21st Apr 2018 Partick Thistle 2 Hamilton Academical 1 (SPFL Premiership - game 34)

matches:2017-18: ← 43game 4445 →

40y, 9m, 8d	Alan Archibald	Martin Canning

Tomáš Černý; Martin Woods; Kris Doolan
Ryan Scully; Abdul Osman; Conor Sammon

Kris Doolan (1-1, 64 mins); Ryan Edwards (2-1, 72 mins)		David Templeton (0-1, 43 mins)
Callum Booth (1-1, 64 mins); none (2-1, 72 mins)		Dougie Imrie (0-1, 43 mins)
Callum Booth; Tomáš Černý		Darren Lyon; Ross Jenkins; Dougie Imrie

Steven Lawless (Conor Sammon, 55 mins); Andy McCarthy (Ryan Edwards, 64 mins); Blair Spittal (Adam Barton, 90+1 mins)		Rakish Bingham (Daniel Redmond, 60 mins); David Templeton (Mickel Miller, 67 mins); Kenny van der Weg (Scott McMann, 85 mins)

33y, 0m, 11d	Tomáš Černý	Gary Woods
26y, 10m, 26d	Christie Elliott	Xavier Tomas
26y, 10m, 22d	Callum Booth	Kenny van der Weg
22y, 9m, 16d	Baily Cargill	Shaun Want
23y, 0m, 16d	Niall Keown	Ross Jenkins
32y, 3m, 20d	Martin Woods	Dougie Imrie
19y, 6m, 1d	Andy McCarthy	David Templeton
22y, 4m, 2d	Blair Spittal	Darren Lyon
31y, 4m, 10d	Kris Doolan	Lewis Ferguson
31y, 2m, 13d	Chris Erskine	Rakish Bingham
27y, 0m, 9d	Steven Lawless	Marios Ogkmpoe

26y, 11m, 10d

25y, 5m, 23d	Ryan Scully	Ryan Fulton
31y, 1m, 25d	Abdul Osman	Scott McMann
27y, 3m, 14d	Adam Barton	Charlie Scott
27y, 5m, 30d	Paul McGinn	Mickel Miller
31y, 5m, 15d	Conor Sammon	Daniel Redmond
24y, 5m, 4d	Ryan Edwards	Ronan Hughes
24y, 3m, 17d	Miles Storey	Ross Cunningham

notes

Both sides generally in playing order.

TTA report

Thistle dominated possession but couldn't finish and Hamilton's shot from 18 yards (43) was scarcely deserved. After 595 goalless minutes Doolan's 100th league goal (a header from a Booth cross, 64) spurred Thistle on and Edwards smacked home a loose ball after a goalmouth scramble (72). A vital win.

Media report

Kenny Crawford, 21-Apr-2018, bbc.com

Firhill's north stand was renamed in the late Lambie's honour, and Thistle climbed off the bottom of the table with the win. Hamilton led through David Templeton, but Kris Doolan and Ryan Edwards struck back after the break. Thistle's first league win in 10 attempts breathed new life into their survival hopes, with Doolan's header ending a 594-minute goal drought to score his 100th league goal for the club.

Lambie, who died recently, had strong links with both clubs, but on the day Firhill's North Stand was officially named after him, it seemed to be the Jags players and fans who were roused most in the opening half an hour. Chris Erskine dragged a shot wide, then played in Doolan as the stand-in captain saw his low shot saved by Accies goalkeeper Gary Woods. The final ball was the main problem for Partick Thistle in those early stages. They were dominating possession and Christie Elliott was finding space down the right, yet his deliveries failed to find the crucial touch to finish the move. Hamilton gradually edged into the match and a neat couple of touches by Ross Jenkins and Templeton allowed Lewis Ferguson to play a fine through-ball for Mario's Ogboe, who dinked it past Tomas Cerny as the goalkeeper appeared to clip him. Referee John Beaton did not blow for a foul and Ogboe's attempt was cleared before it crossed the line. With the first half looking like it would end goalless, Templeton rustled up a fine finish to earn Martin Canning's men a precious lead. Dougie Imrie's pass was not intercepted and Templeton collected it just outside the left edge of the box, before nipping by a couple of defenders and curling it low into the far corner for his eighth of the season.

