Saturday 04 February 2006
| Inverness CT 2 - 2 Partick Th
Written by William Duffus |
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| Saturday, 04 February 2006 | |
| Thistle came from behind to earn a replay in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup after Mark Roberts fired home a last minute penalty in an entertaining encounter in Inverness.The Jags adopted a more cautious outlook than when on league duty and as a result manager Dick Campbell made three changes, out went Craig, Brady and Dodds, with Smyth, Gillies and Strachan all returning to the starting line up in a 4-4-2 formation. After struggling to overcome Ayr in the last round, new Caley boss Charlie Christie was true to his word and he made just one change to the side that lost narrowly to Rangers last weekend, Russell Duncan returning to midfield in place of Liam Fox.
As expected, Inverness CT started the match strongly, looking to stamp their authority against lower league opposition, and Barry Wilson came close early on when his shot was deflected just wide. Thistle?s first threat came when Scott McCulloch stepped up to take a free kick, but he drove the ball straight into the wall, leaving a Caley player in need of attention from the physio. Thistle were working hard to close down their opponents, making it difficult for the home side to create any openings, and this was typified when a ball through the middle caught the defence flat-footed, but a last gasp tackle from Marc Smyth stopped Dargo from getting clean through on goal. The Jags captain didn?t do as well a few minutes later however, he was caught in possession when trying to play the ball out of defence, but the shot was charged down before it could trouble Kenny Arthur. At the other end Adam Strachan was looking to cause problems down the left wing, but his cross flew across the goal with no takers in the middle. The home side pushed forward again and after Hodge had intercepted one through ball, Thistle failed to clear and Arthur was forced to push a shot round the post from Dennis Wyness. From the resulting corner Richard Hastings rose unchallenged at the near post but directed his header wide of target. Arthur had to deal with a weak effort from Wyness shortly before the interval, but it was Thistle who finished the half on the attack and in the 44th minute Scott McCulloch stepped up to fire in another free kick, and it was deflected past the keeper by Mark Roberts to give the Jags a vital half-time lead. It had been a solid and hard working first half performance by Thistle but Caley were obviously spurred on by their manager?s half-time team talk and they began to step up a gear and equalised in the 59th minute when the defence failed to cut out Tokely?s low right-wing cross and McBain slammed it home at the far post. Thistle tried to respond when Strachan got to the by-line, but Brown collected his cross at his near post. The Jags were then forced to make their first change when new boy Mark Boyd replaced McCulloch, who?d picked up a knock. A few minutes later following a scramble in the Caley penalty area Hodge and Roberts both had shots blocked. But their equaliser had clearly lifted the home side and they came close to taking the lead when Barry Wilson?s 30-yard effort struck Arthur’s left-hand post. Caley weren?t to be denied though and after the Jags defence had struggled to clear another shot, with Arthur in no-mans land, McBain played the ball back across the goal for Dargo to score with an easy header. Thistle responded again and had a shout for a penalty when Ritchie?s shot was blocked by what looked like an arm, but the home side should have finished the game when Dargo played through substitute Liam Fox on goal, but Kenny Arthur pulled off a terrific save to deny him. That save was to prove crucial, and as the Jags pushed forward in search of an equaliser Ritchie and Roberts were supported by substitute Billy Dodds and Jimmy Gibson, and from the latter?s driving run deep in injury time the ball broke to Roberts and he was bundled over by Darren Dods inside the penalty box. Roberts stepped up to take the kick himself and confidently knocked the ball past the keeper into the left hand corner to earn the Jags a replay with the last kick of the ball. Man of the match:
STATS Attendance: 3,286
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