Partick Thistle 1 Dunfermline 0
Saturday, 23rd Apr 2022cinch Championship: five changes as Aaron Comrie, Leon Jones, Rhys Breen, Nikolay Todorov and Lewis McCann start. Ross Docherty (15) 1-0:
Dunfermline returned to Firhill for the second last league fixture of the 2021-2022 season. It was the fourth visit to the Maryhill stadium this season and a repeat of the first result back in July would be just fine since this was a match of tremendous significance.
The Pars in eighth place sought a win that would ease them away from the danger of relegation and play offs. The home side had other thoughts as they played for precious points that could secure them a Premiership play off spot.
John Hughes made no fewer than five changes from the side that started against Ayr United the previous Saturday. Coll Donaldson was out with a groin strain while Matty Todd, Dom Thomas, Kevin O’Hara and Liam Polworth were dropped to the bench. Into the side came Aaron Comrie, Leon Jones, Rhys Breen, Nikolay Todorov and Lewis McCann.
The Thistle side showed just one change from that which played Raith Rovers with former Pars midfielder Kyle Turner taking the place of Olatunji Akinola.
The pitch was watered after the warm up before former Thistle player Steven Lawless led Dunfermline out into the late April sunshine. A beautiful day but for which club? The teams changed ends before the Fifers skipper kicked off with Dunfermline attacking the goal in front of the home support.
The opening ten minutes brought lots of head tennis and ball chasing. Comrie’s long throw in was the first real entry into the Partick box but Turner hoofed that clear. It was the 13th minute when Jakub Stolarczyk pulled off a great save to deny Brian Graham. Two minutes later however a Turner corner from the left was neatly finished by Ross DOCHERTY at the near post. 1-0
Thistle were again quickly on the attack and Scott Tiffoney whistled an effort narrowly wide left. Dunfermline’s response was a surging run by Josh Edwards who laid the ball off left for McCann to centre. As the ball flashed through the Jags box it evaded both Edwards and Todorov.
Dunfermline’s first corner came in 25 minutes and when Dan Pybus swung the ball in from the left a Thistle clearance almost teed up a chance for the Pars. Thistle cleared only as far as Joe Chalmers whose effort was deflected and gathered by the defence.
A great real mix up that created a fantastic chance for an equaliser five minutes from the interval. Keeper Jamie Sneddon came out of his box to challenge for the ball but failed and McCann looked through on goal before a crunching tackle by Stephen Hendrie saved the day for Thistle and a shot never materialised.
Dunfermline got more joy as they managed to thread some passes together but the home defence held as the Pars got deep into the final third. It was a first half where both teams cancelled each other out to some extent, only five shots in total and visitors two were not on target.
For the third week running Dunfermline were 1-0 down at half time, could the second half be like against Ayr?
Half time: Partick Thistle 1 Dunfermline 0
Within three minutes of the restart Stolarczyk pulled off a good stop to keep out a 25 yard rocket from Docherty but the ball dropped to Alex Jakubiak and you had to fear the worst, but the no.10 blasted the ball wildly over the bar.
Pars corners in 59th and 62nd minute were disappointments and then Edwards tried a speculative effort from distance that forced Sneddon to hold.
The ball had been kept well away from Stolarczyk for some time and the defensive wall kept out a 27 yard free kick. The visitors bench was called upon in three minutes later. Comrie, Jones and McCann were withdrawn and Kevin O’Hara, Matty Todd and Liam Polworth entered the fray for the final 14 minutes.
Todd’s first involvement was to put in a cross that Todorov headed into Sneddon’s hands. Dom Thomas was also introduced in place of Pybus but time was running out. Edwards and Chalmers pumped balls in from the left and Thomas fired in a corner from the right but they were all defended.
Despite a really decent final push from the Pars it ended 1-0 and coupled with the 1-1 draw between Queen of the South and Ayr United, the result leaves it all to do at East End Park on Friday when the Pars take on the now relegated Queen of the South.