Ogboe had another chance after the break to put the visitors further in front, but shot straight at Cerny. Accies were ruing that missed opportunity when Doolan popped up to equalise. Eventually the hosts found the right man in the box as Callum Booth crossed from the left and Doolan arched a header back in the direction it came from into the top corner. Things got even better in the sun for Partick Thistle less than 10 minutes later. Alan Archibald's men nearly scored from a scramble after a corner kick, and when the ball was half-cleared, Edwards struck a sweet low shot through a crowd from the edge of the box to send the home fans delirious. With Accies slipping to a sixth successive defeat, there was a bit of a dust-up in added time with Imrie, Cerny and Jenkins booked, and the result certainly shakes up this relegation battle, which is now very interesting.

Reaction

Speaking to the BBC, Partick Thistle manager Alan Archibald said his side's comeback victory over Hamilton was a "fitting tribute" to former manager John Lambie:

The crowd was up and the players get a reaction from that. We started really well and I thought we were unlucky to go a goal down, although it was bad defending. It was a great delivery and a great finish from Kris Doolan to get us on the way back. That's his job and you want that reaction from someone who's not been playing for a while. It's massive. It gives you a real bounce. We've now got a win and we've got goals, so we've put a couple of those things to bed now.

Hamilton manager Martin Canning was "frustrated" by his team's failure to hold on to their lead, but also his side being denied a first-half penalty when Marius Ogboe was brought down by Thistle goalkeeper Tomas Cerny:

I thought it was only a matter of time before we got another opportunity to put the game to bed, so to end up losing is disappointing. It's a stone-wall penalty in the first half and I don't know then what the referee decides to do - whether Tomas Cerny goes off or stays on - but it could have made a difference. It's a poor call and he said to one of our players that our players' reaction made him think it wasn't a penalty. I don't think our players should need to react to get a penalty. That's his job to make that call. It's a sore one.

MAGNIFICENT DOOLAN MARKS LAMBIE DAY

● At a highly charged and emotional Firhill, Thistle play their first game in front of "The John Lambie Stand", the North end being newly named in tribute of the great man who died, aged 77, on 10th April, 2018.

● Kris Doolan becomes the first Thistle player in history to score 100 League goals. It's his 9th competitive goal against the Accies.

● With his 113th competitive goal for the Jags, Kris now sits as our outright 5th Top Scorer of all-time. Next target is 4th placed Jimmy Walker on 118 goals.

● With his sterling efforts in 2015-16, Kris remains the only player in Scottish football history to have scored in all five post-split games in a single campaign. It's 1 down and 4 to go to equal his own mighty record!

● The battle for top scorer in competitive action this term could go all the way to the wire as Conor Sammon and Kris Doolan battle it out on 9 goals apiece. Doolan is striving to become the first Thistle player in history to finish as top competitive scorer in FIVE successive seasons.

● One more goal for the legendary number nine will see him become the first Thistle player in history to register a double-figures competitive goals tally in EIGHT consecutive seasons.

● Ryan Edwards bags his 8th and final competitive goal for Thistle, 3 of which have came against the Accies.

● Thistle go 8 competitive home games without defeat versus Hamilton; the club-record of 11 was set in 1946.

● Just as it did on 23rd December, a home win over the Accies lifts Thistle off the bottom of the table.

ongoing sequences:

● 4 consecutive away League defeats; 24th Feb 2018 to date. (Longest run since: 4 defeats; 9th Dec 2017 to 27th Dec 2017. Club-record: 14 defeats; 6th Apr 1912 to 25th Jan 1913.)

● 5 consecutive competitive away defeats; 10th Feb 2018 to date. (Longest run since: 6 defeats; 16th Jan 2010 to 20th Mar 2010. Club-record: 11 defeats; 4th Dec 1897 to 15th Oct 1898.)

● 6 competitive away games without a win; 3rd Feb 2018 to date. (Longest run since: 10 games; 19th Aug 2017 to 27th Dec 2017. Club-record: 25 games; 20th Apr 1908 to 28th Aug 1909.)

● 13 consecutive competitive appearances for Baily Cargill, 23rd Jan 2018 to date, a new personal best. (Longest run since: Ryan Edwards - 35 games; 8th Aug 2017 to 3rd Apr 2018. Club-record: Johnny Jackson - 313 games; 28th Aug 1926 to 25th Mar 1933.)

● 14 competitive away games without a clean-sheet; 4th Nov 2017 to date. (Longest run since: 14 games; 31st Jan 1996 to 5th Oct 1996. Club-record: 90 games; 31st Oct 1885 to 23rd Jan 1897.)

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