Therewasfear–I’mgladwerodeitout
ALAN ARCHIBALD celebrated his birthday with a precious win – then insisted he knew Partick Thistle would be made to sweat.
The Jags closed the gap on 11th-placed Dundee to just a point ahead of Saturday’s crunch clash at Dens Park.
But the Firhill boss, 40 yesterday, was relieved to see his side grind it out when the pressure was on as Motherwell fought back to 3-2.
Archibald said: “We said at halftime, great as the first half was, we knew it was coming. Motherwell came back against Ross County a few weeks ago. We were well warned but you could see we hadn’t won many games this year.
“We know we can do better, especially at the set-plays. We dropped deep and there was fear there. I’m just glad we rode it out.”
Archibald hailed the impact of front two Conor Sammon and Miles Storey along with midfielder Martin Woods and added: “The front two were a real handful first half and caused a lot of problems.
“You could see the difference Martin made with that experience and leadership. It gives us a chance to go above Dundee when we play them on Saturday.”
Well gaffer Stephen Robinson praised his side’s spirited second-half show but said: “We gave them too much. Make those errors and we will lose matches.
“The first goal we gave away was ridiculous. It’s hard to justify and prepare for that. But we showed good character, especially the boys who came on. You can’t give teams a 3-0 start.” BLAIR SPITTAL’S fabulous free-kick thrilled Firhill and was the first of three goals for Partick Thistle in a dramatic 11-minute spell. DON ROBERTSON was in the eye of the storm when he ruled out Motherwell’s goal on the say-so of his assistant but had a decent night overall.