Ayr United move up into eighth one place better off than Dunfermline and on Friday night they are at home to Partick Thistle who now consider themselves already in the play offs.
SUBS NOT USED: Olatunji Akinola, Richard Foster, Connor Murray, Kyle McAllister, Juan Alegria, Andrew Firth (GK).
SCORERS: Docherty (15)
DUNFERMLINE: Jakub Stolarczyk: Aaron Comrie (Matthew Todd 76), Leon Jones (Liam Polworth 76), Efe Ambrose, Rhys Breen, Josh Edwards: Dan Pybus (Dom Thomas 82): Steven Lawless (c), Joe Chalmers, Lewis McCann (Kevin O’Hara 76), Nikolay Todorov.
SUBS NOT USED: Ryan Dow, Miller Fenton, Reece Cole, Bobby Kamwa, Neil Alexander (GK)
YELLOW CARD: Edwards (81)
REFEREE: Don Robertson
WEATHER: Sunny 16°C
ATTENDANCE 3428
NEXT MATCH: cinch Championship (home) v Queen of the South, Friday 29th April 2022, kick off 7.45pm
Views : 4,193
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Partick Thistle 1-0 Dunfermline
Sat, 23rd Apr 2022
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Preview Partick Thistle
Saturday, 23rd Apr 2022cinch Championship (away) v Partick Thistle, Saturday 23rd April 2022, kick off 3.00pm at Firhill Stadium
The penultimate game of the league season will see Dunfermline taking on a Thistle side seeking points to confirm a play off place. The Firhill fixture is a big one for the visitors as well as they search for points to avoid being caught by Queen of the South and keep them out of the play offs at the other end of the table.
Milestones Partick (away)
Last Victory | 10/07/21 | 4-2 | Premier Sports Cup
Last Defeat | 26/12/21 | 0-1 | Scottish Cup
Best Victory | 20/04/66 | 6-2 | Div One*
Worst Defeat | 10/11/34 | 1-7 | Div One*
Last Goalless Draw | 23/10/21 | 0-0 | Championship
First Meeting | 23/10/26 | 1-5 | Div One*
*Pre league reconstruction
In the previous 114 meetings between the clubs Dunfermline have won 52, Partick 32 and 30 have been drawn and at Firhill, Thistle are ahead with 21 wins to the Pars 20.
Last time at Firhill
Scottish Cup Third Round, Saturday 27th November 2021
Partick Thistle 1 Dunfermline 0
This was just John Hughes second match in charge of Dunfermline but despite the majority of possession the Fifers exited the cup in the third round.
The long awaited goal came in 82 minutes when sub MacIver threaded the ball to DOCHERTY to his left and the Thistle captain floated the ball into the top right corner giving Owain Fôn Williams no chance. 1-0
PARTICK THISTLE: Jamie Sneddon: Ciaran McKenna, Olatunjo Akinola, Kevin Holt, Stephen Hendrie: Kyle Turner (Shea Gordon 73), Ross Docherty (c), Stuart Bannigan, Scott Tiffoney: Cammy Smith (Connor Murray 80), Zak Rudden (Ross MacIver 68).
SUBS NOT USED: Ben Stanway, Ji Stevenson, Jake Hastie, Harry Stone (GK)
DUNFERMLINE: Owain Fôn Williams: Aaron Comrie, Mark Connolly, Vytas Gašpuitis, Josh Edwards: Kyle Macdonald, Matthew Todd (Nikolay Todorov 68), Graham Dorrans (c), Dom Thomas (Kevin O’Hara 83): Ryan Dow, Lewis McCann.
SUBS NOT USED: Ross Graham, Craig Wighton, Ian Wilson, Dan Pybus, Paul Allan, Reece Cole, Deniz Mehmet (GK)
Last Twelve Matches v Partick Thistle
This will be the sixth match between these sides this season. Two have been Thistle wins, one has been drawn, the first match in the Premier Sports Cup in July and the most recent at home in March were impressive wins for the Pars.
