Dream comes true for Thistle’s century man
PARTICK THISTLE 2
Doolan (64, 79)
ROSS COUNTY 1
Curran (58) IT was a day of personal glory that Kris Doolan will never forget.
The Partick Thistle striker went from 99 goals to 101 and secured three vital points for his side.
Now he wants to make a magical memory that everyone in Maryhill can share by firing the Jags to a top-six finish.
Thistle are now four points ahead of Kilmarnock and face Celtic, Motherwell and Rangers before the league split.
Century man Doolan has been at Firhill for eight years and knows how much a tophalf finish would mean to the club.
He said: “As a team, we want to establish ourselves in the history books at the club.
“All the boys want their names to be remembered and we are heading in the right direction.
“I have scored some memorable goals over the years, but these ones are the big ones.
“We still have a few games to go to make the top six, but this has gone a long way to helping us.
“The bigger picture is the club. If I am scoring the goals, we are going to make the top six and that is the be-all and end-all.”
Doolan’s 100th goal in red and yellow came when he collected the ball with his back to goal.
The 30-year-old produced a fantastic turn and finish to put the Maryhill men back
on level terms after Craig Curran had put County in front with a rasping shot from the edge of the box.
He lifted his top to reveal a T- shirt that read “100 and counting” and was promptly shown the yellow card by referee Willie Collum.
Not even that could take the shine off his achievement.
Doolan added: “It means the world to me. It’s a simple thing, but getting the 100th goal and the winner and having the captain’s armband was a dream come true.
“I think I said to Willie that he could book me all day long – that top was coming off one way or another.”
Everyone in the crowd at Firhill would be well advised to wipe the first- half action from their memory.
Watching turgid stuff like that too often can make you fall out of love with football.
The only real moment of note came in added-on time.
Marcus Fraser crept in at the back post and stretched his neck muscles to send a header glancing off the Thistle crossbar.
The teams served up a livelier second 45 minutes
To complete a perfect day for him, Doolan played a onetwo with Adam Barton before firing home the winner.
Rarely has a victory been celebrated as heartily by the home fans.
Ross County boss Jim McIntyre was unhappy his side had been denied a firsthalf penalty.
He said: “It’s 1 0 0 % a penalty. Alex Schalk has a foot in the box and big Lindsay has given him a tug.
“Willie Coll um thinks there was nothing in it, but not getting that was a sickener.
“I can’t fault the work- rate or the effort of the players.
“But what I can bemoan is switching off at key times in games, and that’s why we are where we are.
“We haven’ t scored anywhere near as many goals as we did last season.
“That’s been our problem.”