DOOLAN LEFT PERPLEXED BY DECISION TO DENY THISTLE FIRST-HALF PENALTY
PARTICK Thistle boss Kris Doolan claimed he was baffled as to why his side were denied the chance to break the deadlock before they did in Dingwall. Ross County star Nohan Kenneh’s clash in the box with Ross Docherty was initially ignored by Nick Walsh, only for the ref to consult the pitchside monitor on the advice of VAR Greg Aitken. But, having looked at replays, Walsh stood by his original decision. Thistle did take the lead before half-time through Aidan Fitzpatrick. Yet Doolan felt they should have been out of sight by half-time — before being shaken by three County goals which levelled the tie. ‘From where we were, it was a blatant penalty on Docherty,’ he said. ‘When (the ref) is brought over to the monitor, you assume it’s pretty blatant because it has been flagged up, so I couldn’t understand why it wasn’t given. ‘It gives (County) a wee bit of a lift they are looking for, which we didn’t want to give them. ‘I don’t want to make excuses just on VAR. We could have done better. But when it goes all the way to penalty kicks, you are looking back at the slight decisions which could have gone your way. Even in extra-time, we had a couple of chances which we could have scored and I was confident we would have taken one of them.’ After crushing Queen’s Park and Ayr in the play-offs, Thistle looked set to become the first side to come through three ties to reach the Premiership. ‘We were just so close,’ added Doolan. ‘I’m devastated. I’m gutted for everyone because we put so much into the games. ‘Half the country was probably behind us, not just Partick Thistle fans. ‘We put ourselves in the best possible position but, when it goes to penalties, it’s a lottery. ‘Football is cruel but to go out on penalty kicks is worse because you were so close. The players can be proud of what they have accomplished. Hopefully, we can regroup and come back stronger.’ Doolan denied his side were complacent after going three goals up in the tie. ‘We never took our eyes off the ball,’ he said. ‘I understand Premiership sides are dangerous. We were 1-0 up and tried to maintain that. Once they got back in the game, we knew it would be difficult but I never felt the game was running away from us. ‘We create chances from nothing and, nine times out of ten, we take them. We felt (David Mitchell’s save in the shoot-out) might be the turning point, but it wasn’t to be.’ Doolan reckons it will be some time before the squad comes to terms with the loss. ‘Everybody will be feeling it. Right now, the players will go home and spend time with their families,’ he groaned. ‘They will need them to pick them up and I’ll be there to pick them up.’