The Thistle Archive

matches:2014-15: ← 45game 4647 →

37y, 9m, 19d	Alan Archibald	Gary Teale

no changes
no changes

Ryan Stevenson (1-0, 68 mins); Kris Doolan (2-0, 82 mins); Steven Lawless (3-0, 90+1 mins)
Kallum Higginbotham (1-0, 68 mins); Abdul Osman (2-0, 82 mins); none (3-0, 90+1 mins)
Stephen O'Donnell; Kallum Higginbotham		Stephen Mallan

Lyle Taylor (Kris Doolan, 77 mins); Kallum Higginbotham (Gary Fraser, 85 mins)		Kieran Sadlier (Adam Brown, 69 mins); Steven Thompson (Yoann Arquin, 77 mins); Thomas Reilly (Alan Gow, 78 mins)

27y, 10m, 4d	Scott Fox	Mark Ridgers future Jag
22y, 11m, 21d	Stephen O'Donnell	Jason Naismith
23y, 11m, 2d	Callum Booth	Jack Baird
24y, 3m, 5d	Conrad Balatoni	Sean Kelly future Jag
26y, 3m, 29d	Freddy Frans	Jeroen Tesselaar
28y, 2m, 5d	Abdul Osman	Stevie Mallan
22y, 7m, 15d	Stuart Bannigan	Thomas Reilly
30y, 8m, 8d	Ryan Stevenson	James Dayton
25y, 1m, 3d	Lyle Taylor	Kieran Sadlier
24y, 0m, 20d	Steven Lawless	Gregg Wylde
25y, 10m, 17d	Kallum Higginbotham	Steven Thompson

25y, 7m, 14d

35y, 8m, 16d	Paul Gallacher	Marián Kello
22y, 6m, 15d	Ben Richards-Everton	Yoann Arquin
24y, 1m, 4d	James Craigen	Adam Brown
20y, 10m, 0d	Gary Fraser	Viktor Genev
20y, 7m, 26d	David Wilson [ii]	Lewis Morgan
28y, 4m, 21d	Kris Doolan	Barry Cuddihy
23y, 11m, 6d	Christie Elliott	Alan Gow

	Teamlines derived from PTFC / SPFL.
	3365 (PTFC) / 3865 (SPFL)

Lawless (Thistle's best forward) went close twice and Saints seldom threatened other than their strong pen claim. Stevenson (a header, 68), Doolan (acrobatic flick, 82) and Lawless (low 20-yarder, 91) all but relegated a poor Saints team who seemed resigned to their fate. In contrast…Premiership safety!

Partick Thistle recorded a third consecutive win to guarantee their top-flight status and cast further doubt over St Mirren's chances of staying up. After dominating the first half, Kallum Higginbotham's cross in the second was headed in by Ryan Stevenson. Kris Doolan then netted his 10th of the season with a half-volley. And Steven Lawless added a low, powerful third from 20 yards in injury time as the Jags made themselves safe in the Premiership in style. It was the first time Thistle have had three successive wins in more than two years. And it was also a fine tribute to 100-year-old fan James Jones, who was in attendance at Firhill, and former kit man James 'Chico' Reilly, who died recently. St Mirren are not yet down and out, but clearly in trouble as they are eight points behind Motherwell with nine left to play for. The physical strength and quick passing of Partick Thistle was too much for St Mirren to get to grips with for the majority of the first half. Excellent interplay between the likes of Higginbotham, Stevenson and Stephen O'Donnell really should have resulted in a goal on more than one occasion. Lyle Taylor - in his second spell at Thistle - shot wide early on before Lawless, so often the creator for the Jags, saw two of his efforts go past a post and over the bar. Even Belgian defender Fred Frans was trying to get in on the goal-scoring act for a second week in a row with a hooked attempt over the shoulder. St Mirren's one serious attack in the opening 45 minutes resulted in a strong penalty claim. Thomas Reilly's perfect, lofted pass had Jason Naismith marauding into the box and the right-back appeared to be bundled over. Referee Craig Thomson looked to his official for a flag but the pair's conclusion was 'no penalty'. After the break, Steven Thompson almost made the most of a mix-up between Conrad Balatoni and Jags goalkeeper Scott Fox, the latter's clearance being charged down by Thompson and spinning wide. But from there on in Partick took control again. Stevenson rose against a previously sturdy Saints defence to head in his seventh of the season before striker Doolan showed his predatory instincts to convert well on the half-volley. And Lawless finished excellently with an arrowed effort past Ridgers after a half-clearance.

ptfc.co.uk

SOLID DEFENSIVE STATS

● Thistle defeat St Mirren in the League at Firhill for only the second time in the last 34 years.

● Despite our poor home record against them in recent times, the Jags still hold the upper hand against the Buddies, with 88 competitive wins trumping their 82. With this defeat, St Mirren actually join Kilmarnock as our "most conquered" side in top-flight history, with both of these club's now having been defeated by the Jags on 65 premier league occasions.

● Kris nets his 75th competitive goal for the Jags and becomes the 21st Thistle player to reach this milestone.

● The number nine takes his competitive-games goals tally into double-figures for the 5th consecutive season. He's only the third Jag in history to accomplish this, following on from John Torbet (5 seasons from 1928-29) and Jimmy Walker (7 seasons from 1947-48).