The last dozen games between the teams have seen Dunfermline win six, drawn three and lost three.
Date | H/A | F-A | Scorers
22/03/22: H 4-1 [0-1] Docherty, [1-1] Mayo og (10), [2-1] Todd, [3-1] Edwards, [4-1] Thomas.
26/11/21: A 0-1 [0-1] Docherty
23/10/21: A 0-0
07/08/21: H 0-3 [0-1] Docherty, [0-2] Holt, [0-3] Graham (og 78).
10/07/21: A 4-2 [0-1] Graham, [1-1] Todorov, [2-1] Comrie, [3-1] Macdonald, [4-1] Todorov, [4-2] Rudden.
10/03/20: A 1-1 [1-0] Murray [1-1] Graham.
30/11/19: H 5-1 [1-0] Nisbet [2-0] Martin [3-0] Nisbet [4-0] Nisbet [5-0] Nisbet [5-1] Cole.
21/09/19: A 3-0 [1-0] Nisbet, [2-0] Dow, [3-0] Turner
06/04/19: A 2-2 [1-0] Beadling: [2-0] Anderson: [1-2] Blair (og): [2-2] McDonald.
26/02/19: H 3-0 [1-0] Anderson, [2-0] Devine, [3-0] Anderson
08/12/18: A 0-2 [0-1] Spittal, [0-2] Storey.
28/09/18: H 1-0 [1-0] Connolly
Recent Form
Dunfermline have won three of their last five matches but have not won away from home since their visit to play Queen of the South at the end of January.
Partick Thistle have only won one of their last seven games. Their last home win was on 8th March, 1-0 over Queen of the South. Thistle’s last seven home wins have all been 1-0.
Last six matches
DUNFERMLINE
Ayr United (H) W 2-1
Kilmarnock (A) L 0-2
Raith Rovers (H) W 2-0
Inverness Caledonian Thistle (A) L 0-2
Partick Thistle (H) W 4-1
Morton (H) D 1-1
PARTICK THISTLE
Raith Rovers (H) L 0-1
Queen of the South (A) W 1-0
Arbroath (H) D 0-0
Kilmarnock (A) L 1-2
Dunfermline (A) L 1-4
Hamilton Academical (H) L 0-4
League Record
DUNFERMLINE
League Position: 8th
League Points: 35
Goal Difference: -15
Away League Record: P17 W2 D6 L9 GF14 GA28
Last Six Match Form: DWLWLW
PARTICK THISTLE
League Position: 4th
League Points: 49
Goal Difference: +7
Home League Record: P17 W8 D4 L5 GF16 GA13
Last Six Match Form: LLLDWL
Last Time Out
DUNFERMLINE (v Ayr United): Jakub Stolarczyk: Matthew Todd, Coll Donaldson (Lewis McCann HT), Efe Ambrose, Josh Edwards: Dan Pybus: Steven Lawless (c), Joe Chalmers (Reece Cole 69), Liam Polworth, Dom Thomas (Bobby Kamwa 69): Kevin O’Hara (Nikolay Todorov 84).
SUBS NOT USED: Aaron Comrie, Ryan Dow, Rhys Breen, Leon Jones, Deniz Mehmet (GK)
PARTICK THISTLE (v Raith Rovers): Jamie Sneddon: Ciaran McKenna, Olatunji Akinola (Robbie Crawford 45), Kevin Holt, Stephen Hendrie: Ross Docherty, Lewis Mayo, Stuart Bannigan, Brian Graham, Alex Jakubiak (Juan Alegria 72), Scott Tiffoney.
SUBS NOT USED: Kyle Turner, Cammy Smith, Steven Bell, Connor Murray, Ben Stanway, Kyle McAllister, Andrew Firth (GK).
Referee will be Don Robertson.
Other Championship Fixtures
Kilmarnock v Arbroath (Friday)
Hamilton v Raith Rovers
Morton v Inverness Caley Thistle
Queen of the South v Ayr United
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