Scottish Cup 4th round: Partick Thistle 0-1 Queen of the South
William Hill Scottish Cup 4th Round: Queen of the South boss Gus McPherson was delighted not to be the one receiving a late sickener as he side triumphed at Firhill, writes Matthew Harold. Queen of the South secured their place in the fifth round of Scottish Cup with a smash and grab job against Partick Thistle.
In a game that seemed destined for a replay at Palmerston it was Queen’s youngster Danny Carmichael who stepped up in the last minute to finish the cup tie.
And his boss Gus McPherson was happy it was not to be his men on the receiving end of a last minute strike this time, saying: “We’ve suffered that a lot this season, late goals, so a pleasant surprise that we experience the joy of scoring such a late goal.
“It was a game that looked like it was going to be nothing each, written all over it, with both teams really cancelling each other out.”
The home side had started the brightest on a Firhill surface that have taken damage during the New Year’s day rugby match between Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Partick Thistle’s main threat came from the wide area in the form of Chris Erskine - with the help of full back Stephen O’Donnell - but the final ball let the Glasgow side down as they failed to capitalise on their dominance.
The visitors were forced to feed off of scraps, with only a couple of half chances from both Nicky Clark and Stephen Simmons, but Scott Fox in the Thistle goal was more than equal to the attempts.
Both sets of support were rarely given anything to shout about during a dull second half, where neither side could have the final ball in order to unlock the opposition defence.
That was until the last minute, when a long free kick from the left hand side found the head of Ryan McGuffie and his knock down arrived at the feet of Carmichael, who rifled the ball home to send the Dumfries side into the next round.
Queens’ boss McPherson was delighted with how his side defended, saying: “We worked extremely hard defensively, were we have conceded a lot of soft goals.
“But credit to the whole unit, when they work so hard, like that and there’s no doubt we’ve played better and there’s games were we’ve had more chances and been punished ourselves with late goals, so we’re delighted.”
He continued to praise his side, adding: “I thought every single one of them worked their corner, we’re limited in terms of the strikers we had.”
“We went for the two sort of smaller ones, more mobile strikers, we thought it was going to cause problems early in the game, but to be fair to Partick Thistle, the experience [Alan] Archibald’s got, he’s dealt with it for most of the afternoon.”
And he was also delighted with young substitute Gavin Reilly, saying: “He is another problem, there’s just a rawness about him, sheer enthusiasm, he’s got great attributes.
“But he needs to work on his overall game, but that will happen, he’s still aged for under 19 football, but it gives him confidence, that’s the last two games he’s went on and had an impact on the game.”
The Doonhamers boss is hopeful that they can replicate their cup form into league results, saying: “We would hope to gain confidence from that, we’ve got an extremely tough game next week against Ross County sitting top of the table, so we know how tough that will be, so hopefully we can gain confidence.”
His opposite number Jackie McNamara was less than impressed with his sides finishing, saying: “Our last ball today was very poor, first half we had a good spell of about 35 minutes in the game, some great opportunities and didn’t capitalise on it and I said to them at half time, you’ve got to switch on when they’ve got the ball.”
And on the goal that won the tie, McNamara said: “It’s one of these balls over the top, that’s what we need to concentrate on and set pieces, that was my main worry today and it proved the case for the second ball at the free kick.”
McNamara was unhappy to go out of the tournament, saying: “We had carved out some great opportunities in the game, but our last ball was very poor today, the longer the game went, we started to get nervy and frustrated, but we don’t deserve to be out, but that’s football.”
He was also critical of his side for failing to give the home support anything to shout about, saying: “I think if the product was there and they were creating chances, then they would be singing stuff.
“But it’s up to the players to make things happen and create the chances and we need to take them, pure and simple.”