● Archie's Jags could unequivocally set a post-reconstruction club-record for the greatest gathering of top-flight points. When applying 3 points per win across all-seasons, Thistle's post-reconstruction best is currently 1.31 points-per-game, which was set in 1977-78 and, in a strange statistical quirk which merely serves to underline the incredible consistency of Bertie Auld's Jags, was equalled in each of the two seasons thereafter. Despite Bertie's impressive tallies, the post-reconstruction record is still "up for grabs", with 50 points (1.32 ppg) being the required total if Archie is to outdo the past-master.

● Archie's Jags win back-to-back-to-back games in the top-flight for the first time since Lambie's men did the same back in April 1995: 04.04.1995 Heart of Midlothian [h] W3-1; 08.04.1995 Motherwell [a] W2-1; 15.04.1995 Heart of Midlothian [a] W1-0

● Taking a leaf out of the Derek McInnes book of familiar starting line ups, 9 of Archie's Jags have started the last 7 games in-a-row (W5 D1 L1). The steady Eddie's are: Scott Fox, Stephen O'Donnell, Callum Booth, Conrad Balatoni, Freddy Frans, Abdul Osman, Stuart Bannigan, Steven Lawless and Ryan Stevenson.

● Archie has used his full complement of substitutes only twice in the last 7 League games. This contrasts greatly with the fact that the maximum three were utilised 22 times in the first 26 League games.

● Lyle Taylor maintains his amazing record of never having failed to appear in a Thistle match over the course of his 2 spells. That's 33 games not out.

● Kallum continues with his late attempt to pip Steven as the top goal maker for the season. By my reckoning, the competitive-game assists leaderboard now reads: Steven Lawless (8), Stephen O'Donnell (6) and Kallum Higginbotham (5).

● In the great modern-day farce that is the Scottish top-flight, Partick Thistle, in 8th, have a better League record than Dundee, in 6th.

● Thistle register a 3+ goal victory margin for the 5th time in this season's League. Davie Meiklejohn's Jags were the last group to achieve such a thing in the top-flight, matching this figure away back in season 1956-57. The club-record for the category was set at 10 under the stewardship of George Easton away back in 1926-27, and matched by Donald Turner's troops in season 1946-47.

● Thistle win to nil for the 9th time in the League this season. Amazing to think that we only did that once in 38 games last term (the 2-0 win at Tynecastle). You have to rewind back to season 1962-63 to find the last time this total was bettered in the top-flight, when 10 such victories were achieved. The category record sits at 12, achieved two seasons in-a-row in both 1915-16 and 1916-17.

● Four consecutive top-flight home wins with a clean-sheet represents the 2nd best run of all-time for the category. It's the best run since the club-record five which was set between November and January in season 1961-62.

● Thistle keep a clean-sheet for the 11th time in the League this season. In the top-flight, it's our best shut-outs to games ratio since 1973-74 when 11 clean-sheets were returned in 34 games.

● Currently, Thistle have conceded just 1.11 goals per game in this season's League campaign. At the moment, that ratio is standing as the 5th all-time best performance in 82 top-flight seasons. The club-record was 0.93 set in 1920-21. Whilst that record cannot be beaten, limiting the concessions to just 1 more goal would ensure the club's 2nd best top-flight defensive record of all-time.

ongoing sequences:

● 4 consecutive clean-sheets in competitive home games; 14th Mar 2015 to date. (Longest run since: 4 games; 30th Oct 1999 to 18th Dec 1999. Club-record: 7 games; 19th Aug 1911 to 14th Oct 1911.)

● 4 consecutive clean-sheets in home League games; 14th Mar 2015 to date. (Longest run since the joint club-record: 5 games; 15th Aug 2009 to 17th Oct 2009, 18th Dec 1993 to 26th Mar 1994, 6th Dec 1975 to 7th Feb 1976, 1st Jan 1971 to 20th Mar 1971, 25th Nov 1961 to 6th Jan 1962 & 19th Aug 1911 to 14th Oct 1911.)

● 4 consecutive competitive home wins; 14th Mar 2015 to date. (Longest run since: 7 wins; 19th Jan 2013 to 10th Apr 2013. Joint club-record: 11 wins; 26th Aug 1899 to 3rd Feb 1900 & 21st Jul 2012 to 24th Nov 2012.)

● 4 consecutive home League wins; 14th Mar 2015 to date. (Longest run since: 7 wins; 19th Jan 2013 to 10th Apr 2013. Joint club-record: 10 wins; 5th Sep 1896 to 25th Sep 1897 & 7th Nov 1970 to 5th Apr 1971.)

● 9 competitive games since a home draw.

● 13 competitive games without defeat when scoring the opening goal.

● 26 consecutive competitive appearances for Stephen O'Donnell, 8th Nov 2014 to date. (Longest run since: Kallum Higginbotham - 33 games; 10th Aug 2013 to 26th Mar 2014). Club-record: Johnny Jackson - 313 games, 28th Aug 1926 to 25th Mar 1933.)

● 41 competitive games since back-to-back draws, 7th May 2014 to date. (Longest run since: 59 games, 18th Aug 2009 to 11th Dec 2010. Club-record: 201 games, 11th Feb 1957 to 1st Apr 1961.)

Stats Watch adheres to our stated definitions of League, League Max, Major Competitive, Competitive or All Games. Where there is no written qualification, you should presume that the Stat in question is compiled from the All Games criteria.

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