The Thistle Archive

Media report

WOOD YOU BELIEVE IT AS JAGS HIT POST AND BAR FOUR TIMES ONLY FOR BARRY TO NICK A POINT.

ONE Partick Thistle wag summed up this astonishing game perfectly as he left Firhill no doubt heading to the nearest boozer for some liquid consolation. The clearly exasperated fan groaned: 'At least Dick Turpin had the decency to wear a mask!' Make no mistake, what happened to Thistle on Saturday was daylight robbery. They had an early goal disallowed and struck the woodwork four times. Only a David Beckham-style free-kick from Dundee United winger Barry Robson denied them the three points they deserved. But when you are down, you invariably get kicked in the teeth and for Thistle this was a mugging that must have hurt like hell.

It was hardly surprising the Thistle players looked stunned at the end and goal hero David Rowson could only shake his head. He said: 'This has happened so often this season that is why we are where we are.' Thistle remain superglued to the bottom of the table and despite a week which has seen them draw against Aberdeen and United, time is running out. Saturday, however, provided ample proof that Thistle are not about to give up on their brave bid to beat the drop. They rolled up their sleeves, gritted their teeth and set about making it a most uncomfortable afternoon for a United side who were a pale shadow of the team who beat Rangers. They also played some excellent football, highlighted by a super 66th minute strike from former Aberdeen and Stoke midfielder Rowson. But within the space of just two minutes, Robson nicked a share of the spoils for United, bending his stunning free-kick into the top corner of the net from 30 yards.

For Thistle it was a day of burning frustration. After just eight minutes, Jamie Mitchell drove the ball home from close range after Gerry Britton's lob came off the bar but it was ruled offside. A brilliant shot from Billy Gibson hit the bar after the break and on the hour mark a Stephane Bonnes header was touched on to the bar by United keeper Paul Gallacher. In the 86th minute, substitute Derek Fleming's free-kick cannoned off the post. Rowson said: “We had the chances to win the game and hit the woodwork a few times. It's a bit disappointing to come away with just a draw. After we scored maybe we were too hasty to get another one whereas maybe we should have just calmed things down and got ourselves together again. But to be fair to Barry he hit a great free-kick for United and you cannot legislate for that. This has happened so often this season. We have been on top of games but we still end up losing or drawing them.” Rowson,out of contract in the summer, is holding out on a new deal until he finds out just where Thistle will be playing next season, in the SPL or the First Division. He said: “Hopefully everything will get sorted out one way or another. I'd like to think we will know what is happening by the end of March. But if things worked out, I would sign again, of course. I have been through it a couple of times with Aberdeen and then Stoke and hopefully I've learned from that to focus on playing football.”

Despite Thistle's desperate plight, Rowson is enjoying his football at Firhill and he believes they have the perfect managerial duo in Derek Whyte and Gerry Britton. He said: “Derek and Gerry are doinga great job here to try to keep us in the SPL.” As for the possibility that there could be an escape route should potential First Division champions Clyde or Inverness Caley Thistle not meet the required stadia criteria set by the SPL,Rowson said: “We are just concentrating on trying to claw the points back and hopefully we can stay in the league that way. Like I say, I think we have played well in a lot of games this season but we just have not got the points. You could see today that we can hold our own in the SPL. We just need to pick up the points.”

Whyte said: “I couldn't believe our luck today. We completely dominated the match and I think United will be happy with the point. Unfortunately that's the way it goes sometimes when you are down there but I can't fault the effort or commitment of the players. We were the better side and created the chances but they just would not go in for us. The crowd were trying to blow the ball in with their shouting. I am disappointed we did not win the match but I am not disappointed by our performance and gives me plenty of hope. That's us unbeaten in two games which is not too bad but it should have been four points. We will just need to battle on. Kenny Milne came back in and is back to his best and I could not fault any of the boys. There was not much we could do about Robson's goal it was a great free-kick and sometimes you have to applaud that. The execution was magnificent.”

Perplexed United manager Ian McCall said: “We were very,very poor although I have got to say we missed two or three absolute sitters. Andy McLaren could have changed the game in the first five to 10 minutes. I think I would have put it in. But Thistle played very well and I hope they play like that for the rest of the season. Maybe if they played like that more often they would not be in the position they are in. All credit to Thistle and none to us, I'm afraid. It was a terrific free-kick by Barry but that was his only kick of the ball. He's very talented, he's a super player and it was a great goal. After that David McCracken and Billy Dodds had a couple of chances to steal it but it would have been the steal of the century if we had won this game. We took our fans to the heights two weeks ago. Today I think our fans are wise enough to be pleased with the point but they will be disappointed at the way we played.”

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