The Thistle Archive

Media report

Class finally tells on bold Thistle`… THERE was no Adrian Knup, no Alain Sutter, and no sprinkler valve. Only Partick Thistle, who initially were bold and audacious, confronted Rangers’ internationalists this time. In the end, the Firhill side’s ploy of attacking Rangers from the moment the ball started rolling did not work, although it did win Thistle even more friends. John Lambie’s side only recently stepped into the major league and they would have been forgiven if they had decided to adopt a cautious approach against the defending premier-division champions. Instead their momentum was a forward one. They were intent on pressing up against Richard Gough and his back-line colleagues. Their bravery should put to shame some of the division’s other clubs, who have survived by defending in numbers and boring the public. The managers of these teams would claim the price Thistle, who lost 4-1, had to pay for their adventure was too heavy, but the idea is to make football an exciting spectacle, and Lambie’s players contributed to the enjoyment on Saturday. His type ought to be encouraged. Supporters are being lost to the game, and it is foolish of anyone to claim the terracings are emptying simply because there are too many other attractions tugging at people these days. The fact is, they are not being given enough cause to watch football, and there was no need to travel far from the front door of Firhill to find an example of the growing disregard for our game.

While Thistle and Rangers were at work, so was a young man no more than 30 yards across the road from the ground. He was tending his garden, his lawn mower trying to compete against the roars from 18,460 throats. The sounds soared and carried over the roof tops of the quaint, neat little houses which have replaced many of the tenements which used to surround Firhill. And therein may lie another reason for falling numbers. As times change so, too, do the needs and expectations of the people. Football is still struggling to accept this truth, but if teams like Thistle are fortunate enough to be able to continue the upgrading of their stadium and if they are bold enough to put the emphasis on entertainment, they could widen their appeal and perhaps even win back the gardener. Even he would have heard Thistle’s fans erupt in celebration after only 10 minutes when the first goal was scored. Rangers’ John Brown and David Robertson looked naive as they appealed for offside while George Shaw and Gerry Britton sprinted after Willie Jamieson’s long pass. Shaw took over and from just inside the box he thumped the ball beyond the reach of Andy Goram. Thistle almost took further advantage of hesitancy as Rangers’ defenders expected an offside call which never came, and David Irons’ shot flashed across Goram’s goal. It was all too much for Rangers manager Walter Smith, who rushed from his seat in the directors’ box to the dugout. Smith issued instructions, maybe even threats, and his team began to function slightly better. Stuart McCall in particular settled into a decent game after an initial 20 minutes spent rushing around the midfield like a man possessed, and his contributions proved invaluable. He ran on to a ball played left after 25 minutes and lofted a cross to the far post where McPherson was rising to connect. The ball seemed to hit the back of his head, but still looped into the net. Smith settled back into his seat upstairs in the box and as his team grew in confidence openings were created and Ian Ferguson had a few long-range shots, but was unable to put enough power into them. John Brown was booked for a foul on Shaw and the Rangers’ player was fortunate the punishment was not more severe. It looked as though he had hit Shaw in the face with an elbow.

However, everything started to go right for Rangers five minutes into the second half when Pieter Huistra touched the ball back to McCall and, using the outside of a boot, he scored a delightful goal from the edge of the box. The third was scored 10 minutes later when the ball reached Gough, who took one touch to control and from 20 yards or so placed the ball into the bottom left -hand corner of Craig Nelson’s net. By now Rangers were well in control, although Lambie said his players made it easy for their opponents. “When they went 3-1 behind, I thought my players chucked it,” he said later, although he insisted that Rangers had been there for the taking. Lambie felt Rangers’ defence was shaky and that his players should have taken greater advantage. He did agree, however, that before it was all over, the side with the greater class had emerged. Perhaps he got most of what his players had to offer. After all, six of them did not cost him a penny. Mark Hateley falls into an entirely different category, of course, and only two minutes after he had been sent on as a substitute for Huistra, he proved his worth. He headed a ball out from a corner, then chased down Irons, who had possession, took the ball away, and from a couple of yards inside Thistle’s half, he tried a shot. “I saw the keeper was off his line and well to one side, so I thought I’d have a go,” he said afterwards. His shot, which might have been intended to sail over the top of Nelson, dropped in front of the keeper, but bounced over him and into the net. “There was a bit of luck involved,” Hateley added, “but if you don’t buy a ticket, you don’t win the raffle.”

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