Partick Thistle: Fox, O’Donnell. Sinclair, Paton, Robertson, Archibald, Cairney, Flannigan (Dargo, 73), Doolan, Stewart (Elliott, 66), Erskine
Subs Not Used: Scully (GK) Bannigan, Burns
Queen of the South: Robinson, C Reid, A Reid (Reilly, 63), Simmons (McKenna, 61), McGuffie, Higgins, Johnston, McLaughlin, Clark, Carmichael, Holt
Subs Not Used: McKenzie (GK) Brighton, Black
Man of the Match: Chris Erskine (Partick Thistle)
Attendance: 2,454
Referee: Des Roache
And his boss Gus McPherson was happy it was not to be his men on the receiving end of a last minute strike this time, saying: “We’ve suffered that a lot this season, late goals, so a pleasant surprise that we experience the joy of scoring such a late goal.
“It was a game that looked like it was going to be nothing each, written all over it, with both teams really cancelling each other out.”
The home side had started the brightest on a Firhill surface that have taken damage during the New Year’s day rugby match between Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Partick Thistle’s main threat came from the wide area in the form of Chris Erskine - with the help of full back Stephen O’Donnell - but the final ball let the Glasgow side down as they failed to capitalise on their dominance.
The visitors were forced to feed off of scraps, with only a couple of half chances from both Nicky Clark and Stephen Simmons, but Scott Fox in the Thistle goal was more than equal to the attempts.
Both sets of support were rarely given anything to shout about during a dull second half, where neither side could have the final ball in order to unlock the opposition defence.
That was until the last minute, when a long free kick from the left hand side found the head of Ryan McGuffie and his knock down arrived at the feet of Carmichael, who rifled the ball home to send the Dumfries side into the next round.
Queens’ boss McPherson was delighted with how his side defended, saying: “We worked extremely hard defensively, were we have conceded a lot of soft goals.
“But credit to the whole unit, when they work so hard, like that and there’s no doubt we’ve played better and there’s games were we’ve had more chances and been punished ourselves with late goals, so we’re delighted.”
He continued to praise his side, adding: “I thought every single one of them worked their corner, we’re limited in terms of the strikers we had.”
“We went for the two sort of smaller ones, more mobile strikers, we thought it was going to cause problems early in the game, but to be fair to Partick Thistle, the experience [Alan] Archibald’s got, he’s dealt with it for most of the afternoon.”
And he was also delighted with young substitute Gavin Reilly, saying: “He is another problem, there’s just a rawness about him, sheer enthusiasm, he’s got great attributes.
“But he needs to work on his overall game, but that will happen, he’s still aged for under 19 football, but it gives him confidence, that’s the last two games he’s went on and had an impact on the game.”
The Doonhamers boss is hopeful that they can replicate their cup form into league results, saying: “We would hope to gain confidence from that, we’ve got an extremely tough game next week against Ross County sitting top of the table, so we know how tough that will be, so hopefully we can gain confidence.”
His opposite number Jackie McNamara was less than impressed with his sides finishing, saying: “Our last ball today was very poor, first half we had a good spell of about 35 minutes in the game, some great opportunities and didn’t capitalise on it and I said to them at half time, you’ve got to switch on when they’ve got the ball.”
And on the goal that won the tie, McNamara said: “It’s one of these balls over the top, that’s what we need to concentrate on and set pieces, that was my main worry today and it proved the case for the second ball at the free kick.”
McNamara was unhappy to go out of the tournament, saying: “We had carved out some great opportunities in the game, but our last ball was very poor today, the longer the game went, we started to get nervy and frustrated, but we don’t deserve to be out, but that’s football.”
He was also critical of his side for failing to give the home support anything to shout about, saying: “I think if the product was there and they were creating chances, then they would be singing stuff.
“But it’s up to the players to make things happen and create the chances and we need to take them, pure and simple.”
Partick Thistle: Fox, O’Donnell. Sinclair, Paton, Robertson, Archibald, Cairney, Flannigan (Dargo, 73), Doolan, Stewart (Elliott, 66), Erskine
Subs Not Used: Scully (GK) Bannigan, Burns
Queen of the South: Robinson, C Reid, A Reid (Reilly, 63), Simmons (McKenna, 61), McGuffie, Higgins, Johnston, McLaughlin, Clark, Carmichael, Holt
Subs Not Used: McKenzie (GK) Brighton, Black
Man of the Match: Chris Erskine (Partick Thistle)
Attendance: 2,454
Referee: Des Roache
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