One team in Glasgow Partick Thistle

With both teams perched precariously above the relegation zone on 39 points, many saw this game as a must win game for both sides. However, Thistle and Queen of the South had to settle for a point apiece in an entertaining 0-0 draw at Firhill.

The sun shone down on Maryhill today as both teams came out to a warm reception from their respective, good-sized support. Thistle needed to gain some much needed momentum after losing at Dingwall in mid-week to Ross County, and so, today’s game couldn’t have come quickly enough for Jimmy Bone and his boys.

Bone had no new injury worries to contend with and made just one change to the starting line-up, Mark Roberts on from the start with Russell dropping to the bench. Ian McCall started with the same eleven that drew in midweek with Hamilton with pre-match doubts Stevie Tosh and Sean O’Connor fit to play.

Both teams took a rather cautious approach to the opening four minutes, prodding each others defence to try and discover any weaknesses. While not exactly threatening the Thistle goal, QoS looked the more dangerous and the more likely due to the running of Stevie Murray on the far left and the directness of Stephen Dobbie on the right.

Thistle began to get the ball down and play and in six minutes, Billy Gibson made a powerful run from the right midfield. He surged through two tackles and squeezed the ball out to the right touchline. Derek Young met it first time and put a good ball across the face of goal. The QoS defence managed to head the ball clear but only as far as the edge of their box to where Jimmy Gibson was waiting. The ball sat up nicely but Gibson skied his shot well over the bar and the chance was gone.

In what was to become a feature of the game, no sooner had Thistle created an opportunity than QoS were knocking on the Thistle defence’s door. From a throw-in on the Thistle left, too much space was given to Stephen Dobbie. He collected the ball unchallenged and floated a great ball towards the back post. Murray was waiting unmarked but, luckily for Thistle, his volley flew high and wide.

Next it was Thistle’s turn to hit back. Strachan carried the ball superbly from just inside his half and floated a great pass out wide to Roberts. He then played a great ball across the goal but no Thistle players were there to pounce and the ball went out of play for a goal kick. Strachan was at the heart of the Thistle attack when he flew down the middle of the park leaving all in his wake. With only Jim Lauchlan to beat and Derek Young to his left, Mark Roberts to his right, Strachan chose to shoot but his shot was tame and rolled into the grateful arms of Jamie MacDonald.

Just after fourteen minutes, Dobbie showed the Thistle fans just what a predator he has become. He ran onto O’Connor’s header and from an incredibly tight angle on the Thistle left, he managed to fire off a fierce drive that had Tuffey scrambling across his goal line but it bounced just wide of the post.

The game now headed into a scrappy dogfight in the middle of the park. Both teams looked rather tired and neither seemed to be flying into tackles as you would expect for such an important game. However, on twenty minutes, the ineffectual Jimmy Gibson did raise the heat slightly with a late challenge that earned him a booking.

Alan Archibald was controlling the backline well and on thirty six minutes, he sent a superb ball from just outside his box over the QoS defence. Derek Young raced to collect it but was stopped, rather unceremoniously, by a combination of MacDonald and Lauchlan’s bodies. However, the resultant corner came to nothing.

Thistle had the best chance of the game just before half-time when Roberts slipped a reverse pass through the middle of the QoS defence. Jimmy Gibson charged through but just as he was shaping to shoot, a last ditch tackle put him up in the air. The Thistle support held their breath but referee, Martin Sproule, indicated a corner which was probably the correct decision.

At the start of the second half, Thistle looked like a team on a mission. They kept possession better than they had in the first half and Strachan ran with the ball constantly. On fifty one minutes, Billy Gibson was tackled from behind thirty yards from goal. He took the resultant free-kick but his low drive flew just past the right-hand post.

QoS didn’t want to let this game slip away from them and they began to apply pressure whenever Thistle gave the ball away. On fifty nine minutes, Murray again collected the ball out wide and ran at the Jags inside their box. However, Boyd, who was having a superb game, made a great tackle and cleared his lines.

On sixty five minutes, Roberts played a wonderful ball from the left midfield that dropped right into the QoS box. Jimmy Gibson had burst a lung to get onto the end of it but his tiny legs just couldn’t connect and another great chance went begging.

Two incidents in quick succession could then have changed the outcome of the game. The first was a quite incredible save from Thistle keeper, Tuffey. QoS drove deep into the Jags half and as the Jags defence stood rooted to the spot, the ball was floated over into the only part of the box that no yellow and red shirts were standing. It fell into the path of O’Neill who met the ball on the half-volley in the six yard box. Both sets of fans expected to see the net bulge but Tuffey instinctively threw out a hand and deflected the ball onto the crossbar and out for a corner. A simply wonderful, world class save.

The second incident arrived on seventy four minutes. Mark Roberts and Derek Young played a wonderful one-two before Young sped towards the QoS box and drove the ball low and hard. MacDonald blocked with his legs and the rebound bounced back out to the edge of the box where Strachan was racing with Paton to try and collect the loose ball. Strachan managed to get to the ball first but was bundled over from behind, both sets of players looked towards Mr Sproule but he simply waived play on and Strachan was left to beat the ground in frustration as the Thistle fans bayed for the referee’s head.

The tension in the air was now palpable as each set of fans and players knew the game was there to be won and, more importantly, lost. The passes began to go astray and the tackles began to become later. Thistle dropped deeper into their own half and each time they attempted to break out, an errant pass would bring the QoS colours crashing back against the tiring Jags defence. When the final whistle sounded, more than a few hardy souls breathed a sigh of relief.

This was by no means a classic Thistle display but it was far from being the worst. In a game that rocked back and forth, it was plain to see that whoever scored the first goal would win. However, it wasn’t to be and a draw is a far better psychological result than a loss. With Ross County losing today and Airdrie winning, Thistle need to keep every man pulling in the same direction, away from the bottom.

Man of the match:
SCOTT BOYD - Three players stood out in the Thistle ranks for me today. Alan Archibald made some critical challenges and walked away with the sponsors MotM. Adam Strachan ran himself into the ground and was probably the crowds MotM. However, my vote goes to Scott Boyd. He never gave in, put himself about and was always willing to get up and go again. This young lad has a tremendous future in the game.

Thistle: Tuffey 6, Robertson 6, McChrystal 5, Smith 6, Boyd 7, Archibald 7, J Gibson 4 (Russell 83), Young 6, B Gibson 5 (Ferguson 64), Roberts 6, Strachan 7 (Morrow 89).
Unused subs; Arthur, Sives.

QOS: MacDonald, Paton, McQuilken, Lauchlan, Scally, Thomson, Barrowman, Dobbie (Weir 63), O’Connor, Tosh (O’Neil 41), Murray (Burns 78).
Unused subs; Corr, Aitken.