23rd Feb 2016 Partick Thistle 2 St Johnstone 0 (SPFL Premiership - game 24)

matches:2015-16: ← 30game 3132 →

38y, 7m, 10d	Alan Archibald	Tommy Wright

Christie Elliott; Mathias Pogba; Aidan Nesbitt
Liam Lindsay; Kris Doolan; Sean Welsh

Kris Doolan (1-0, 71 mins); David Amoo (2-0, 87 mins)
Abdul Osman (1-0, 71 mins); Steven Lawless (2-0, 87 mins)
		Steven Anderson; David Wotherspoon

Mathias Pogba (Kris Doolan, 71 mins); Aidan Nesbitt (David Amoo, 80 mins); Steven Lawless (Ryan Edwards, 89 mins)		Murray Davidson (Liam Craig, 15 mins); Darnell Fisher (John Sutton, 79 mins); Chris Millar (Plamen Krachunov, 66 mins)

30y, 10m, 13d	Tomáš Černý	Alan Mannus
28y, 10m, 8d	Gary Miller	Tam Scobbie future Jag
24y, 8m, 24d	Callum Booth	Simon Lappin
28y, 11m, 18d	Dan Seaborne	Steven Anderson future Jag
27y, 1m, 20d	Freddy Frans	Chris Millar
28y, 11m, 27d	Abdul Osman	Murray Davidson
24y, 8m, 28d	Christie Elliott	David Wotherspoon
23y, 5m, 6d	Stuart Bannigan	Joe Shaughnessy
25y, 6m, 4d	Mathias Pogba	Danny Swanson
19y, 0m, 18d	Aidan Nesbitt	Graham Cummins
24y, 10m, 11d	Steven Lawless	Darnell Fisher

26y, 1m, 7d

23y, 3m, 25d	Ryan Scully	Zander Clark
29y, 2m, 12d	Kris Doolan	Michael Doyle
24y, 1m, 28d	Antonio German	John Sutton
25y, 11m, 8d	Sean Welsh	Chris Kane
24y, 10m, 10d	David Amoo	Liam Craig
20y, 4m, 11d	Liam Lindsay	Craig Thomson
22y, 3m, 6d	Ryan Edwards	Plamen Krachunov

notes

Rescheduled from the postponed fixture of 26th December 2015. Art giveaway # 4: 2,000 cushions, designed by San-Francisco-based visual artist, Kota Ezawa.

TTA report

Cerny had a fine save early on but there were few chances in the first half. Thistle were sharper after half-time and an instinctive save and the bar denied Frans with a header but with virtually his 1st touch sub-Doolan converted a long ball (71) then Amoo ran 60 yards unchallenged and shot home from 18 yards (87).

Media report

23-Feb-2016, ptfc.co.uk

Thistle returned to league action for the first time in three weeks having suffered consecutive postponements in Ladbrokes Premiership. With two dry days leading up to the game there were no doubts surrounding the game and the Firhill pitch, while certainly not the greenest surface ever seen, was certainly more than passable. Alan Archibald made three changes to the side which crashed out of the Scottish Cup to Dundee United. Mathias Pogba replaced Kris Doolan up front as manager Alan Archibald looked to change things in the attacking front, while also introducing a debut for deadline day loanee Aidan Nesbitt. Christie Elliott also came into the starting line up.

The game got off to a quiet start with both sides looking to get themselves used to the conditions, with Mathias Pogba doing well to hold the ball up for Thistle. His physicality was proving a useful asset for Thistle as the side looked to push higher up the pitch. It was the visitors, however, who had the first effort on goal with Cerny having to be smart to tip a Danny Swanson effort around the post for a corner kick. The first half was a game of few chances, with free kicks disrupting the play on a regular basis. The better of the chances fell to St Johnstone but neither goalkeeper was seriously tested for the remainder as Thistle entered halftime at a 0-0 scoreline for the ninth time in 10 games.

