The Thistle Archive

Media report

Martin Currie, 30-Apr-2011, ptfc.co.uk

Thistle arrived at Dens Park with the objective of being the first team to defeat Dundee at their home ground this season. Jackie McNamara was hoping for back-to-back wins from the same eleven players who started in the 2-0 win over Morton last weekend; Iain Flannigan the only player coming into the squad in place of Ross McGeough on the bench.

Dundee got their final home match of the league campaign underway, playing from left to right. But it was Thistle who had the first shot of the match as Chris Erskine turned past two defenders after receiving a long throw from Paddy Boyle, but his effort was far too weak to trouble Rab Douglas. The home side then conjured up an attack of their own. A low cross was driven in by Craig Forsyth and turned behind for a Dundee corner by Conrad Balatoni just four minutes in. The ball hit the back of the Dees net after just five minutes of the match when Kris Doolan ran onto a long cross into the centre of the box, neatly tucking it past Douglas. But the flag was already raised and Doolan was adjudged to have strayed offside before the finish. It was end-to-end stuff in the opening stages of the game and Matt Lockwood almost gave Dundee the lead when he ran onto Gary Harkins’ pass into space on the left side. However, his first-time shot was fired inches wide of Scott Fox’s post. The left wing was where Dundee were crafting their best opportunities as one minute Forsyth cut back a cross for an onrushing Harkins – who was just too behind play to get on the end of it – the next minute he was tripped on the edge of the box. The resultant free-kick was driven into the Thistle wall though. In the 13th minute Rennie was to have a shot, from outside the area. As a corner eventually fell to him he struck it on the half volley and Fox was able to watch it sail wide of his right hand post. The best chance of the game came in the 18th as Martin Grehan’s shot from six yards out was well saved by Douglas. The rebound came back to Doolan who looked to have the goal at his mercy but his header just a few yards from goal deflected off a Dundee defender’s leg and over for a corner. From the resultant corner Erskine tried to find the net with an acrobatic overhead kick but the ambitious effort was off target. 21 minutes were on the clock when former Thistle midfielder Harkins struck a shot from outside the box, but it took a deflection on the way and rolled out for a corner. A good chip forward from Kyle Benedictus started the next Dundee attack. The ball was laid off to Harkins who put his foot right through the ball. Thankfully for Thistle Balatoni was able to throw his body in front of the powerful effort and block the goalward shot. Thistle were looking dangerous too though as Doolan glanced a header just wide from Paul Cairney’s corner in the 28th minute to encourage the travelling support. But the Jags had Fox to thank for not falling behind in the 32nd minute after Alan Archibald’s backwards header towards his goalkeeper was cut out by Rennie, who knocked the ball down to Rhys Weston eight yards out. His well-struck shot was brilliantly batted away by Fox to keep the scores level. In the 39th minute it was Dundee’s turn to stick the ball in the back of the goal only for it to be disallowed for offside. Forsyth’s dangerous free-kick delivery bounced in the box and Stephen O’Donnell was on hand at the backpost to easily head it in as the assistant referee’s flag began to rise. That was the last of the meaningful action before the referee blew his whistle to bring an entertaining first half to a close.

Straight after the restart Grehan was involved in a clash of heads w ith O’Donnell, who got back to his feet immediately. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case for Thistle’s striker as his afternoon on the pitch drew to a close as a result of the injury. Alarmingly he stayed lying on the pitch for five minutes as a stretcher came on and teammates surrounded him to ensure his condition was okay. He was applauded off the park by both sets of fans as Flannigan came on to replace. Seconds after that the ball was pumped forward by the home side to Forsyth, who knocked it down to Harkins. However, the influential midfielder’s strike was always going wide. Poor decision making in the heart of Dundee’s defence then allowed Erskine to nip in and intercept a pass. As he burst forward, a 3 on 1 situation had manifested in the Jags favour but instead of slipping Stewart in straight away, Erskine decided to hit the byline and eventually his cross in was knocked behind for a corner. Again Doolan had the ball in the Dundee net, this time however the whistle had sounded for offside long before his chipped finish. He was just a shade ahead of play when Campbell’s cross put him through on goal, but still cleverly lobbed Douglas despite knowing it wouldn’t count towards the score. Dundee did open the scoring in the 58th minute though when Riley slid a ball in for Forsyth on the left side at the edge of the box. He took a few strides into the area before expertly beating Fox at the goalkeeper’s near post. And it was the same man who extended Dundee’s lead to 2-0 two minutes later. Harkins beat Archibald on the left wing, giving himself plenty of space to charge into. When he squared to Forsyth in the middle, Fox managed to get behind the striker’s initial shot, but when it rebounded high into the air he made no mistake, heading it into the goal. Dundee were close to putting the game to bed two minutes after that, this time with Forsyth as the provider. His cross into the box looked destined to be finished, but Rennie’s shot was masterfully kept out by Fox. Shaun Fraser came on with 67 minutes gone in place of Jamie Campbell. And immediately after Thistle made their second substitution they had their first goal of the game. As the ball fell to Stewart inside the Dundee box he made no mistake in firing past Douglas, shooting across the goalkeeper’s body from the right side and finding the bottom corner of the net to bring the Jags back into the match. But just after Thistle had given themselves some momentum, O’Donnell managed to get behind the defence and was brought down by Willie Kinniburgh to give Dundee a penalty and the defender his marching orders. Lockwood put it out of Fox’s reach to the goalkeeper’s right side, restoring Dundee’s two goal advantage and now giving them a one man advantage with just short of 20 minutes to go. After ghosting past several Thistle players, Harkins set up another Dundee attack which could have seen Forsyth complete his hat-trick. His header at the backpost was off target though. Thistle made their final change with Kyle Lochhead coming on for Thistle’s goalscorer Stewart in the 82nd minute and they almost had a second goal straight after a substitution when good play from Erskine eventually led to Balatoni having the ball 25 yards out. His curling strike ended up just drifting just wide of the post. After a period of contently passing the ball around their midfield, Gary Irvine tried his luck from 30 yards with just a minute of regulation time remaining, but his low drive was well dealt with by Fox. Deep into injury time Thistle managed to pull a goal back, Doolan knocking in from close range after Boyle’s cross from the left wing. Thistle’s ten men searched for an equaliser as time was running out, but Dundee managed to hold on for the win in an entertaining match. It was a spirited performance from the Jags in their last away day of the season, but Stewart and Doolan’s goals were not enough to bring home any points.

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