One team in Glasgow Partick Thistle

Written by Lianne

Peterhead made two changes to the side that comfortably defeated Alloa 3-0 last Saturday; Youngson and Hegarty replacing Good and Sharp, with top scorer Bobby Linn again having to settle for a place on the bench with Bavidge partnering Wood in attack for the third game in succession.

Both sides had secured their play-off places with wins last weekend, so all that mattered today was who would have the slight benefit of finishing third, and a possible psychological advantage, and it showed in the Thistle performance. The players have shown what they can do when it matters, but when it’s not vital, they seem content to just go through the motions and wait for something to happen, and that was certainly the case today.

That didn’t make it a particularly entertaining match for the fans to watch, as Peterhead were content to deploy their usual tactic at Firhill of simply containing Thistle and letting them have plenty of possession, knowing that they would get chances to pick them off on the break.

Thistle threatened early on when Strachan headed back across the face of goal, and then Brady’s cut-back was knocked clear by Tully – but it was the visitors who created the first real opening after 10 minutes when a defence-splitting pass from Dougie Cameron picked out Bavidge on the penalty spot, but just as he was about to pull the trigger Scott McCulloch slid in to block.

Adam Strachan was looking lively for Thistle and the potential of his pace to cause problems was typified when he chased an aimless looking pass that he was always second best to reach, but he stole in front of the defender only for his low cross into the box to be knocked behind for a corner.

We had to wait 18 minutes for the first direct shot on goal; Mark Roberts created space for a shot from just outside the area but his left-footed drive lacked power giving Mathers an easy save. Kenny Arthur was called into action a couple of minutes later to make a routine save from a Cameron free-kick fired in from the left edge of the penalty box, then from a similar position at the other end, McCulloch’s ball into the box almost picked out Strachan, but Mathers dived to punch clear before it reached him.

The closest anyone came to scoring in the first half was just after the half hour mark when McConalogue hooked the ball goalwards from a Kilgannon corner and Roberts got his head to the ball to try and direct it past the keeper, but a defender was alive to the danger and managed to head clear.

A long-range effort that sailed over the bar from Peterhead’s Chris Hegarty, and a good run and cross from Strachan that just failed to pick out McConalogue at the far post were the only other incidents of note – and the highlight of poor opening half was when Peterhead’s Dougie Cameron showed a neat touch to flick goalie Paul Mathers’ clearance up over his head and past Mark Roberts before retaining possession, even having time to acknowledge the applause from the Jackie Husband stand before continuing with the game.

Manager Dick Campbell demanded more from his players at the half-time interval, but just three minutes into the second half Thistle found themselves a goal down. They lost possession in attack and when Snowdon failed to deal with the ball on the right, Bavidge nodded the cross down into the path of the on-rushing Jamie Buchan, who smashed an unstoppable shot past Kenny Arthur from 18-yards.

Thistle tried to respond with Strachan, who had swapped places with Roberts on the wing, setting off on the first of his many forceful runs in the second half, but neither Roberts nor McConalogue could connect with his low cross. Roberts then tried to turn provider when he took advantage of Kilgannon’s block, but his ball into the box flashed right across the face of goal, with McConalogue arriving too late to turn it home.

With an hour of the game gone, Thistle’s match was summed up when Strachan collected the ball out on the right wing, drove forward, then cut inside and was then forced back out wide with not a single player making a move looking for the ball. That suited Peterhead perfectly, and the introduction of Bobby Linn’s pace meant they proved even more of a threat on the break. He twice threatened within minutes of coming on, most notably when he beat two defenders to break into the box but his shot was straight at Kenny Arthur.

The introduction of Stevie Nicholas in place of the ineffective McConalogue made no difference for Thistle, although it did allow Strachan to return to a more attacking role. He was trying his best to create something, and he came close to grabbing an equaliser when his driving run took him to the edge of the box, but his shot was deflected narrowly wide of goal. Kilgannon shot straight at the keeper and Brady fired over the bar as Thistle struggled to get back on level terms.

In the 80th minute they looked to have been denied a great chance to score when Nicholas went down in the area. Arthur had saved Tully’s header from a corner before launching the ball up to Roberts, he tried to retain possession and the ball eventually broke to Nicholas who had made a good supporting run, but he went down in a challenge with a defender for what looked a stonewall penalty, only for the ref to wave away the claims and eventually book Brady for his protests.

Despite a couple of late runs by Strachan as he tried desperately to find a way through the stubborn Peterhead defence, Thistle’s challenge never amounted to much and yet again the Blue Toon came away with all three points. It was a bitterly disappointing Jags performance, and although the players and management are still confident they can perform when it comes to the crunch, there’s a good chance they will have to beat Peterhead to progress in the play-offs, and they’ve still not managed to beat them in five attempts.

Man of the match:
ADAM STRACHAN - Davie Craig was solid in defence again, and was named the sponsors MotM, but he was edged out by young Adam Strachan, who ran his heart out for the full 90 minutes and was the one player who looked like causing any problems. All too often he had too much to do himself, but that was more to do with him having no one else to pass the ball to than his own failings.

STATS

Attendance: 2,382
Scorers: Buchan 48 (Pet)
Bookings: Brady (PTh)

Teams:
• Thistle - Arthur 6, Snowdon 6 (B Gibson 59, 5), Murray 6, Craig 7, McCulloch 5, Smyth 6 (Hodge 76), Brady 6, Roberts 6, McConalogue 5 (Nicholas 62, 4), Strachan 8, Kilgannon 5.
  Unused subs: Pronevych, C Stewart.
• Peterhead - Mathers, Shand, Youngson (Sharp 86), Tully, Perry, Cameron, Hegarty (Gibson 63), Buchan, Bavidge, Wood, Nicol (Linn 63).
  Unused subs: Michie, McCafferty.