Hit-man Doolan closes in on his 100-goal target
KRIS DOOLAN may be built like the gable end of a £5 note — but to Partick Thistle he is simply priceless.
You realise this when you walk through the streets of Maryhill on matchday. They have already printed the scarves in his honour, in anticipation of something he is almost certain to achieve.
The boy who first made his name with Auchinleck Talbot at Beechwood all those years ago in the Juniors now stands on the verge of a fantastic achievement at Firhill.
He came off the bench at half-time yesterday to put Hamilton to the sword with two headers — and duly sent Thistle marching into the top six of the Premiership.
On a personal note, the goals marked his 96th and 97th for the club, putting him just three short of causing the KR1S D00LAN (sic) merchandise to start flying off the shelves.
‘One hundred goals seems a long way off when you arrive at a club,’ said the 30-year-old striker, who now has eight for the current campaign.
‘But if you claw away at that every season and get into double figures, it becomes more achievable. It’s definitely something I’ve got my eye on.
‘Getting 100 goals will come in time when it’s supposed to happen. The team is doing well and that’s the main thing. We are looking up the table and want to cement our place in the top six.’
Doolan, who just pipped the impressive Chris Erskine to the title of star substitute, added: ‘I was champing at the bit to get on and make an impact. I hate being on the bench. That’s the way it should be — no player should ever enjoy sitting on the bench.
‘I sit and watch the defenders, looking for areas I can exploit if I get on. You need to pay attention, rather than just sit on your backside.’
On that note, Remi Matthews could consider himself highly unfortunate to be sat on his rear end. After saving three penalties in Hamilton’s shoot-out victory over Dunfermline in the Scottish Cup during the week, his heroics saw him dropped in favour of Gary Woods.
After those 120 minutes on Tuesday night, it was understandable that Accies should be a little short of puff. But Thistle had no such excuse and their disjointed performance in the early stages led to a switch in system from Alan Archibald midway through the opening period.
From his position as a holding midfielder in a 4-2-3-1, Adam Barton dropped back to play as sweeper in a 3-5-2. It worked a treat, with Barton’s composure and range of passing helping Thistle take control of a match which, candidly, Archibald later described as ‘terrible’.
The Jags were almost caught napping in the opening minute of the second half, though, as Eamonn Brophy headed just wide from Danny Redmond’s free-kick. Accies will wonder how different the outcome might have been had Brophy not been thwarted just two minutes later, Tomas Cerny making a good low save to deny the striker the breakthrough.
But the introduction of Doolan at the interval and Erskine shortly after changed the momentum of the match irrevocably in Thistle’s favour. It lifted the Firhill crowd as much as anything else, which was sorely required after such an insipid first half.
Liam Lindsay also had a fine game, the 21-year-old putting in a mature and decisive performance at centre-half. But it was at the other end of the pitch where he almost had his most telling contribution of the afternoon, in the 66th minute.
From Callum Booth’s free-kick wide on the left, Danny Devine rose to thunder a powerful header towards goal. Woods made a good reflex save, from which Lindsay blazed the rebound over the bar from inside the six-yard box.
Yet Woods could do nothing to prevent Thistle from taking the lead just two minutes later. From wide on the left, Erskine dinked a delicious cross towards the penalty area.
Doolan did what he has done his whole career — nicked a yard of space between the opposition centre-halves to glance a header into the far corner.
You would think Accies might have learned from that. But no. In almost identical circumstances, Doolan scored his and Thistle’s second to seal the three points in the 79th minute.
This time it was Booth who sent over the cross from the left. Doolan, as elusive as ever, found just enough space to plant another header into the far corner.
Accies now face a horrible run of fixtures, travelling to Celtic Park next weekend, before then playing Aberdeen, Hearts and Rangers.
Their manager Martin Canning admitted gloomily: ‘It is a really tough run of games for us. We probably need to go and win one of them.
‘We always knew it was going to be a grind this season.’