Miles ahead before Jags sharpen up
IT MIGHT have been so different had Partick Thistle decided earlier to shake themselves from their rather flat approach. By the time Chris Erskine hit a glorious goal in the dying seconds, the Jags had gone down to 10 men following two rapid yellow cards for Sean Welsh, who simply couldn’t curb his need to protest at being booked for a robust challenge on Wes Burns.
There was also the little matter of the Firhill side being dominated for most of the 90 minutes by an Aberdeen outfit who never had to shift into top gear as Niall McGinn and Miles Storey gave them the goals they needed, the latter’s strike his first for the club.
It was a win Derek McInnes, the Reds manager, cherished ahead of the trip to Celtic Park next weekend, despite the absence of his captain, Ryan Jack, set for a scan on a knee problem tomorrow.
“He’d had a little niggle in the last of our Europa League games against Maribor a few weeks ago and it flared up on Friday morning with fluid on the knee.
“But we were pleased with the win, though it was closer than it might have been and we look forward to facing Celtic.
“It was important we won today because I watched the first half of their game against St Johnstone on TV and they were terrific. They have their mojo back, they are difficult to contain and have a lot of confidence.
“They look like they’ll take some stopping but that’s the challenge for us and every other team.
“There is a familiarity to the team, most of them were there last season, and they have a lot of confidence. Brendan has gone in, put his stamp on the team and they’re off to a flying start.
“But it’s only a start and it’s up to everyone else to make it as difficult as possible.”
Strikes from McGinn and Peter Pawlett may have tested Tomas Cerny, the Jags keeper, but Ryan Edwards’ attempt to scoop the ball past Joe Lewis from eight yards in the 23rd minute should have left the Dons goalkeeper without a hope of saving.
Five minutes later, however, when the Reds broke the deadlock through McGinn’s perfectly placed 25-yard free kick – the result of Abdul Osman’s clumsy challenge on Graeme Shinnie, for which he was booked – it presented McInnes’ side with extra impetus.
Yet, Ade Azeez’s lung-bursting run from his own half into Lewis’s area looked like ending happily for Thistle – it didn’t – and even today he’ll wonder how the goalkeeper managed to get his legs in the way of his final effort.
If there were thoughts that Thistle, a side lacking urgency or zest, might edge their way back into the game, they were dispelled before the hour.
Liam Lindsay’s slackness saw him dispossessed by Shinnie a few yards from the Jags’ penalty area and the Dons midfielder’s pass to Storey brought a second goal with the former Inverness Caley Thistle front man beating Cerny.
By then, the Thistle heads were down in acceptance of defeat and when Welsh foolishly refused to accept referee John Beaton’s yellow card for his challenge on Burns five minutes from the end, his second booking followed within seconds.
“He will be fined,” Thistle manager Alan Archibald confirmed. “It doesn’t matter if he feels he was wronged, the fact is that he let the team down and he knows that.
Nonetheless, the men from Maryhill came alive after Erskine fired home a stunning goal from the edge of the area and suddenly they began to look the part. The pity for them was that they left until stoppage time to show it.