That was so Tiff to take
Jags left gutted by painful Cup downfall
SCOTT TIFFONEY admitted Partick Thistle stars were gutted after going agonisingly close to knocking Dundee United out.
The League One Jags dominated for large spells against their Premiership opponents at Tannadice and led 1-0 with just 12 minutes remaining thanks to Tiffoney’s first-half header.
But they were dealt a cruel double blow as Lawrence Shankland pounced on a defensive blunder by Mouhamed Niang to equalise then sub Nicky Clark snatched a stoppage-time winner after a collision between the same Jags player and keeper Kieran Wright.
Thistle’s sense of injustice was further fuelled as it appeared Clark shoved Niang into the goalie prior to netting.
They also felt they should have had a penalty early in the first half when Shea Gordon was brought down in the box and that United’s Ryan Edwards should have been sent off for allegedly punching Brian Graham in off the ball incident, missed by the officials.
Tiffoney admitted that
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the Jags now just have to dust themselves down and use the pain of this defeat to fire them up in their bid for promotion.
The on-loan Livingston ace said: “We are absolutely gutted.
“First half especially, I thought we played really well. We have had the most chances in the game and needed to score at least one more.
“But we cannot defend like that. They were gifted two chances and took them.
“For nearly 80 minutes we felt we dominated but you have to take your chances or it will come back to haunt you.”
The 22-year-old urged his team-mates to take the positives into the vital remaining league games.
He added: “The bread and butter is the league and we need to win most of our games now so the pressure is on us.
“Hopefully if we can play like that between now and the end of the season, we will be fine.”
Super sub Clark admitted United were not at their best but he was just delighted to snatch the late winner to take his side through.
Clark though was coy about whether he had contributed to the collision between Niang and Wright.
When asked if he had given the defender a nudge he insisted: “Nah. There was no need to!
“I took a chance as I saw the goalie coming.
“It took a bounce with the way the surface is just now and they just ran into each other – it fell perfectly for me so I am delighted.
“We weren’t at our best, that’s for sure but we dug in. Going a goal down, it took a bit of character to come back but thankfully we did that and are in the next round”
Clark, though, did confess that United had dodged a potential banana skin against Thistle.
He said: “Yes, they are a good side.
“We played against them numerous times over the years in the Championship and it was always tight.
“Their teams are always set up well and are tough to beat.
“They have experienced players like Richard Foster and Brian Graham who have been about for years.
“So it is a great result for us and we are delighted to be in the next round.”
The experienced striker also admitted that United had ridden their luck with Graham unable to take a gilt-edged chance to make it 2-0 just before half-time.
Clark said: “It was one we got away with, so luck was on our side that time.
“But it is the same with most cup games – you just want to get through no matter how you do it.
“It wasn’t pretty but again, we are in the hat for the next round so we are delighted.”