MAJOR DOWNER
Stuttering Jags can’t lay a glove on Hearts
DINGWALL should be interesting in just over two weeks’ time. Particularly if Partick Thistle turn in a performance as indescribably dismal as that delivered in the first half of this comprehensive defeat.
This is a club on a major downer. They have failed to win in seven outings, taking just two points from a possible 18 in the league over the course of that run, and it is clear from watching them that they are struggling for the self-belief that will be required to keep themselves clear of Ross County at the bottom of the Premiership.
Recording a clean sheet against Aberdeen last time out should have boosted confidence. But confidence is a fragile thing. And it was blown to smithereens in an appalling first half that failed to deliver anything in an attacking sense and saw poor goals conceded to Kyle Lafferty, Steven Naismith and John Souttar.
The Jags are just three points off the bottom. Ross County are no great shakes, but Thistle are at a point where they simply fail to turn up in certain stages of games and that spells trouble ahead of perilous trips to Hibs and the Highlands.
Their manager Alan Archibald even appears to be in a strange state of mind. He would have been perfectly entitled to read the riot act after this one, show some anger. He wasn’t happy at the concession of the goals, no doubt, but his postmortem was delivered in a rather downtempo, matter-of-fact way.
‘Look, it was surprising because off the back of a good clean sheet and an organised performance, we produce that in the first 20-25 minutes,’ he said. ‘The start kills us. We weren’t anywhere near it and the game was probably dead and buried at half-time.
‘We didn’t deal with second balls. We knew they were going to press us. We knew what was coming and didn’t heed the warning.
‘I don’t think today changes anything. The only positive thing is that it is still in our own hands, but we have got to make sure we cut out the errors because you can play badly and stay in the game, but that there you can’t do.’
The goals which gave Hearts such an early cushion may have come from Lafferty and Naismith, but special mention must go to Joaquim Adao, who played a role in both and showed much in central midfield for the home side.
The Swiss-born Angola international, on loan from FC Sion, won an important challenge which sparked off the move that led the opener with Naismith playing the crucial pass after collecting the ball from Don Cowie and releasing Lafferty to go one-on-one with Tomas Cerny and finish low to the keeper’s right.
On 21 minutes, Adao then dispossessed Baily Cargill on the right after the Jags had got themselves into trouble — a recurring theme over the 90 minutes — and fed the ball inside for Naismith to produce a clinical first-time finish.
Adao’s made way for Harry Cochrane on 65 minutes. He had been clobbered a couple of times by Abdul Osman, already on a yellow and presumably taken off by Archibald at half-time before he was sent off, and was surprised referee Euan Anderson did not take action.
‘I went off with my knee, but it is fine now,’ said the 25-year-old, who expressed an interest in staying beyond the end of his loan arrangement in the summer. ‘Two or three times, one player gave me a kick. If you make the first foul and get a yellow and then make three or four, you would normally get a red. I don’t know why (he didn’t).’
Asked whether Osman should have been off the park, Levein replied: ‘I’ll leave you to judge that. He could have been sent off three times.’
Thistle keeping 11 men on the park was immaterial. The game was over the moment Naismith struck. Having escaped when Kris Doolan cleared a Christophe Berra header from a Cowie corner off the line, they lost a third goal just before the half-time interval.
Michael Smith fired in a long throw-in from the right that landed inside the six-yard box. It should have been handled by someone in the visiting rearguard.
Instead, Souttar arrived on the scene with what looked more like a tackle than an effort on goal and saw the ball shoot high into the net for his first goal of the season.
Thistle players stood around in silence, looking crestfallen. Of course, boosted by some substitutions, they made it more of a game in the second half. That means little when you are already 3-0 down.
If nothing else, they allowed Hearts goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin to show what he is capable of ahead of his first involvement with the Scotland squad during the week with Miles Storey and Ryan Edwards calling him into action.
‘The tempo came down in the second half of the match and I think that was the reason we didn’t add to our goals,’ said Levein.
‘It has been a tumultuous season, but I don’t want to start looking at next season yet.
‘I think it is important for our supporters that we finish the season strongly and this was the first step in that.’ HEARTS (4-2-3-1): McLaughlin; Godinho, Souttar, Berra, Hughes; M Smith, Adao (Cochrane 65); Naismith, Cowie (McDonald 77), Amankwaa (Moore 89); Lafferty. Subs (not used): Hamilton, Randall, Callachan, Henderson. Booked: Lafferty. PARTICK THISTLE (4-2-3-1): Cerny; Elliott, Devine, Cargill, Booth; Osman (Barton 46), Woods; Lawless (McCarthy 46), Erskine (Edwards 63), Storey. Subs (not used): Scully, Spittal, McGinn, Penrice. Booked: Osman, Devine. Referee: Euan Anderson. Attendance: 17,179.