The Thistle Archive

Media report

THERE is too much rusty football for this to be termed a golden age. All the same, at least one entry will have to be struck from the miscellany of Premier Division whinges. This season the competition has not been predictable. In taking the title last season Rangers lost only four matches, and most of those reverses occurred in the dead weeks after the championship had been clinched. They came to Firhill yesterday with the identical number of defeats to their discredit already. For much of the time this match had the aura of a fifth beating about it. A couple of Rangers fans, with their team behind at the interval, were to be heard asking for the Celtic score. For some years now the Ibrox club’s followers have made such inquiries only when they were in need of a laugh. Now an earnest edge is back in the voice. This championship is threatening to turn into a contest. Rangers’ play in this game was full of errors and largely devoid of artifice. It was symptomatic that they spent the closing seconds anxiously defending a corner. Only stamina and willingness enhanced their claims concerning the justice of this draw.

There is a general principle in football which states that anyone who splits the points with Rangers is entitled to the lion’s share of the praise. Nonetheless, there were better reasons for approving of Partick Thistle yesterday. They proved that scant resources need not always reduce you to fielding unskilled labourers. There was a creative intent about a mid field which included Ian Cameron, Alex Taylor and Chic Charnley. The sight of the latter contentious figure enraged the visiting support but any impartial observer would have found him easy on the eye. It was, however, Taylor who made the most impressive attempt of all to script the play. His pertinent passing established a passage of domination just before the break which had the Rangers’ manager, Walter Smith, making his way down from the stand to inspect his men’s apprehension at close range. Rigorous defending from the centrebacks and agile goalkeeping by Craig Nelson added to Thistle’s authority. After some formless exchanges in the early stages they took an exhilarating lead after 21 minutes. The build-up was scrappy, but the finish slick. Defender John Brown inadvertently glanced Nelson’s kick out to Isaac English. The forward then flicked his way across Richard Gough and delivered a low left footer from 20 yards which buried itself in the corner of the net. A minute later, Alexei Mikhailichenko’s sharply struck shot was alertly turned behind by Nelson. After 27 minutes Ian Durrant released Mark Hateley but his finish was unduly studied and the goalkeeper read his intentions to dive and save. Those episodes, however, did not reflect the true course of the action. Thistle were in control and had the most glaring of opportunities 10 minutes before the interval. Taylor eased himself clear of Stuart McCall on the left and although Ally Maxwell blocked his drive, the ball ran to English. He should have finished from directly in front of the target but a poor first touch allowed Ian Ferguson to land a tackle on him.

Rangers were far more forceful after the break. There were tactical alterations which saw the aggressive Brown push forward to replace the substituted and flu stricken Ferguson in midfield. The visitors equalised in 55 minutes. Gordon Durie, making a modest debut, found McCall. His cross from the right was nodded back for Pieter Huistra, who had come on for Mikhailichenko, to score. Seven minutes from time Durie smacked a header against the post but victory would have been unwarranted. Firhill devotees could bask in the knowledge that they have taken four points from their last three meetings with the Ibrox club. “If only we could play Rangers every week,” they sigh on the terracing.

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