One team in Glasgow Partick Thistle

For the second game in a row Thistle conceded a late goal as they lost 3-2 at Fir Park in an exciting, if not always entertaining 90 minutes of football. The late winner for Motherwell was harder to take given the effort the Jags had put in to haul themselves back from going two goals down early on.

Campbell started with the same team as at Livingston on Saturday apart from Graham Gibson coming in for new boy Steven Campbell. More surprisingly, it was almost a straight swap, with Gibson filling in at left wing back and Billy Gibson moving back over to the right, in the 3-5-2 formation which has become familiar already this season. Motherwell started with an attacking 4-3-3 formation, with Ross McCormack and Richie Foran coming in to join Scott McDonald up front whilst David Clarkson dropped to the bench.

The Jags fans arrived in numbers, with confidence fairly high given the respective starts to the season. But less than twenty minutes in and all hope looked lost already. Motherwell started the game by far the better side, shooting towards the Thistle fans in the south stand, and there was a clear step up in quality from the opposition that we have come up against so far this season.

Brian Kerr and Scott McDonald had already threatened before Motherwell took the lead after 7 minutes, and the most frustrating thing for Campbell was the sheer simplicity of the goal. A Stephen Craigan long ball from inside his own half, the sort we watched him attempt for years with little success, was completely missed by Scott Boyd, allowing Scott McDonald a clear run on goal and he squared for Richie Foran to sweep past Kenny Arthur and in off the post.

Motherwell sought to build on their lead straight away with Foran and Craigan next to try and test Kenny Arthur, while Thistle continued to struggle to make any impact. The Jags only effort coming when Donnelly set up Billy Gibson for a half chance but his cross-shot was never going to trouble the defence.

Motherwell soon resumed their tight grip on the game and more lacklustre Jags defending allowed Brian Kerr to play a neat one two before bearing down on goal, but Richie Foran’s eagerness to grab a second saw him block Kerr’s route to goal from an offside position. Sadly, Foran didn’t have to wait much longer to get his second of the night. The impressive Keith Lasley broke from the centre of midfield and slid the ball right to Scott McDonald who crossed to the back post, where Foran managed to get to the ball ahead of Sives for an easy header on 17 minutes.

Still Thistle did not appear sparked into action, with a tame Brown Ferguson header from a Craig Sives cross going wide without any threat to the home defence. On 25 minutes however, Thistle were thrown a lifeline just when it looked like they were totally out of the game. Jimmy Gibson took a free kick and curled the ball in towards the back post, no one got a touch and with ‘Well keeper Graeme Smith looking like someone had secretly placed superglue on the studs of his boots, the ball bounced into the far corner of the net. It was a lifeline Thistle scarcely deserved.

Following the goal Thistle became more settled in the game, although still creating little, they managed to reduce the previously constant stream of Motherwell attacks. On 33 minutes, John Robertson left the field to be replaced by Scott McCulloch, unable to continue due to a niggling injury he picked up in the first minute. Whether his injury contributed to the Jags inability to defend for the first half hour is a question for Dick Campbell.

With Thistle continuingly unable to seriously threaten up front, Motherwell were always going to create another chance and should have restored their two-goal Kevin McBride headed over from close range. They also had a penalty claim turned down just before the interval, Scott McDonald knocked the ball past Scott McCulloch before charging into him and falling over, as one does when you hit a brick wall. Kenny Clark was not swayed by the soft claim.

With Motherwell’s front three causing numerous problems, it was clear that something needed to be done if Thistle were going to complete their fightback after the break. And as the teams lined up for the second half, Graham Gibson took up his more familiar role at centre forward with Roberts moving back. However, it didn’t change things to start with, and Motherwell were immediately back on the attack with Kerr and McCormack both having efforts on goal.

But a change in tactics from Motherwell to 4-4-2, with the ineffectual McCormack making way for David Clarkson, seemed to work in Thistle’s favour as they began to enjoy their best spell of the match. Brown Ferguson fed Simon Donnelly and he, 20 yards out and with his back to goal, turned magnificently before firing a shot just over the bar. A long throw from Craig Sives was flicked on by a Motherwell defender under pressure from Graham Gibson, and Simon Donnelly was once again unfortunate to see his effort go just wide.

