Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Saints boss believes slow start cost his team tie
ST JOHNSTONE boss Tommy Wright bemoaned his side’s slow start to the match which was a contributing factor in their 1-0 home Scottish Cup exit at the hands of Partick Thistle.
He said: “We lost the game in the first 20 minutes. We didn’t start well.
“It is 18 minutes before you make a tackle and you start to get a little bit concerned.
“And really the goal comes from us in good possession, we give it away cheaply and they counter on us.
“We had opportunities to make things happen but we didn’t make it happen.
“It is a frustrating afternoon for us but we emphasise the point, we have to start the game better.
“You can’t give the away team something to hold on to and that’s what we did.”
Alan Archibald saluted his Partick Thistle players and fans after the Jags reached the quarter-finals for the first time in nine years.
Midfielder Adam Barton’s seventhminute goal was enough to give the visitors their fourth-successive win at McDiarmid Park.
Thistle’s previous last-eight appearance came in 2008 and ended with a 2-0 defeat against Rangers at Firhill after a 1-1 draw at Ibrox.
“I am delighted for the players and the fans,” said the Jags boss, a former Dundee United player.
“They came in good numbers and, thankfully, kept believing because it had been a long time since we got to a quarter-finals.
“The win was for them and the players because we asked them to do a job today with a number of guys playing out of position, so I am delighted by the result. We are glad to be there.”