Gordon the home hero for Thistle
IT was typical Partick Thistle, finally securing their first home win of the season with just 10 men in a game that featured the greatest substitution of the campaign so far.
However, the Jags might just look back on this day as the one that saved their season.
Although still bottom of the Championship, they are now only two points behind Morton and two adrift of Alloa.
Thistle midfielder Stuart Bannigan was the villain for his second red card this term.
But Shea Gordon was their true hero, scoring within 15 seconds of coming on as a second-half sub for Dario Zanatta and then netting the winner in the 66th minute, just five minutes after Jack Baird had pulled Morton level.
It was as much relief as it was joy for Thistle boss Ian McCall, who said: ‘It was a great three points for us. It might not have been pretty but it was great for our fans to see a lot of endeavour and a lot of guts.
‘Shea Gordon coming on like that was a bit of a story. He did that before when he came on at Dens Park for us and changed the game. He is under contract to next year and I am delighted about that.’
Thistle could have been comfortably ahead by half-time but Kenny Miller inexplicably missed from eight yards in 12 minutes.
Sean McGinty then hit the bar with a 20th-minute header and Reece Cole also had two decent chances.
The Jags cause wasn’t helped when Bannigan lunged in on Cammy Salkeld in the 53rd minute and was shown a red card by referee Bobby Madden.
However, the hosts were ahead six minutes later.
Gordon reacted quickest when Cole’s free-kick dropped and he slammed a left-foot shot low into the corner of the net.
However, they held the lead for only two minutes as Baird headed home Chris Millar’s cross.
The Maryhill faithful feared the worst, but Gordon struck again in 66 minutes, sliding in at the back post to convert Cammy Palmer’s cross.
McCall added: ‘We made it hard for ourselves. If Kenny hits that another 100 times in his career, he would score it 100 times. Sean also missed a good chance.
‘But the character they showed when they went down to 10 men was great and I thought it was a red card.’
While Thistle got the monkey off their back, Morton still can’t win on the road in seven attempts and manager David Hopkin was not a happy man.
‘We gave away two poor goals,’ he said. ‘We did that last week against Dundee and it’s poor.
‘I have told the players that it’s not good enough and I won’t accept it anymore.
‘We were fine in the first half and it’s the fourth game in a row our goalkeeper hasn’t had a save to make — but we have conceded six goals and that is so poor.’