas.

There has to be a nagging concern about the midfield.  In full flow it looks great, but when there is chasing to be done, the unit retreats back towards its own eighteen yard box and individuals hide for periods, almost as if they are on a rota system.  At times it’s hard to see a shape in this part of the pitch and whilst there was more enterprise today, especially from Rowson, the lack of focus over a full ninety minute period is troubling.

The match sponsors chose Steven McKeown as their Man of the Match, possibly for his late goal, but his absence for much of the second half saw him miss my shortlist.  My choice is Liam Buchanan, who ploughed a lonely furrow for a good portion of the second half, but who never stops his intelligent running and always looks like he can turn a half chance into a goal.

Man of the Match - Liam Buchanan

Partick Thistle

Jonny Tuffey
Paul Paton
Kevin McKinlay
John Robertson
Willie Kinniburgh
Ian Maxwell
Stephen McKeown
David Rowson
Liam Buchanan (Scott Chaplain)
Simon Donnelly (Damon Gray)
Gary Harkins (Ryan McStay)

Players Not Used

Craig Hinchcliffe
Simon Storey

Clyde

David Hutton
Marvyn Wilson (Alan Trouten)
Ricky Waddell
Chris Higgins
Billy Gibson
Steve Kettlewell
Mrak Brown
Ruaridh McLennan (Gary McSwegan)
Pat Clarke
Scott Gemmill (David McKay)
Willie McLaren

Players not used

Peter Cherrie
Alan Lowing