Saturday 14 October 2006
| Written by Paul Dorrian | ||||||||||
| Saturday, 14 October 2006 | ||||||||||
Following the Internationals break, Thistle and Queen of the South completed the first quarter of their SFL Division One programme with a match played in ideal autumnal conditions at the venerable Palmerston Park. The home team had Jim Lauchlan suspended for the game and despite a good performance in their last match, they made three changes to the starting line up for the visit of Thistle. The experienced Colin Scott was preferred in goal to Barry John Corr, former Jag Eric Paton returned at right back after illness and Graham Weir made his first appearance in six weeks starting alongside on loan Killie striker Andrew Barrowman in attack. Thistle had almost a complete squad to choose from with the prospect of a return for Brown Ferguson, but manager Dick Campbell chose to stick with the same side, right down to the subs, that defeated Ross County in their last game with Keogh retaining the role of mentoring the two young defenders in the back line. In the first significant attack of the game, it was the home side who threatened and the ball bounced in and out of the Thistle back line several times during which Arthur and Keogh combined to make a hash of things but to the relief of the large travelling support nearby the danger was cleared. Thistle were looking to play nice inter-passing football on the ground where possible and in ten minutes a break saw Mark Roberts through but in a offside position. A minute later a cross from Strachan on the Jags left was too high for Young lurking on the six yard line at the back post, and the same player was unlucky just a minute later when hesitation in the Queens defence offered him a chance but the shot was well blocked by Scott. The home team had their moments too. The blond headed Willie Gibson on the Queen’s left wing looked dangerous when the ball came to him and it was his eighteenth minute run deep into the Thistle defence that saw the ball played low across Kenny Arthur’s six yard box but there were no takers for this good chance. Between the twentieth and thirtieth minute both teams exchanged attacks and the home side changed keepers, Barry John Corr replacing Scott in the home goal. Queens looked to take control of the game at this time and in the thirtieth minute a dangerous cross into the Jags box was headed down and wide by Barrowman when it seemed easier to score. A few minutes later a foul on Gibson by Keogh saw the resulting free kick fired into the Thistle box and this time it was Burns who wasted a gilt-edged chance when he missed from a free header at the back post. Towards the end of the half Thistle came back into things a bit more. Beginning with a pass back which was pressurised by Brady there followed a series of corners for the visiting team. During this phase of the game the Jags had a highly vocal claim for a penalty waved away by the referee. But the half ended with honours even and the match finely balanced. The second half started with Thistle looking the brighter team. A cross from Strachan and his on-target shot was beaten away by Corr. The break through was to come soon after, when, in fifty three minutes, following on from a Queens attack, the ball was played long down the middle of the park. This was knocked down by good work from Young to Roberts on the edge of the box. The Thistle hit man made two twisting turns and then crisply struck a left-footed shot high into the top right hand corner of Corr’s net. Thistle looked to kill the game when a free kick was awarded twenty yards from goal, McCulloch stepped up to hit a low drive, but Corr got down well to take the shot cleanly. The home team responded and pressed forward in search of an equaliser. A free kick was worked to the middle of the park and Arthur had to look smart to block the ball away for a corner. Further mayhem ensued from the kick which in the end saw the legendary Thistle keeper grab the ball and the danger was cleared. With seventy minutes gone things began to heat up even more. Good work from Roberts saw the ball laid back to Jimmy Gibson but his shot went tamely astray. Queens broke down the park and their member of the Gibson clan had his shot beaten away by Arthur. In the seventy second minute the Jags broke down the park and a neat ball played into the inside left channel by Roberts was picked up by Strachan. His shot was headed for the top corner when Corr somehow managed to claw the ball to safety. The Thistle youngster was to see no more action as he was replaced by Graham Gibson four minutes later. Around the same time Donnelly became the fourth Thistle player to be cautioned for a foul on the flying Gibson, whose somewhat spectacular fall made sure that the referee took firm action. In the eightieth minute Keogh also found his way into the official’s book. And from the resulting free kick the home side came agonisingly close to an equalier. The ball was crossed deep into the Thistle box from the left, and the connecting header from O’Connor flew back across goal, struck Arthur’s right hand upright before eventually being scrambled to safety. The game turned on that narrow escape as, only three minutes later, Thistle wrapped up the points. Employing the neat short passing game that they had done several times, Donnelly, Roberts and Young combined to move the ball quickly inside from the Thistle right wing. In the end the penetrating forward pass from Graham Gibson found Donnelly bursting through and he slotted the ball low past Corr into the bottom left corner from six yards - an excellent goal deserving of winning the match. During the remaining six minutes Queens continued to move forward but their energy had gone. Thistle rang the changes which saw Roberts replaced by Campbell and Young replaced by McConalogue. Where possible The Jags played keep-ball to delight their fans who responded with applause and taunts at the part-time employment of the home team manager. All in all this was a good game, especially from the point of view that it moved Thistle up to the summit of this very competitive division. Arthur had some good stops to make but was not too extended. The defence held firm and Sives in particular played well. The midfield might have been a little more dominant but this was made up for by the good work of Roberts, Donnelly and Young. Man of the match:
Thistle: Arthur 7, Sives 7, McCulloch 6, Boyd, Keogh 6, Brady 6, J Gibson 6, Donnelly 8, Young 7 (McConalogue 88), Roberts 7 (Campbell 86), Strachan 6 (G Gibson 76). QOS: Scott (Corr 26), Paton, McCaffrey, J Thomson, Mackenzie, Scally, Burns, O’Neill (Callaghan 67), Gibson, Weir (O’Connor 63), Barrowman. |
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