Saturday 25 March 2006
| Forfar 0 - 0 Thistle
Written by Lianne |
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| Saturday, 25 March 2006 | |
| After dominating the opening 45 minutes but failing to score, Thistle had to work hard to earn a share of the points at Forfar today thanks to playing for much of the second half with only ten men following Jimmy Gibson’s second bookable offence.Thistle were forced to make two changes from the side that defeated Raith Rovers in midweek, injuries to Boyd and Ritchie saw them replaced in the starting line-up by Snowdon and Strachan, the latter partnering Mark Roberts in attack. Former Alloa winger Jose Quitongo, who signed on at Firhill until the end of the season before the game, was amongst the subs. Forfar made just one change to their side, attacker Michele Lombardi replacing the injured Ritchie Mongtomery.
On a very heaving looking surface it was Thistle who started the brighter and Mark Roberts forced the home keeper into action inside the first couple of minutes when he hit a left-foot strike from 20-yards, but Murdoch dived low to his left to make a fairly routine save. That early effort set the tone for the game as Thistle dominated possession and it was pretty much one-way traffic towards the Forfar goal, however, despite have plenty of efforts, the Jags failed to seriously trouble the on-loan Pars keeper. Stevie Nicholas, Boab McCulloch, and Jimmy Gibson all had efforts off target and Billy Gibson saw his header comfortably saved by the keeper before Forfar had their first attempt on goal in the 22nd minute, a wayward effort from Lombardi that troubled the seagulls flying overhead more than Kenny Arthur. Gillies forced the Forfar keeper into action again after the ball had broken to him on the edge of the box and then fired another effort narrowly wide moments later, but it was one of the Forfar defenders that probably caused the most concern to the keeper when he almost headed Roberts’ cross into his own net, but his blushes were spared by a team-mate heading the ball over the bar to safety. Still Thistle pushed - McCulloch’s free-kick was deflected wide, Billy Gibson and Roberts both forced the keeper into action before a mistake by Sandy Hodge almost gifted the home side a rare chance to break, but the referee managed to get in the way and hold-up their attacking momentum, allowing Thistle to get back and eventually clear before any real threat could be posed. With the half-time whistle in sight and no end result to Thistle’s dominance, that half-chance seemed to spark Forfar into action and they broke forward again a few minutes later, this time Sellars knocked the ball wide to Lombardi in space and he forced Arthur to make a good block at his near post. Lunan and Jackson then combined to cut through the middle of the Jags defence and the latters low shot from 18-yards was well saved and held by Arthur. While at the other end Scott McCulloch ran onto a Roberts lay-off and hit an angled drive narrowly over the bar. Right at the end of the first half both sides had their best chance to open the scoring. Firstly, Stevie Nicholas will wonder how on earth he didn’t score when Strachan’s cross from the right came all the way through to him only a couple of yards from goal, but as he stooped to head home the keeper blocked. At the other end Sellars set up his strike partner Andy Jackson, and his low drive looked to be heading towards the bottom corner with Arthur struggling, but the boot of Will Snowdon intercepted to knock the ball to safety. Strachan and Nicholas swapped positions at half-time as Campbell looked to try and make his strike force a little more potent, but it made little difference, as although Thistle continued to take the game to Forfar in the early stages of the second half, they still lacked a cutting edge. The referee, who was already copping plenty of abuse from both sets of fans following some poor decisions, then changed the game dramatically with the second half less than ten minutes old. Jimmy Gibson had been harshly penalised for a foul in the 52nd minute and was then the recipient of the first yellow card of the game for dissent at the decision. Barely two minutes later he went crashing down inside the box and was unbelievably shown his second yellow of the game for diving, much to the disgust of the Jags players and supporters. With a man advantage, the home side sensed the game was there for the taking, and within a couple of minutes Kenny Arthur had to race out of his box to block an effort from Barry Sellars, and the Jags keeper then put Jackson under pressure, forcing him to knock the rebound over the bar. Strachan was denied by a fine tackle just as he was about to shoot and Gillies hooked an effort towards goal as Thistle tried to fight back, but it was the home side who were in the ascendancy now and Sellars broke free from Hodge’s challenge but was again denied by Arthur. Another slip from Hodge gave the home side the chance to break, but with Jackson ready to tap the ball home after it had been fired low across goal from the right, Snowdon made a great saving tackle to deny him. Sellars again broke free in the 75th minute after Hodge had failed to cut out a through ball, but once again Arthur raced from his line and bravely blocked at his feet. Arthur again saved from Sellars before Strachan’s strong run down the left saw him reach the by-line and he forced the keeper to parry with a vicious drive from a tight angle. A couple of minutes later Strachan came agonisingly close to opening the scoring when he ran onto Roberts’ pass, he got the break of the ball as he bundled his way past two defenders taking him clean through on goal but he was denied by the keeper getting a touch to deflect his effort past the post – and the match officials summed up their woeful performances by awarding a goal kick. It was end-to-end stuff in the closing stages of the match; Sellars again came close for Forfar, shooting inches wide after the ball had broken to him on the edge of the box, then another fine run from Strachan resulted in him cutting the ball back for Roberts but his near-post flick went straight into the arms of the keeper. Forfar poured forward deep into injury time, but Thistle continued to defend resolutely and earned a hard-fought point to keep their play-off hopes firmly on course. Man of the match:
STATS Attendance: 631
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