THISTLE SURVIVE WELL COMEBACK BID AFTER FIRST-HALF GOAL BLITZ
PARTICK THISTLE subjected their supporters to unnecessary agony before finally securing the win that could spark their climb from the foot of the table.
They were three up and seemingly out of sight after a whirlwind start in which they scored through Blair Spittal, Ryan Edwards and Conor Sammon.
However, they seemed to panic in the second half and goals from Ryan Bowman and Craig Tanner induced anxiety around Firhill.
Alan Archibald’s men managed to hang on and, if they can beat Dundee on Saturday, will pull away from the foot of the Premiership.
It’s five games without a win now for Motherwell but at least the spirit was there in the second half and they will feel they should have earned a draw.
Thistle fans must wonder why their side can be so good for 45 minutes and so poor in the second period.
In the first half, the Jags had been aggressive from the outset and Motherwell struggled to cope with their quick use of the ball.
Miles Storey’s pace was a problem for Motherwell all night and he came close to setting up Edwards in seven minutes with a purposeful run and pass. Carl McHugh managed to make a vital block as the Aussie midfielder prepared to shoot.
Then the power of Sammon saw Thistle take a deserved lead after only 16 minutes.
The big Irishman was clearly brought down by McHugh as he tried to burst into the box on the left side of the Motherwell area. Spittal took responsibility and produced a magnificent free-kick that flew over the Motherwell wall and tore into the top-right corner of Russell Griffiths’ goal.
It was sheer class from the summer capture from Dundee United and the Steelmen never really looked like recovering from such an early blow.
They were exposed again in 19 minutes when Storey raced down the right and picked out Edwards. His header flew just wide of the left-hand post.
Motherwell did not learn their lesson three minutes later when Storey cut them open again and this time Edwards made no mistake. It was superb running from Edwards to break from midfield and he calmly collected Storey’s excellent ball before blasting a right-foot shot past Griffiths. Thistle smelled blood and in the 28th minute they ruthlessly exploited some appalling Motherwell defending. Storey popped up on the left side this time and looked to pick out Sammon. It seemed his cross was too close to Allan Campbell but he allowed the ball to bounce off him. Sammon gleefully slammed a low rightfoot shot into the right-hand corner to claim his first goal for the Maryhill men since joining on loan from Hearts in the summer. All the woes of the last month seemed to evaporate. Partick were staggeringly dominant and nearly had a fourth eight minutes before half-time in another sweeping move.
Edwards charged down the right side to hit a low cross that Sammon laid off to Adam Barton. He skimmed the top of the bar with a right-foot shot
In fairness to Motherwell, their reaction in the second half was a good one and they pulled a goal back in 56 minutes having had one disallowed two minutes earlier.
After a discussion between Don Robertson and assistant Gary Hilland, Bowman was adjudged to have been interfering with play as he slid in on Tomas Cerny as the keeper tried to block Cedric Kipre’s netbound header.
But Bowman was not to be denied and got on the end of Elliott Frear’s corner to power a header that Cerny could not prevent from going over the line.
Cerny made a vital save on 67 minutes when he pushed Bowman’s left-foot shot past the post and Partick seemed to be hemmed in.
However, he was helpless as the visitors grabbed a second goal 11 minutes from time when Tanner skipped past two Thistle players and drove a low shot into the righthand corner.
Thistle’s anxiety was palpable and Motherwell sensed they could retrieve a seemingly hopeless situation,
Their moment came in the last minute when Frear had a clear header but his effort went straight at Cerny and Thistle held on.