31st Mar 2018 Hibernian 2 Partick Thistle 0 (SPFL Premiership - game 31)

matches:2017-18: ← 40game 4142 →

	Neil Lennon	Alan Archibald	40y, 8m, 18d

		Paul McGinn; Adam Barton; Andy McCarthy; Conor Sammon; Ryan Edwards
		Callum Booth; Martin Woods; Steven Lawless; Kris Doolan; Chris Erskine

Jamie McLaren (0-1, 71 mins); Paul Hanlon (0-2, 76 mins)
Martin Boyle (0-1, 71 mins); Scott Allan (0-2, 76 mins)
Marvin Bartley		Paul McGinn; Danny Devine; Baily Cargill
		Danny Devine (@ 0-2, 86 mins)
Marvin Bartley (Steven Whittaker, 65 mins); Jamie McLaren (Oli Shaw, 78 mins); Scott Allan (Danny Swanson, 90+2 mins)		Tomáš Černý (Ryan Scully, 37 mins); Miles Storey (Kris Doolan, 79 mins); Andy McCarthy (Blair Spittal, 81 mins)

	future Jag Cammy Bell	Tomáš Černý	32y, 11m, 21d
	Paul Hanlon	Paul McGinn	27y, 5m, 9d
	Darren McGregor	Christie Elliott	26y, 10m, 5d
	Efe Ambrose	Baily Cargill	22y, 8m, 26d
	Marvin Bartley	Danny Devine	25y, 6m, 24d
	Dylan McGeouch	Adam Barton	27y, 2m, 24d
	Lewis Stevenson	Abdul Osman	31y, 1m, 4d
	Martin Boyle	Andy McCarthy	19y, 5m, 11d
	Scott Allan	Conor Sammon	31y, 4m, 25d
	Jamie McLaren	Ryan Edwards	24y, 4m, 14d
	Florian Kamberi	Miles Storey	24y, 2m, 27d

			26y, 7m, 30d

	Kevin Dabrowski	Ryan Scully	25y, 5m, 2d
	Steven Whittaker	Callum Booth	26y, 10m, 1d
	Vykintas Slivka	Blair Spittal	22y, 3m, 12d
	Danny Swanson	Kris Doolan	31y, 3m, 20d
	Oli Shaw	Chris Erskine	31y, 1m, 23d
	Fraser Murray	Steven Lawless	26y, 11m, 19d
	Ryan Porteous	Martin Woods	32y, 2m, 30d

notes

Both sides generally in playing order.

TTA report

Without their main playmaker Hibs looked pretty ordinary and Thistle had a few half chances. Cerny was injured (37) and replaced by Scully. Off-side harshly cancelled out Cargill's header (69) and Hibs scored a minute later. A 2nd finished it (75) and Thistle heads went down. Devine got his 2nd yellow (85) .

Media report

Brian McLauchlin, 31-Mar-2018, bbc.com

Two late goals moved Hibs to within four points of second place as they beat Partick Thistle at Easter Road. The visitors thought they had taken the lead when Conor Sammon's header was saved, but Miles Storey's intervention led to the assistant's flag. Within seconds they were behind when Jamie Maclaren turned in Martin Boyle's cross at the near post. Paul Hanlon headed in Scott Allan's cross, before Danny Devine was sent off for Thistle after a second yellow card.

They may have lost five of their last six fixtures, but there was no lack of confidence from the Jags early on as they had the home defence under pressure. In the opening minute Sammon got the better of Hanlon with a header, flicking the ball onto Storey, but when clean through on goal he stumbled allowing Darren McGregor to clear. Then when the home defence failed to clear a cross into the box Devine had a potshot from 20 yards that drifted just over. After that Hibs were visibly more confident going forward. Efe Ambrose was just inches away from the touch that would have brought about the opener from Scott Allan's free-kick. Florian Kamberi set up an opportunity for Dylan McGeouch 20 yards from goal, with the midfielders effort destined for the top corner before Tomas Cerny dived high to his left hand side and pulled off a magnificent stop. It was however to be the Cerny's final save of the day as he injured his right shoulder while making the stop and he was replaced by Ryan Scully.

The blustery wind was playing havoc as both sides struggled to cope with the difficult conditions. Thistle though always looked dangerous and slack play by Ambrose allowed Storey to reach the by-line. His cut-back was met full on by Sammon, but Cammy Bell produced a wonderful point blank save to deny the visitors the lead. Play was now beginning to open up and Maclaren had a shot on the turn that was half saved by Scully. The ball rolled slowly towards the goal but Devine raced back to clear before it crossed the line. Then Thistle thought they had taken the lead. Sammon forced Bell into another terrific stop when his header from a corner was destined for the bottom corner - Storey reacted to knock the ball home only for the flag to be raised for offside. Play raged up towards the other end and Boyle's cut back was met by Maclaren who nipped in to score at the near post. And the match as a contest was over when the home side doubled their advantage. Captain Hanlon dashed to meet a corner with a looping header that drifted over the outstretched arms of Scully in the Jags goal. As the clock ticked towards the 90 minute mark there was to be more bad news for the visitors when they were reduced to 10 men; Devine shown his second yellow card of the afternoon after a challenge on Kamberi.

