CALUM CROWE Partick seize the moment by taking their top six place
WHEN the history books open and an embrace with greatness is offered, footballers often react as though the pages are trying to jump out and mug them.
Rather than running scared, however, the Partick Thistle players grasped a Premiership top-six spot for the first time with a courage that has typified this exciting new chapter at the club.
As the clock struck 80 minutes, this game had an ominously familiar feel to it. Thistle had dominated but only had a onegoal lead to show for their supremacy. Motherwell had offered precious little as an attacking force, but you still knew a tenminute onslaught was in the post.
In the first half of the season, Thistle would almost certainly have conceded. Their chronic habit of shipping late goals was typified in this very fixture in September; Scott McDonald scoring an 83rd-minute equaliser to nick a point for the away side.
There was the odd nervy moment on Saturday. But, where they might once have wilted, Thistle met the Motherwell pressure with conviction and substance.
Tomas Cerny produced a worldclass, one-handed save to claw away a Zak Jules header from the goal-line, coming hard on the heels of saving a penalty in the 1-1 draw at Celtic Park last midweek.
Niall Keown also took it as a personal offence if anyone ever dared beat him to a header.
As the team left to a standing ovation at full-time, and with Firhill chanting the name of a manager who has guaranteed the club its highest league finish since 1981, the emotional residue of their achievement followed Alan Archibald and his players off the pitch.
‘Even when celebrating in the changing room, we were looking at Hearts, asking how they got on and whether we could go on to catch them next. That’s our goal,’ said midfielder Adam Barton.
The very notion is remarkable. Turn the clock back to December 1. Robbie Neilson leaves Hearts second in the table and Ian Cathro waits in the wings to take over.
The Tynecastle men were 13 points clear of a Thistle side who sat bottom of the Premiership.
How different the picture now looks. Thistle sit just three points behind Hearts and, now on an eight-match unbeaten run and with momentum on their side, the scent of blood has found its way from Gorgie to Maryhill.
Key to their resurgence over the second half of the season was Archibald’s decision to take the players to La Manga for a week’s training in January. It wasn’t flashy or indulgent. He accepted it would take a chunk out of his budget, but that it was also necessary to help a new squad settle.
‘Getting in the top six is a great achievement as the club has never done it before,’ said Barton. ‘But everyone at the club wants to push on and make it an even better season than it already is.
‘Our aim is to catch Hearts in fifth, keep moving forward and see how far we can go. The gaffer will ensure we are ready to go again.
‘We can now look forward to next weekend against Rangers. We got a result at Celtic Park last week and hope to follow that up with something similar at Ibrox.’ Barton, all silk and Cruyff turns in the middle of the pitch, pulled the strings for Thistle on Saturday and was involved in a move of classic refinement which put them ahead on 11 minutes.
It was a lovely team goal, with the ball passing through Barton, Ryan Edwards and Christie Elliott, before Chris Erskine sold a beautiful dummy to Jules and crossed for Kris Doolan to slot home from close range to take his season’s tally to 13. Stevie Lawless struck the crossbar and Doolan also went close to a second.
Motherwell were drastically improved in the second half, but Jules’ header was as close as they came to an equaliser, only to be denied by the brilliance of Cerny.
The Fir Park side are now in the relegation play-off spot, with skipper Keith Lasley admitting: ‘We don’t want to go through all that again.
‘It looked rosy at the end of the play-off experience a couple of years ago, but it wasn’t much fun being in the middle of it.
‘I believe we have the quality in the squad to get out of it, but we can’t play like we did in the first half here and the manager made that abundantly clear. It’s time for action, not words.’
Archibald later spoke of his pride in how people no longer ‘laugh at’ Partick Thistle. The only joke now will be if he doesn’t feature in the conversation about Manager of the Year.