Thistle came out sharper in the second half with Pogba doing his best to open the scoring. An early effort was well saved by Mannus. A short corner routine saw Lawless set up Frans who crashed a header off the bar, via an instinctive save from the goalkeeper. As Saints hacked the ball clear, Callum Booth tried a swerving effort from distance which Mannus did just enough to claw away. Thistle were beginning to find form in the second period and young loanee Aidan Nesbitt was having an influential impact on proceedings. He picked up the ball just inside the St Johnstone half and showed absolutely no fear to advance deep into the half, where his shot was deflected wide for a corner kick. Lawless was thriving alongside the creative Nesbitt and he was next to have an effort which was well saved by Mannus after Pogba had done well to nod the ball down. Pogba put in a terrific shift causing havoc for the St Johnstone defence before being replaced by Kris Doolan with 20 minutes to go. Doolan had been on the pitch less than a minute when a powerful Osman challenge spun high in the air in the striker’s direction. Doolan judged the flight of the ball perfectly and controlled it well before firing a powerful shot beyond Mannus with only his second touch to make a sensational start to the game from his perspective. With Thistle a goal up, Saints started to push players forward looking for the equaliser, allowing Christie Elliott and David Amoo, when he came on as a substitute for Nesbitt who received a standing ovation from the majority of the Thistle crowd, to break away with pace against a tiring St Johnstone defence. Callum Booth was determined to grab his first Thistle goal as the night got colder, but once again Mannus was more than equal to his effort. With just a few minutes to go, Thistle grabbed the second and decisive goal in the contest. Gary Miller put in a strong challenge to win the ball just outside his penalty area, with the loose ball falling in the direction of Steven Lawless. The diminutive winger played the ball through to Amoo who ran straight at the St Johnstone defence. With defenders backing off him, the winger used his pace to tear away from covering players, with Steven Lawless making an excellent run to pull away defending players from him. As he approached the box, Amoo curled a left footed effort away from Mannus to put the seal on a terrific Thistle win. Thistle navigated three minutes of injury time with ease to grab their third Ladbrokes Premiership clean sheet in a row, and record back to back wins to send the side flying to 8th position in the league.

UNPRECEDENTED DEFENSIVE RECORD FOR ARCHIBALD'S THISTLE

● Antonio German becomes the 30th player to be listed in competitive Thistle team sheets for the season.

● 19-year-old Aidan Nesbitt makes his Thistle debut.

● Thistle have retired with a nil-nil half-time scoresheet in 9 of the last 10 competitive matches.

● Kris Doolan nets his 75th League goal which takes him to joint-8th in the League scorers chart (or joint-10th if you include pre-SFL and WWII Leagues).

● Kris Doolan's goal in 71st minute was timed at 43 seconds after entering the field and could be the fastest-ever by a Thistle sub, who knows? First candidate I can see is Stephane Bonnes who came on in the 83rd minute and scored in the 84th in a 5-1 Scottish Cup win at home to Hamilton Academical in February 2004.

● David Amoo's goal in the 87th minute ensured that he and Kris Doolan became the first duo of oncoming substitutes to score for Thistle in a top-flight match.

● With 3 consecutive competitive wins vs Perth Saints, Archie's Jags now share the H2H club-record, matching runs set in 1929, 1964, 1967 and 1982.

● This was the 100th League encounter between the two clubs; St Johnstone maintain the upper hand with 38 victories to 32.

● The 4th artistic giveaway of 2015-16 results in a Thistle victory with a clean-sheet, as have all 3 of the previous occasions!

● If Tomáš Černý maintains his current clean-sheet League ratio (9 out of 20), he will set an all-time 'keepers club-record of 15 clean-sheets in a top-flight League campaign. A few games back, we noted it was a big ask. It's now very much game on. 6 out of 14 required. Go on Tomáš.

● Alan Archibald becomes the 8th man to manage Thistle in 100 top-flight games.

● Archie's Jags have conceded just 137 top-flight goals in his first 100 games; it's the same-stage lowest total of any Thistle manager in history.

ongoing sequences:

● 10 competitive games without a half-time lead, 12th Dec 2015 to date. (Longest run since: 19 games; 7th Mar 2015 to 26th Sep 2015.)

● 25 competitive games without defeat when scoring the opening goal, 23rd Sep 2014 to date. (Longest run since: 26 games; 29th Sep 2001 to 7th Dec 2002.)

● 37 consecutive competitive appearances for Callum Booth, 14th Mar 2015 to date, a new personal best. (Longest run since: Aaron Taylor-Sinclair - 55 games; 27th Oct 2012 to 18th Jan 2014. Club-record: Johnny Jackson - 313 games; 28th Aug 1926 to 25th Mar 1933.)

● 64 competitive games without a penalty award, 19th Sep 2014 to date. (Longest run since the club-record: 106 games; 10th Oct 1891 to 14th Dec 1895.)

● 82 competitive games without a goal from a penalty, 22nd Feb 2014 to date. (Longest run since the club-record: 114 games; 8th Aug 1891 to 14th Dec 1895.)

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