Reaction

Partick Thistle manager Alan Archibald (speaking to the BBC):

I think they've given offside for Miles Storey who I don't think is affecting anything. The ball is going in the goal anyway. We were happy enough with our performance, we moved the ball well and created a couple of decent opportunities. You've got to take your chances. We've got to take the positives from it. I know it's strange because we lost 2-0, but there is positives there and we've got to take them into the Ross County game.

Hibernian manager Neil Lennon (speaking to the BBC):

Great three points. Hard fought win. I thought we were very flat first half. I think that's due to the two-week break and it being a little bit fragmented and disjointed. That last half hour I thought we were excellent. It's a brilliant win actually, it keeps us right in the hunt. We challenged the players. Historically, we don't do so well against the lesser teams, if you want to call it that. We were lacking a little bit of energy and urgency. But the second half was a lot better. I think we needed the game. There was rustiness. No question. A few of them had been under the weather, a few of them carrying injuries. You could tell that they weren't at their best. The game today will stand them in good stead for the next two games coming up.

NO GOALS, NO CLEAN-SHEET, POOR DISCIPLINE

● For the sixth time, ten non-Scots appear for Thistle, matching the club-record first set in July, 2014.

● For the third time in competitive action, ten non-Scots appear for Thistle, matching the club-record first set in August, 2017.

● For the second time, nine non-Scots appear in the Thistle starting eleven, matching the club-record set in April, 2017.

● For the second time in competitive action, nine non-Scots appear in the Thistle starting eleven, matching the club-record set in April, 2017.

● Thistle's highly unusual run of fielding unsettled starting elevens continues, now sitting at a mammoth FIFTY EIGHT changes in the 12 games of 2018.

● Ryan Edwards registers his 100th competitive appearance as a Jag, and is the 8th member of the current squad to do so.

● With his 26th consecutive appearance in competitive action, Tomáš Černý equals his personal-best run in the team. Alas, the injury-prone 'keeper breaks one of his own unwanted records, becoming the first Thistle 'keeper in history to be substituted 5 times in competitive action.

● Ryan Scully extends his own, and the club's record, by coming on as a substitute 'keeper for the 5th time in competitive action. True to form, the 'keeper continues to register awful stats; in the 31 games that he's played, the Jags have conceded 1.68 goals-per-game and the clean-sheet ratio falls to just 16.1%.

● Danny Devine, by far the most indisciplined player at Firhill in recent times, registers his 21st yellow and 3rd red card in just 67 competitive games for the club.

● In the head-to-head, Jags are now on a run of 3 consecutive competitive defeats versus Hibs; the worst such streak since a run of 6 was set back in 1973. Perhaps worse still, we're also on a run of 16 competitive games without a clean-sheet against them; the worst run since the H2H record of 22 was set in 1973.

● Thistle lose to nil for the twelfth time in this season's League campaign. Only two season's have produced greater totals; there were 13 losses to nil in 1908-09 and 15 losses to nil in 1995-96.

● Thistle are now 13 competitive games without a clean-sheet away from home; you need to rewind back to 1996 to find a longer run (14).

● Thistle's nightmare season in front of goal continues, the latest instalment being an awful run of 351 competitive minutes without a goal. It's the sixth time in the Archibald era that Thistle have failed to score in (at least) 3 successive games.

● Astoundingly, Thistle have now failed to score in 14 of their 31 League matches this term. The class of 2017-18 are on course to register the highest failure to score rate (45.16%) of any Thistle side in League history. The current record is held by Murdo MacLeod's Jags who failed to score in 16 out of 36 (44.44%) in 1995-96.

ongoing sequences:

● 4 consecutive competitive away defeats; 10th Feb 2018 to date. (Longest run since: 4 defeats; 9th Dec 2017 to 27th Dec 2017. Club-record: 11 defeats; 4th Dec 1897 to 15th Oct 1898.)

● 7 League games without a win; 3rd Feb 2018 to date. (Longest run since: 15 games; 15th Apr 2017 to 14th Oct 2017. Club-record: 26 games; 28th Nov 1908 to 2nd Oct 1909.)

● 8 competitive games without a win, 3rd Feb 2018 to date. (Longest run since: 9 games, 11th Aug 2017 to 14th Oct 2017. Club-record: 26 games, 28th Nov 1908 to 28th Aug 1909.)

● 34 consecutive competitive appearances for Ryan Edwards, 8th Aug 2017 to date. (Longest run since: Adam Barton - 54 games; 28th Dec 2016 to 3rd Feb 2018. Club-record: Johnny Jackson - 313 games; 28th Aug 1926 to 25th Mar 1933.)

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