6th Nov 2021 Kilmarnock 0 Partick Thistle 1 (SPFL Championship - game 13)

matches:2021-22: ← 21game 2223 →

	Tommy Wright	Ian McCall	57y, 1m, 7d

		Kyle Turner; Connor Murray
		Cammy Smith; Brian Graham

		Zak Rudden (1-0, 3 mins)
		Ross Docherty (1-0, 3 mins)
Calum Waters; Liam Polworth		Brian Graham; Lewis Mayo; Cammy Smith

Daniel Armstrong (Chris Burke, 60 mins); ‎Callum Hendry (Fraser Murray, 72 mins); ‎Liam Polworth (Scott Robinson, 72‎ mins)		Connor Murray (Cammy Smith, 65 mins); Zak Rudden (Brian Graham, 79‎ mins); Scott Tiffoney (Ross MacIver, 86 mins)‎

	Zach Hemming	Jamie Sneddon	24y, 2m, 0d
	Jason Naismith	Richard Foster	36y, 3m, 6d
	Calum Waters	Kevin Holt	28y, 9m, 12d
	Euan Murray	Lewis Mayo	21y, 7m, 18d
	Dylan McGowan	Tunji Akinola	22y, 11m, 16d
	Stephen McGinn	Stuart Bannigan	29y, 1m, 20d
	Liam Polworth	Ross Docherty	28y, 9m, 14d
	Rory McKenzie	Kyle Turner	23y, 11m, 27d
	Oli Shaw	Zak Rudden	21y, 9m, 0d
	Callum Hendry	Connor Murray	24y, 6m, 13d
	Daniel Armstrong	Scott Tiffoney	23y, 2m, 11d

			25y, 11m, 4d

	Sam Walker	Harry Stone	19y, 6m, 17d
	future Jag Lee Hodson	Brian Graham	33y, 11m, 14d
	future Jag Scott Robinson	Cammy Smith	26y, 2m, 13d
	Jack Sanders	Shea Gordon	23y, 5m, 21d
	Fraser Murray	Ciaran McKenna	23y, 7m, 12d
	Brad Lyons	Ross MacIver	22y, 8m, 9d
	Chris Burke	Jake Hastie	22y, 7m, 19d

notes

Both sides generally in playing order.
The 'network' erroneously credits Kyle Turner with the assist, but video evidence clearly shows it was Ross Docherty.

TTA report

A lob over the defence tucked away by Rudden put Thistle ahead (3). They enjoyed a decent share of the play and, led by Rudden, always looked dangerous. Kilmarnock, sitting top, applied more pressure after half-time but they seldom threatened until several corners in added time resulted in Sneddon's dive and push on to a post (90+2).

Media report

06-Nov-2021 bbc.com

Kilmarnock remain top of the Scottish Championship despite a surprise home defeat at the hands of Partick Thistle. The Glasgow side, who had recorded three consecutive goalless draws, ended their drought inside three minutes when Zak Rudden latched onto a pass and lobbed Zach Hemming. Kilmarnock, who had been unbeaten in five, were unable to respond. However, they remain at the summit after Inverness Caledonian Thistle were held by Ayr United. Thistle, meanwhile, stay fifth but are now within five points of the leaders in a congested top half of the table.

Reaction

Partick Thistle manager Ian McCall (speaking to Jagzone):

It’s a great three points for us, we’re all delighted. To go away from home and beat the league leaders is no easy task but I thought we were excellent today. Everyone did their job from back to front and we were good value for the win in the end. We knew after losing to the other teams near the top in the first quarter that we’d have to improve on that the second time round. We managed that against Inverness with a decent point and we’ve done it again here with a great win against Kilmarnock so that’s extremely pleasing. Zak led the line brilliantly today. He was up there as the lone striker which isn’t a role he’s played much here at Thistle but I thought he was outstanding. His running, his link play, his energy – he was terrific. We brought Connor Murray into the team to play off him and he was fantastic as well. He helped with the press and used the ball well which is exactly what we asked of him at the start of the game.

KILMARNOCK MILESTONE

● The 200th League meeting between Partick Thistle and Kilmarnock results in victory for the Jags, and they now lead 87-66 in terms of League games won. 67% of the time, Kilmarnock fail to beat Thistle in the League.

● In a remarkable display of symmetry with the above, the 21st competitive meeting between Thistle managers and Tommy Wright results in victory for the Jags, and they now lead 10-7 in terms of games won. 67% of the time, Tommy Wright's teams fail to beat Thistle.

● With their first win over Killie since 2016, Jags avoid matching a couple of H2H records, notably ending a run of 7 League games without a win against the Ayrshire side.

● 4 clean-sheets-in-a-row for a Thistle goalie is not something we seen too often in history. Jamie Sneddon becomes the first 'keeper to register the stat since, er, Jamie Sneddon (5) in April 2021! A clean-sheet at Somerset Park next Saturday would see him get a double-share of the goalie record (5) first set away back in 1921.

● Whilst the clean-sheet attention invariably centres on the goalkeeper, it's worth noting some of the magnificent clean-sheet ratios currently attached to many of the other squad members. Limiting the query to competitive action and a minimum of 20 appearances, no fewer than 10 (TEN) of Ian McCall's current squad are, amazingly, sitting in the all-time Top 13 of the PTFC player's clean-sheet ratio table! They are: Connor Murray (#1, 56.41%); Richard Foster (#2, 54.76%), Ross Docherty (#4, 53.66%); Mouhamed Niang (#5, 52%); Scott Tiffoney (#6, 51.61%); Darren Brownlie (#7, 50%); Ross MacIver (#9, 47.62%); Zak Rudden (#10, 47.5%); Brian Graham (#11, 46%) & Jamie Sneddon (#13, 44.23%).

● Should Thistle register a clean-sheet at Somerset Park next week then, for the second season in a row, they would match the club-record run of 5 consecutive clean-sheets in the League.

ongoing sequences:

● 6 League games without defeat, 2nd Oct 2021 to date. (Longest run since: 12 games; 26th Dec 2020 to 29th Apr 2021. Club-record: 27 games; 21st Nov 1970 to 18th Sep 1971.)

● 19 consecutive competitive appearances for Brian Graham, & Kevin Holt (both personal bests) as well as Stuart Bannigan, 10th Jul 2021 to date. (Longest run since: Richard Foster - 23 games, 3rd Apr 2021 to 2nd Oct 2021. Club-record: Johnny Jackson - 313 games, 28th Aug 1926 to 25th Mar 1933.)

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