The Thistle Archive

Media report

Alison McConnell, 15-Oct-2021, Herald Scotland

IT was not a night to be a Hamilton fan. Not that Partick Thistle cared too much as they ran rampant over a dishevelled Accies side who look like a team in freefall following their exit from the top flight last season. The full rage was vented last night as the home support made their feelings clear in a furious second-half. As there was chaos in the stand with the ire of Accies’ aimed at Stuart Taylor and the Hamilton board, Thistle simply made sure they enjoyed their work with a gleeful turning of the screw on their rivals. Thistle move into fourth, but Hamilton’s problems run significantly deeper. The defeat leaves them in eighth spot with Morton capable of leapfrogging them today.

Partick Thistle had claimed an early lead in the game when Zak Rudden had put them in front from Cameron Smith’s corner. In the process Kevin Holt had to go off after sustaining a serious facial injury but Accies had hung on in a first-half which was fairly even as both sides enjoyed decent opportunities without showing any real quality within the final third. In the process Kevin Holt had to go off after sustaining a serious facial injury but Accies had hung on in a first-half which was fairly even as both sides enjoyed decent opportunities without showing any real quality within the final third.

That flipped after the break with Thistle’s second goal the catalyst for the roof falling in on the hosts - and then some. Accies’ Luke Mathieson will have cause to rue the effort he steered into the side-netting as he lost his footing in the moments immediately after the break. It was the last real opportunity Accies had to get themselves back into the game. From there on Rudden had a header saved before Brian Graham added the killer second and the fight went out of the hosts.

Within minutes they were drowning in an avalanche of goals as Rudden added his second of the night and Scott Tiffoney got in on the act. By the time the fifth of the evening had gone in – substitute Connor Murray rubbing salt in the wounds - the home fans had had enough. They headed for the exits in their droves but not before making their feelings known with Stuart Taylor and the board of directors on the end of their considerable wrath. It got worse still. There was a sixth for Graham before a late effort from David Moyo that was met by sarcastic jeers from those who remained to endure the humiliation.

Reaction

Partick Thistle manager Ian McCall (speaking to Jagzone):

I’m absolutely delighted with that. Performances like that one don’t come along very often so we’ve got to enjoy them when they come. We started well and deserved the goal we got but Hamilton came back into it towards the end of the first half and it looked like we were set for a tight game but we were just relentless after half-time. We looked like scoring whenever we had the ball for a spell in that second half and we were taking our chances as well. There have been a few games where we’ve threatened to score six but maybe been a bit wasteful with the odd chance; tonight we were clinical and it was great to see the team enjoying their football so much. Brian Graham and Zak Rudden were both brilliant with the goals they got but also the way they linked play and set up others for chances. Scott Tiffoney was on fire as well and when he’s in that sort of mood there’s no one who can stop him in this league.

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