One team in Glasgow Partick Thistle

It was another miserable day for football with the pitch looking more suited to swamp football than Scottish Cup action. The sodden surface had firmed up overnight due to freezing temperatures, but the respite from the rain didn’t last too long and it made for a very sticky surface.

To their credit, Dunfermline seemed to adapt to it more quickly, and while manager Ian McCall stuck with the same starting eleven from Saturday, in the opening 45 minutes of tonight’s game, it was hard to believe this was the same team who had played so well in beating Hamilton.

As early as the second minute of the game the defence was under pressure and Robertson had to make a fine tackle to deny Burchill an early chance after he’d been found by Harper’s cross from the right.

With the Pars players winning most of the loose balls in the opening stages they were soon on the attack again and this time Burchill wriggled away from the attentions of Robertson only for Tuffey to make a good block with his legs to stop him opening the score. The Pars striker was causing all sorts of problems for the defence and threatened for a third time when he flicked Hamilton’s cross towards goal but this time Tuffey was able to gather the ball with ease.

We had to wait until the 20th minute for Thistle’s first attempt at goal, and it wasn’t worth waiting for as Chaplain blasted well over the bar after being set up by Buchanan. Dunfermline responded when Burchill beat Robertson for pace and fed Hamilton on the edge of the box but he lifted his shot over.

A very frustrating first half continued with a combination of poor passing and Dunfermline being first to every ball meaning Thistle unable to retain the ball for any length of time. Two of Saturday’s top performers, McKinlay and Harkins were the biggest culprits and while the visitors passing was crisp and quick, Thistle were ponderous and passes that weren’t misdirected were too short and getting held up on the sticky surface allowing Dunfermline to win back possession.

The visitors were also commanding in the air, up front Hamilton and McIntyre were winning everything and creating chances with knock-downs, while in defence Wilson and Thomson were untroubled. It all added up to feel like Dunfermline were coming at Thistle continually, but for all their dominance, they failed to really test Tuffey after Burchill’s early chances.

McIntyre and Hamilton both hit spectacular 1st time volley’s that would have been cracking goals if they’d found the back of the net, but neither was on target and as the game headed towards half-time Thistle finally put together a couple of promising moves that, although failed to result in a shot on goal, did at least give the frustrated fans a hint that perhaps better was to follow in the second half. Thistle did have a rare chance to test Gallacher just before the interval when Rowson won a free kick in a central position, but Harkins could only emulate Chaplain’s earlier effort and came closer to hitting the roof of the stand than the roof of the net.

Surprisingly there were no changes made at half-time and the second half started much the same as the first, with Dunfermline on the attack. David Rowson was harshly penalised with a free-kick against him after he’d slid in to win the ball cleanly and was stood on by the Pars player he’d stole possession from, and Thistle felt even more hard done-by when the ball was launched into the box and poor defending gave Scott Wilson a free header, from which he made no mistake finding the top corner to put the visitors in front.

Thistle tried to hit back and when they won a free-kick for handball just outside the penalty box, Rowson’s effort was deflected and Chaplain was just inches from getting his head to the ball to direct it on target. That was the closet Thistle had come so far in the game, and although Simmons wasted a good chance with a wayward header, Dunfermline seemed content to sit on their one-goal lead.

The tactics just weren’t working for Thistle and with an hour gone McCall made a couple of changes that swung the game in our favour. Out went the ineffective Harkins and McKinlay to be replaced by Murray and Keegan. The 4-2-3-1 formation that had worked so well against Hamilton reverted to a more traditional 4-4-2 with Keegan joining Roberts in attack while Murray and Buchanan provided the width. The changes had an immediate effect with Keegan in particular making a huge difference.

He presence up front started to cause Wilson some problems, it gave the Dunfermline captain something more to think about and instead of comfortably winning possession and allowing the Pars to build another attack, he was struggling to contain Keegan and with Murray also doing his best to whip the ball into the box at every opportunity, it was game on.

The unsettling effect the changes were having on the Pars defence was demonstarted in the 65th minute when a defender headed the ball almost out of his keepers hands and high into the air, inside a packed penalty area it resulted in the kind of goalmouth stramash you’d expect to see in a school playground, but eventually the ball was cleared to safety with the Pars goal still intact.

That state of affairs didn’t last for much longer, as three minutes later Thistle were back on level terms when Roberts collected a pass inside the Dunfermline half and bided his time with the ball at his feet before picking out the run of Buchanan on the right, the Jags top scorer has been guilty of squandering some good chances of late, but with a lot more to do he made no mistake, driving past Morrison and then clinically firing the ball low into the bottom right hand corner of the net.

There was only one team that looked like winning the game now, but with 12 minutes of the game left it looked like it wasn’t going to be their night when twice in the space of a few minutes they had the ball in the back of the net only for the ref to chalk it off. Chaplain thought he had fired the Jags in front when Buchanan’s cross fell to him and he turned and hit a left foot shot past the keeper but an onrushing Jags teammate jumped over the ball on it’s way towards the bottom corner and the midfielder’s celebrations were cut short by the linesman’s flag.

Rowson was next to fall victim to the officials. From a free kick right on the very edge of the area the ball was touched to him but just as he struck it the referee blew his whistle for the Pars wall encroaching, and although his powerful drive hit the back of the net it counted for nothing as the ref called for it to be re-taken. Rowson tried to repeat the feat at the 2nd attempt, but this time the wall did it’s job by blocking his shot.

Thistle pushed forward again and Murray’s cross broke to the feet of Buchanan, but his shot on the turn was well gathered by Gallacher. The Pars had barely been seen in attack since taking the lead early in the second half, but they weren’t totally out of it and when McIntyre crossed for McManus, Thistle were relieved to see his header sail over the bar.

With the game heading towards a replay Thistle’s pressure paid off and they finally edged in front in the 87th minute. Keegan hooked the ball back into the danger area after Murray’s cross was half cleared and Rowson’s miss-hit shot fell to Buchanan at the back post, he reacted quickly to beat Gallagher to the ball and from a tight angle inside the six yard box he appeared to try and cut it back across goal for someone else to get a touch, but somehow the ball trickled over the goaline to send the Jags support wild.

That was game over as although the referee played on deep into injury time, Thistle played out time without any trouble and secured a deserved victory and a trip to face Livingston in the next round. Full credit to both sides for putting on an entertaining game (well one half each) on the treacherous Firhill surface. Two wins in a row, but will the pitch hold up for us to make it three on Saturday?

Man of the match: Liam Buchanan