PARTICK THISTLE 5
Doolan (12), Lawless (23, 33), Spittal (38, 59)
ST MIRREN 0
PAR TICK boss Alan Archibald purred with delight after his 10 men swept Saints aside in style.
Archie even praised bad boy Abdul Osman, who picked- up a needless red card.
“Some of our one-touch play was exquisite at times ,” here marked. “Abdul gave us that stability that allowed the full- backs to get forward and cause them problems.
“We scored five excellent goals.”
The first goal came in 12 minutes as Kris Doolan slipped the ball home from close in.
Thereafter, it was one-way traffic, with Thistle ramming home three more goals before the break.
Chris Erskine drove in on goal to have his shot deflected behind by the legs of Buddy keeper Ross Stewart.
From the short corner, Steven Lawless was able to run in and drive home an angled shot.
The Jags got their onetouch football going and a splendid example saw the ball moved up field for Lawless to rifle in his second.
The home fans’ first-half delight was complete in 38 minutes when new recruit from Dundee United, Blair Spittal, sent a free- kick from 25 metres over the wall and into the net!
Osman was shown a second yellow card by referee Stephen Finnie, following a late tackle on Steven McGinn.
However, in the next minute, the Jags went five up when Spittal skilfully converted Erskine’s pass.
A late shot by Ian McShane brilliantly saved by Tomas Cerny was the closest St Mirren came to scoring.
Saints gaffer Jack Ross tersely remarked: “I’m not going to disguise that we were desperately poor today – the players have been told that.
“We have a lot of hard work to do in the two weeks before the league starts.”