DOOLS RUSH IN
Kris seals top 6 slot & boss says that feat is up there with title win
Alan Archibald believes confirmation of Partick’s top-six finish is on a par with their Championship title success.
The Jags boss celebrated their highest-placed top-flight finish in 36 years with a stroll in the park against Motherwell and made it eight games without a league defeat.
Kris Doolan’s first-half strike was enough to claim the points.
And Archibald said: “It’s similar to winning the Championship, especially when you’ve been down in the lower leagues as long as we were at Thistle.
“It’s great for everyone associated with the club. The most important things is we aren’t going to be in the bottom six as that’s horrible.
“We’ve come through the bad times here. There have been times the club has been maligned and laughed at. These are different times and it’s great the club has been up here for a while now.
“But we won’t rest on our laurels. We don’t have to look over our shoulder and that’s great for the fans.
“We spoke about not having to rely on anyone else. We wanted to do it in style and we had a clean sheet – but it required a brilliant save from Tomas Cerny to get that.
“He made a mistake recently against Kilmarnock so he showed today what a great professional he is.
“It’s been a fantastic transformation so the credit goes to the players as sometimes you can get stuck in the mire and they didn’t.
“The fans have been brilliant for me. They’ve been through a lot of hard times and now they can enjoy this.”
The Fir Park side started better but it was short-lived as they were a goal down in 13 minutes.
Thistle’s incisive break down the left tore Well to shreds before Chris Erskine cut the ball across the goalmouth for Doolan to tap home.
It was a typically instinctive finish form the striker to take his Jags career tally to 102 goals. But Well marked the moment by giving him the freedom of the penalty box.
Thistle’s superiority showed from that moment on as they oozed belief.
Adam Barton was inches away from doubling their lead when his 25-yard free-kick curled just wide.
Steven Lawless was next to try his luck. He weaved his way into the box before his effort def lected off Ben Heneghan and clipped the bar, letting Craig Samson gather.
Barton, Erskine and Lawless then combined in a one-touch masterclass which eventually allowed Doolan to go clear on goal. But his finish from an angle flew off target.
There were ironic cheers a few minutes before the break when Jags keeper Cerny enjoyed a rare touch of the ball but the poverty of the away side’s play was bottom-of-the-barrel stuf f. The only positive was a half-time whistle which brought a halt to their pain.
Wel l boss Stephen Robinson removed Elliot Frear at the break for Lionel Ainsworth and Craig Clay made way for Keith Lasley.
But in truth it could have been names in the hat time to decide which players got to continue.
Thistle continued to crowd please with a succession of intricate attacking moves. But the slender, one- goal advantage continued to offer Well hope of a way back as they at last started to pick a few passes and pose a genuine threat.
Shea Gordon’s low cross was inches way from the outstretched leg of Scott McDonald in 62 minutes to serve as a warning to the Jags that the job was not yet done.
Lionel Ainsworth floated over a free-kick which Zak Jules headed towards the corner of the net only for Cerny to claw it out – and play was waved on despite the ball appearing to have crossed the line.
It was another controversy for the pro goal-line technology camp but Motherwell continued to press forward. Carl McHugh went close with an 80th-minute header which slipped past.
Thistle were living dangerously as they saw out the game in a state of nervous tension belying the swagger that had marked their earlier play.