Boss fears slipping into survival fight
Paterson: ‘We need wins to stay out of trouble’
Pics: James Andrew MacGowan Saturday, Monday again this week.
“It’s a hard run-in for us and we need wins to stay out of trouble.“
There was very little between Thistle and Blantyre on Monday night and the closest the Jags came to scoring was when Dougie Ryan broke into the box and fired at goal, only to be denied by a good save from the Vics keeper.
The Jags kept their opponents at arm’s length for much of the game, but they were undone in 73 minutes by a long ball and Sam MacKenzie slotted home the winner.
Paterson added: “It was a disappointing night.
“It wasn’t a classic. There wasn’t much football played, but it was a pretty even match and a draw would have been a fair result.
“One long ball has done us. I thought it had 0-0 written all over it, but we made the same mistake we’ve been making before.
“We go to sleep at a long ball and we get punished.
“It’s unbelievable because our keeper never had a save to make, but we’ve lost the game.
“On top of that we lost Ross Campbell with ligament damage and he ended up in hospital, so that’s another player out for us.
“But on the plus side, we brought in Liam Sloan from the Amateur team and he did well. We need to keep doing that to keep things fresh with all the games we have.”
Things don’t get any easier for the Jags this week as they face Yoker for the second time in a week when the sides meet tonight at Holm Park, kickoff 6.30pm.
Following that the Jags travel to Keppoch Park to take on mid-table Glasgow Perthshire on kick-off 2pm.
And that is followed by the visit of league leaders and title hopefuls Rossvale on Monday evening, kickoff 7pm.
Meanwhile, their success in the Central League Cup has added another fixture to Thistle’s already hectic schedule.
They have been drawn away to Glasgow Perthshire in the third round and that match is due to take place on Saturday, May 12, kick-off 2pm at Keppoch Park.
In between that and the Rossvale clash, Paterson’s men also have a league meeting with Shotts Bon Accord on Wednesday, May 9. Kickoff in that one is 6.30pm. Saturday,
P W D L GD PT Rossvale 24 16 4 4 28 52 Benburb 25 16 4 5 26 52 St Roch’s 24 15 5 4 25 50 Neilston Juniors 22 13 4 5 25 43 BlantyreVictoria 21 10 3 8 12 33 Port Glasgow Jnrs 24 10 3 11 -12 33 Glasgow Perthshire 22 9 4 9 5 31 Yoker Athletic 20 7 6 7 -3 27 Greenock 22 7 3 12 -14 24 EK THISTLE 20 7 2 11 -14 23 Shotts Bon Accord 18 7 0 11 4 21 Wishaw Juniors 12 6 1 5 6 19 Forth Wanderers 17 5 1 11 -16 16 Lesmahagow Jnrs 21 3 0 18 -45 9 Thorniewood Utd 16 2 2 12 -27 8