The Thistle Archive

Media report

FIRHILL FOR CHILLS TILL LAMBIE'S ROASTING. JOHN LAMBIE turned up the heat at half-time at frozen Firhill to fire-up Partick for a second-half demolition job. The Jags couldn't hit the net in the first 45 minutes against Stenny. But a double from Martin Hardie and another from Alan Archibald sent Stenhousemuir spinning. Boss Lambie said: “It was freezing but I warmed them up a bit at half-time with my tongue. We cannot afford to start the way we did. We have to take games by the scruff of the neck. There's still a long way to go but I'm sure we can cope as we have lots of players coming back. I'm delighted. Hardie is sensational. He can just pop up and win you games, while Archie is confident and in good form.”

Partick dominated the early exchanges and Hardie went close with a deflected shot over the bar inside five minutes. Poor delivery and last-gasp defending conspired to deny Thistle the goal their possession demanded. The impressive Archibald went close for Thistle twice but both his goal-bound piledrivers struck Stenny defenders. As the Firhill fog slipped away so did Thistle's grip on the game and Brian Fairley began to get some control through hard work and fierce tackling.

Thistle couldn't break down Fairley's defence in the first half but that changed in the 58th minute. Hardie was on hand to bundle home from a yard after a Collins shot had come back off the post. Their lead was doubled in 65 minutes. Thistle's Brian Hamilton hit a great volley which was spectacularly cleared off the line by Stenny's Peter Cormack. His header landed at the feet of Archibald, he looked up and blasted an unstoppable shot high into the net. Left-back Archibald - signed by Lambie as a kid - was on top form and collected the man of the match award. But Archie was run close for the accolade by Hardie, who found his scoring touch again after Stenny defender Colin McKinnon limped off. The big defender had managed to shackle the hitman. After being played in behind the tiring Stenny defence, Hardie produced an exquisite chip over the advancing Garry Gow in Stenhousemuir's goal. And he had a late chance to complete his hat-trick but blasted over from six yards out.

Disappointed Fairley said: “At half-time Partick weren't troubling us. The turning point was McKinnon's injury. We made a minor reshuffle and within five minutes they scored. We haven't played since December 9 and it showed.”

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