Failure to grasp nettle
Firhill hosts control the match but can’t finish the job as Chris Burke nicks in to claim a point for Highlanders in last minute, writes Nick Rodger
BOTH these sides have been in the midst of the kind of dry spell that could have got them honorary membership of the Temperance movement. Partick Thistle hadn’t won since the first day of the season. Ross County, meanwhile, hadn’t scored in their previous four games.
For the vast majority of this encounter, it looked like good things would finally come to those patient Firhill folk who wait. In control and 1-0 ahead as the match drifted into the nine minutes of stoppage time that had been added for a nasty injury to Liam Lindsay, the hosts were stunned when County ended a drought that was in danger of prompting a hosepipe ban in Dingwall.
Chris Burke, a second-half substitute, battered in a tidy finish in the 95th minute to salvage a draw. It could have been even better had it not been for the reflexes of Ryan Scully, the Thistle keeper, who conjured a fine, instinctive save to deny Ryan Dow as the visitors produced a frenzied late assault.
Thistle had been a goal to the good through Sean Welsh’s firsthalf penalty but it was County, largely timorous for great swathes of the contest, who felt they should have had a spot kick too just moments before they equalised when Burke was toppled in the box by Ade Azeez.
“It was as stonewall a penalty as their one,” suggested Jim McIntyre, the Ross County manager. “The referee had to give it. We’ve been punished lately with red cards and rightly so because they were the right decisions but we need to get them in our favour as well. I’m not here to criticise referees, but he’s made a mistake and that could have cost us three points.”
This was a hard one to stomach for those of a Thistle persuasion. “We have to defend better,” said Alan Archibald, the Partick Thistle manager. “Nothing against Ziggy Gordon, who went on, but I think if Liam is still on the pitch and we are organised in that manner, we don’t lose the goal.”
Given the fairly hum-drum form of both sides, it was probably not surprising that the early efforts were far from barnstorming. Lindsay plonked a header over from close range for the hosts while the visitors had the locals fidgeting uneasily in their seats on 17 minutes.
Adam Barton should have mopped up the danger of a raking punt forward but the lively Craig Curran nipped in to gain possession and surge into the box. His menacing cut-back to the lurking Alex Schalk was snuffed out by Daniel Devine’s challenge, though.
If that was a timely intervention, then it was an untimely one at the other end that led to a Thistle breakthrough. As the ball bobbled and bounced about in the area, Marcus Fraser knocked Kris Doolan to the deck and Welsh converted the resulting penalty with nonchalant aplomb.
The hosts were now well and truly in command while County were struggling to dig themselves out of the rut. They desperately needed something as they scrambled to gain a firm toe-hold and almost got it early in the second period. A dangerous thrust down the left opened up a chance for Curran, but his side-footed effort clattered the post.
There was plenty of time to reflect on what might have been as, not long after that, play was halted for a prolonged period as Lindsay suffered a sore one in a collision and was treated on the pitch before being stretchered away and then taken to hospital.
When play resumed, it was as you were. Thistle had most of the forward momentum while County remained largely toothless. That all changed in the last knockings, though. Burke pounced deep in injury time and thumped home an equaliser that prompted a rampant late flurry from the galvanised visitors. In a match they had controlled, Thistle had to cling on grimly for a point.
I’m not here to criticise referees, but he’s made a mistake and that could have cost us three points