ST J’NSTONE 0 PARTICK TH 3
PARTICK ThIsTle boss Alan Archibald hailed Ryan edwards for the wonder goal that helped the Jags sail into the Betfred Cup quarter finals.
The Firhill side breezed past saints at McDiarmid Park after a second-half penalty from steven lawless was followed by goals from edwards and Chris erskine.
But it was the Australian’s curled finish from 22 yards for the allimportant second that left Archibald purring with delight.
‘It was a great strike from Ryan,’ he beamed. ‘I thought he made the difference tonight. he’s not had the best of pre-seasons. he’s been up and down but you saw tonight what he gives you because he tries his luck from distance. he hit the bar against Rangers last season but it was a terrific goal from him.
‘Ryan played the most minutes last season out of our whole squad so he’s a big player for us. But there’s still more to come from him.’
Thistle could have had an early penalty when Kevin Nisbet was challenged in the box by saints captain steven Anderson.
But the 20-year-old attacker stayed on his feet when he could easily have gone down.
scoreless at half-time, the game burst into life within five minutes of the re-start.
Anderson again challenged Nisbet in the box and this time euan Anderson pointed to the spot. lawless coolly sent Alan Mannus the wrong way.
At the other end, erskine nodded an Anderson header off the line as the saints skipper tried to make amends.
Anderson’s night got worse when he headed wide of an open goal after a fine cross from David Wotherspoon.
The game was effectively beyond saints when edwards delivered his moment of magic.
saints then created their best chance when steven Maclean threaded in sub Graham Cummins. But with only the keeper to beat he blasted woefully wide.
Perth boss Tommy Wright was fuming when ref Anderson failed to award a penalty after a shove in the box on Cummins by Niall Keown.
Thistle put some gloss on the scoreline when Nisbet set up erskine, who hared through on goal before cracking a low finish past Mannus.
‘We’ll take a lot from this victory,’ said Archibald, whose side host Celtic in the Premiership on Friday night.
‘st Johnstone have good creative players but we stopped them playing tonight. I hope we can take confidence into the Celtic game and it maybe gives us a selection headache, too.’
Wright bemoaned his side’s poor finishing but had no complaints about the result.
‘We got what we deserved,’ he groaned. ‘We probably created as many chances as Partick but didn’t take them. I don’t know how steven Anderson missed that header. I thought it was going into an empty net but I’ll have to see it back.
‘I’ve no qualms with the decision for Partick’s penalty. When you go to ground, you give the referee a decision to make.’
ST JOHNSTONE (4-5-1): Mannus; Foster, Anderson, Shaughnessy, Easton; O’Halloran, Alston (Cummins 64), Davidson, Craig (Scougall 58), Wotherspoon; MacLean (Kane 78). Subs not used: Clark, Tanser, McClean, Gilchrist. Booked: O’Halloran, Davidson, Foster. PARTICK THISTLE (4-2-3-1): Cerny; Elliott, Devine (Keown 30), Turnbull, Booth; Osman, Barton; Erskine, Edwards, Lawless (Bannigan 77); Nisbet. Subs not used: Scully, Nitriansky, Penrice, McCarthy, McLaughlin. Booked: Nisbet. Referee: Euan Anderson. Attendance: 2,619. Man of the match: Ryan Edwards.