On 65 minutes, Pat Keogh finally got his first slice of competitive action for Thistle as he replaced Graham Gibson up front. Almost immediately the Jags were back on level terms, although quite how much Keogh can claim that was thanks to him is debatable. Some nice footwork from Simon Donnelly on the left created space and he laid the ball back to Mark Roberts, whose 22-yard strike fizzed past Graeme Smith into the keeper’s bottom left hand corner.

Thistle continued to look dangerous; Pat Keogh’s well hit strike from 20 yards found an alert Graeme Smith covering at his near post, then Craig Sives was unlucky to see a header deflected over from a Simon Donnelly corner.

Motherwell started to claw their way back into it though, their four across the middle using the ball effectively to stretch the Jags midfield and wing backs. Several crosses were well dealt with by the Jags defence, but Kenny Arthur was called upon to make a fine double save to deny the home side with 10 minutes left, firstly getting down very quickly to block a David Clarkson header and then rising quickly to punch the rebound wide from substitute Steven McGarry.

Thistle recovered from this spell of pressure and began to press again, with Simon Donnelly and Mark Roberts linking up well, and the introduction of Adam Strachan for Billy Gibson showed the manager’s attacking intent. And the Jags should have been handed the perfect chance to win the game after 85 minutes when Brown Ferguson’s cross struck the arm of Reynolds, well above the height of his head inside the area. The ball deflected behind instead of to the waiting Keogh, and although Clark and his linesman were not denying there was contact with the defender as they gave a corner, no penalty was given.

The Jags tried to recover from this blow as Adam Strachan pushed down the left, but the story is now a familiar one, beating his man easily before failing to even keep his cross in play. With extra time apparently looming Motherwell went forward once more and a David Clarkson cross found Steven McGarry in an obscene amount of space 8 yards out, and he steered his header past the helpless Arthur to make it 3-2 to the home side.

What was perhaps even more galling than conceding the goal 2 minutes from time was the bizarre reaction of ‘Well goalie Graeme Smith, as he ran the entire length of the away stand with his ear cupped to the away fans. Still, we can only hope Smith enjoys the highlight of his career and keeps a tape of his wonderful performance as a memory. It seems extremely unlikely that his unprofessional actions will be punished, but I’m sure he will be reminded of them when he plays against us four times next season.

The Jags, as has become customary under Campbell, continued to fight to the death, and won a series of corners, a Donnelly effort from the right almost finding Mark Roberts at the front post, before the last chance of the night fell to Craig Sives from a Scott McCulloch corner, but he could only find the side netting with his header at the back post.

In the end the poor opening 45 minutes cost Thistle dearly, but they will take heart from their second half display, and there was no questioning the effort and commitment of the team. So the Jags fans went home disappointed but renewed in their belief that Campbell seems to have built a good side, which should hopefully be capable of easily avoiding relegation this season. Starting with a win on Saturday.

Man of the match:
SIMON DONNELLY - In the first half, nobody deserved it, in the second almost everyone did. Kenny’s brilliant double save kept us in the game but otherwise he had little to do. The three centre halfs who finished the game all performed well over the 90, but each could be held responsible for one of the Motherwell goals. In the end the award goes to Donelly. Virtually non-existent in the first half, along with the majority of the Thistle team, he came into the game in the second half and his interplay with Roberts was once again a joy to watch, he set up the goal for Roberts and was at the heart of most of the good things Thistle did in the second half.

Thistle: Arthur 6, Sives 7, Robertson 4 (McCulloch 33), Boyd 5, Brady 5, Ferguson 6, J Gibson 6, Donnelly 7, G Gibson 6 (Keogh 64), Roberts 7, B Gibson 6 (Strachan 83).
Unused subs; Tuffey, McConalogue.

Motherwell: G Smith, Kerr, Craigan, Quinn (Fitzpatrick 50), Lasley, McCormack (Clarkson 58), McBride (McGarry 69), Paterson, Foran, McDonald, Reynolds.
Unused subs; Meldrum, Soutar