One team in Glasgow Partick Thistle

Saturday 22 July 2006

Alloa 0 - 4 Thistle

Written by Neil Martin
Saturday, 22 July 2006

Thistle cruised to an easy win at Alloa today in their latest pre-season outing. Early goals from Sives and Donnelly had Thistle in command, and with Alloa doing little to test the Jags defence, it was no real surprise when they extended their lead in the second half courtesy of Billy Gibson and then a late second for Sives after he’d been set up by McGoldrick.

With many fans inevitably revisiting the excruciating experience of our last visit to Alloa – a dismal 2-1 defeat on a freezing night in the depths of February – the team emerged and lined up in a 3-5-2 formation, with new signings Donnelly and Graham Gibson starting up front together and Sives taking his place on the right side of defence alongside Mark Smyth and Scott Boyd.

Steven McConalogue, perhaps surprisingly deployed in the left wing-back (or left midfield?) role, was the first Thistle player to have an effort on goal, when he shot wide after a Roberts cross reached him in the box. Kenny Arthur then made what was essentially his only real save of the match, diving to tip a volley over after some suspect defending.

Shortly after, Thistle returned to the Alloa box and took the lead through Donnelly. Darren Brady sent over a cross from the Thistle right, and Donnelly’s half-volley almost appeared to enter the net in slow motion, with Greer in the Alloa goal surely culpable in failing to deal with a low shot that had very little power.

With the momentum very much in Thistle’s favour at this stage, it was no real surprise when the lead was extended. Graham Gibson was fouled on the edge of the Alloa area, and although Billy Gibson’s deflected free-kick (does that sound familiar?) presented no threat itself, it fell perfectly for Sives to slot the ball home after 15 minutes.

Thistle were flowing forward at this stage, and McConalogue then twice came close with very similar efforts from the left side of the area, one of which hit the right-hand post and one which went narrowly past the same upright.

With Alloa offering nothing except a dangerous Robert Sloan free-kick that flashed across the face of goal and a Ross Hamilton shot that went straight at Arthur, Thistle began to ease up and the game took on a scrappier nature as half-time approached. Donnelly should have done better than lob over when he was through on Greer, and just before half-time a Billy Gibson cross was just too high for his namesake Graham arriving in the penalty box.

After an interval spent basking in the Clackmannanshire sunshine and listening to the slightly bizarre music that sounded like it was being played through a pre-war gramophone, there was an open second half for the fans to enjoy, with Alloa pushing more players forward and consequently leaving space at the back for Thistle to exploit.

A few corners for the home team failed to produce any serious attempts on goal, and Thistle should have scored on two occasions, the first ten minutes into the half when Donnelly latched onto a back pass only to appear caught in two minds over whether to chip Greer, and in the end his weak finish trundled wide. Graham Gibson then broke clear, but with two Jags players awaiting a tap in, his shot was saved by Greer, much to the fury of Mark Roberts.

As inevitably happens in pre-season games, both Dick Campbell and Allan Maitland began to make numerous changes, with Brown Ferguson and John Kane joining their fellow new signings. Donnelly hit the top of the bar after a good break by Billy Gibson, before Gibson himself added a third for Thistle after 69 minutes. Roberts was the provider this time, with his left-foot cross reaching Gibson who finished unconventionally with his knee.

John McGoldrick was another who arrived during the second half, and he came close to a fourth goal on two occasions, the first after a cross from Scott McCulloch (whose waistline certainly looks to have benefited from pre-season so far) and the second with a low shot that was well saved by Greer.

Unable to find the back of the net himself, McGoldrick then turned provider to set up Sives for the final act of the game in 85 minutes. He made an intelligent run and was picked out by Roberts before crossing low and finding the on-loan Hearts man, who finished well and in a similar style to his first goal.

In the end it was a comfortable win for Thistle, but it is difficult to make many judgements based on it. Alloa offered very little going forward and, especially in the second half, left wide open spaces in defence. However, there were many positive performances for Thistle, with Graham Gibson (indeed, all three Gibsons) playing well, and Sives definitely appears to be an asset based on his performance today. One question mark does remain over the left hand side of midfield however; if we are going to continue with wing-backs this may be a problem position.

Pre-season continues with St Mirren and Morton in the next week, and perhaps after these two matches we will have a better idea of the strengths and weaknesses of the team going into this campaign.

Man of the match:
CRAIG SIVES - Two goals from the right hand side of defence is always good, and he clearly enjoyed getting on the scoresheet. Likes to get forward, and dealt with the little threat posed to his defensive capabilities fairly effectively.

STATS

Scorers: Sives (2), Donnelly, B Gibson