Firhill men top of the swaps
Partick Thistle Hamilton
IS a manager whose two substitutions won him the game something of a dunce for not starting them or a genius for getting his replacements bang-on? As it happens, Alan Archibald is neither; however, the Partick Thistle boss was a happy man when, in a match which reeked of a 0-0 draw for so long, Chris Erskine and Kris Doolan came off the bench to win his side a valuable three points which took them into the Ladbrokes Premiership’s top six.
The two combined for the first goal and after that there was only going to be one winner. “I’m delighted with the result,” Archibald said. “It was a terrible game. We have played better and not won. The way the game it went, it was ideal to get Kris and Chris on, which it perhaps wasn’t at the start.
“I’m not taking too much notice of the top six because teams will fall in an out of that. I said to the players before the match that we had a nine games until the split, so that is a mini-season.”
The wee guy standing outside Firhill selling tickets had a good line for the punters strolling past him: “The 50/50 draw; mare entertaining than a Mark McGhee meltdoon.”
Such Maryhill banter was to prove a highlight of a first half in which a good touch earned a round of applause. Too often, both sides elected to hit the ball early and high. Too many passes had more chance of finding touch than a player. Things vastly improved after the hot orange juices and Hamilton went close not long after the restart.
A quickly taken free-kick from Danny Redmond picked out Eamonn Brophy, whose header flew narrowly wide, then Brophy took advantage of a Callum Booth mistake to get a run-in on the Thistle goal which goalkeeper Tomas Cerny protected with a knee.
After 65 minutes, the home side missed a sitter. A fine free-kick by Booth found the head of Danny Devine whose effort brought out the best in Hamilton keeper Gary Woods. Such was the force of the header, Woods couldn’t hold on to the ball. It therefore went loose and to the right foot of Liam Lindsay who, from six yards, managed to put his shot well over the bar.
A Thistle goal, however, was just a few minutes away. A good turn by Erskine on the byline bought him some space, his cross was excellent, as was the header by fellow sub Doolan.
The game was done after 79 minutes. A fine run by Steve Lawless sparked a move which ended with Booth’s perfect centre giving Doolan an easy take to nod the ball in for his double.
The Hamilton supporters were given another opportunity to boo their manager, Martin Canning, who knows his team will do extremely well not to get relegated. They lack inspiration and above all sufficient ability.
“It was poor game overall and we got done by not defending two crosses,” Canning admitted. “We are missing a few players and it’s a period we just have to get through.
“We knew early on it was going to be hard grind and a difficult season. That’s the way it has turned out to be. It’s no surprise to us.”