14th Feb 2020 Partick Thistle 1 Raith Rovers 2 (Challenge Cup Semi Final)

matches:2019-20: ← 35game 3637 →

55y, 4m, 15d	Ian McCall	John McGlynn

Steven Saunders; Shea Gordon; Alex Jones
Darren Brownlie; Jamie Barjonas; Dario Zanatta

Lewis Mansell (1-2, 83 mins)		Kyle Benedictus (0-1, 31 mins); Regan Hendry (0-2, 74 mins)
Joe Cardle (1-2, 83 mins)		Dylan Tait (0-1, 31 mins); Steven MacLean (0-2, 74 mins)
Stuart Bannigan; Reece Cole; Joe Cardle		Ross Matthews; Steven MacLean

Alex Jones (Lewis Mansell, 59 mins); Reece Cole (Mitch Austin, 70 mins); Joe Cardle (Tommy Robson, 89 mins)		Dylan Tait (Brad Spencer, 64 mins); Kieron Bowie (Daniel Armstrong, 75 mins); John Baird (Tony Dingwall, 76 mins)

32y, 7m, 17d	Scott Fox	Robbie Thomson
19y, 6m, 17d	Lee O'Connor	Kieran MacDonald
21y, 1m, 23d	James Penrice	Iain Davidson
26y, 10m, 25d	Tam O'Ware	Kyle Benedictus
28y, 10m, 15d	Steven Saunders	David McKay
27y, 4m, 28d	Stuart Bannigan	Regan Hendry
21y, 8m, 29d	Shea Gordon	Ross Matthews
21y, 11m, 28d	Reece Cole	Dylan Tait
32y, 2m, 22d	Brian Graham	Steven MacLean
25y, 4m, 17d	Alex Jones	Kieron Bowie
33y, 0m, 7d	Joe Cardle	John Baird former Jag

26y, 5m, 10d

22y, 5m, 8d	Jamie Sneddon	Ross Munro
24y, 5m, 3d	Tommy Robson	Michael Miller
34y, 4m, 5d	Darian MacKinnon	Tony Dingwall
22y, 4m, 25d	Lewis Mansell	Grant Anderson
28y, 10m, 11d	Mitch Austin	Brad Spencer
		Jamie Watson
		Daniel Armstrong

notes

Both sides generally in playing order.
Thistle filled only 5 of their 7 allocated bench slots.

TTA report

A free header from 3 yards at a needlessly conceded corner put Rovers ahead (31). Graham “scored“ but was off-side and Penrice went close. Farcical defending led to the 2nd (74). Mansell's header (83) spurred Thistle on and Austin hit the post (90). Dreadfully poor with few exceptions. First Division Rovers deserved their win.

Media report

14-Feb-2020, bbc.com

Raith Rovers survived a late rally from second-tier Partick Thistle to reach the Scottish Challenge Cup final. The League One leaders deservedly led at Firhill with well-taken goals either side of half-time. Captain Kyle Bendictus rifled home a header and Regan Hendry punished feeble defending to find the bottom corner. But Thistle, bottom of the Championship, halved the deficit through Lewis Mansell before Mitch Austin hit the post in the 89th minute. Raith, who lifted the trophy in 2014, will face the winners of Sunday's meeting between Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Rangers colts in the final on 28 March. Thistle have now lost six of their past seven games and turn their attention to the Championship survival battle, where they trail Alloa Athletic by three points.

Reaction

Partick Thistle manager Ian McCall (speaking to Jagzone):

I thought we played well in the first half and we should have scored with a couple of the opportunities we had. They had a set play and scored from it and I felt it was a bit of a travesty that we were getting beat at half time. We changed in the second half and went a bit gung ho, which left us a lot more exposed at the back. Raith had a couple of opportunities before they got a thoroughly merited second goal. We got a goal from Mansell but it was too little too late.

Raith Rovers match-winner Regan Hendry (speaking to the BBC):

We're absolutely delighted - you can see what it means to us and the fans. We're not a massive club but here we are on a big stage and we showed what we're all about. We've gone under the radar this season - we've not been spoken about that much - but we've got so much class in the team.

ROTTEN RUN CONTINUES

● 25-year-old Alex Jones plays his last game for Thistle.

● 28-year-old Mitch Austin plays his last game for Thistle.

● 28-year-old Steven Saunders plays his last game for Thistle.

● Lewis Mansell scores his last goal for Thistle.

● Ian McCall's Thistle go 7 competitive games without a win, one beyond Gary Caldwell's worst run of 6. Overall, it's the club's worst run since the combined Archibald / Britton / Caldwell streak of 9-without-a-win in 2018.

● Rovers defeat Jags for the first time in the Challenge Cup at the third time of asking.

● Thistle's clean-sheet ratio of 11.1% (4 in 36 competitive games) is on course to be worst return in a second-tier season since the free scoring days of the Victorian era.

ongoing sequences:

● 7 competitive games without a win, 4th Jan 2020 to date. (Longest run since: 9 games, 28th Sep 2018 to 1st Dec 2018. Club-record: 26 games, 28th Nov 1908 to 28th Aug 1909.)

● 21 home games without a clean-sheet in the League; 15th Dec 2018 to date. (Longest run since the club-record: 22 games; 25th Apr 1908 to 23rd Oct 1909.)

● 24 games without a clean-sheet in the League; 3rd Aug 2019 to date. (Longest run since: 25 games; 3rd Sep 1969 to 7th Mar 1970. Club-record: 46 games; 20th Apr 1908 to 30th Oct 1909.)

● 24 League games outwith the top-flight without a clean-sheet, 3rd Aug 2019 to date. (Longest run since: 29 games; 17th Aug 1895 to 23rd Jan 1897. Club-record: 35 games; 19th Aug 1893 to 18th May 1895.)

● 27 consecutive competitive appearances for James Penrice, 7th Sep 2019 to date. (Longest run since: Kenny Miller - 32 games, 13th Jul 2019 to 18th Jan 2020. Club-record: Johnny Jackson - 313 games, 28th Aug 1926 to 25th Mar 1933.)

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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