Match Report
Victory midweek at Ross County kept Thistle within 4 points of league leaders St Johnstone and with St Johnstone facing the difficult challenge of an away trip to Livingston at the same time as Thistle made the journey through to Fife this was shaping up as an important weekend for the First Division's top two.
The temptation for manager Ian McCall must have been strong to leave the team as it was following victory at Victoria Park but he elected to make one change with Paul Paton returning to the starting eleven at the expense of Scott Chaplain as Thistle returned to the manager's more favoured 5-3-2 formation.
Dunfermline kicked off in blustery conditions and in front of a surprisingly poor home crowd.
It was the home side though that had the game's first chance with Jonny Tuffey fairly having his hands stung by a fierce shot from Nick Phinn with the loose ball that followed very quickly cleared.
Dunfermline were having the better of the early exchanges, aided by the strong breeze, and in the 12th minute Jamie Mole fired into the Thistle side netting.
Thistle were able to break with some purpose with Gary Harkins pushing forward from midfield but his final pass was a poor one and Lucas Akins was given little chance of gathering the ball.
Thistle's best passing move yet yielded an 18th minute penalty when Scott Wilson hauled Gary Harkins to the ground for an obvious penalty. Dunfermline may well have been the better side up to this point but Harkins 100% record from the spot continued when he emphatically slammed the ball home to score his 11th goal of the season and give Thistle the lead.
Dunfermline were within a whisker of a 24th minute equaliser. A Bell cross almost seemed to hold up in the wind and when the ball could only be cleared as far as Nicky Phinn at the edge of the box the Dunfermline player was a little unfortunate to see his shot, albeit with the aid of a deflection, strike the top of the bar.
Phinn was prominent in much that Dunfermline did and in the 30th minute he saw a shot from the edge of the Thistle box dip just a shade too late to force Tuffey into a save.
Play quickly switched to the other end and Dunfermline were grateful that Gallacher was sharp off his line to block an effort from Kris Doolan.
In the 32nd minute Thistle had another opportunity following some neat approach play. Stephen McKeown was able to get the better of a Dunfermline defender before squaring the ball to Paul Paton who in turned pushed the ball to Gary Harkins. Harkins though saw his shot drift wide of target.
Three minutes later a Marc Twaddle free kick from almost on the halfway line was left by the Dunfermline defence but Kris Doolan wasn't able to steal onto the end of it.
First chance of the second half came the way of Paul Paton who although having a bit of time at the edge of the Dunfermline penalty area rather snatched at his shot with the result that it cleared the bar without troubling Gallacher.
Thistle were closer to a second goal in the 49th minute. Great work down the left hand side took Marc Twaddle deep into the Dunfermline box. His cut back though was a little behind Kris Doolan who pushed the ball into the path of Stephen McKeown whose shot was quickly and effectively blocked by a Dunfermline defender.
In the 57th minute a period of decent pressure from the home side forced Thistle into some serious defending. Simon Storey did well to cover in behind his two centre backs after Loy had managed to get the better of Marc Twaddle before Scott Thomson saw a save saved by Jonny Tuffey.
Jamie Mole too was causing the Thistle defence problems and he saw a shot blocked by Stephen McKeown.
This was a good spell for Dunfermline and in the 61st minute good play from newly introduced substitute Scott Muirhead set up Phinn who wasn't able to ge t his shot on target.
Thistle received a major let off in the 67th minute. A run from deep from midfield from David Graham ended with his shot striking the Thistle crossbar the rebound fell nicely into the path of Nick Phinn who as expected knocked the ball into an all but empty net. His celebrations though were cut short by a raised flag for offside. The Thistle lead was intact but only just.
Before the game could restart Thistle made their first change of the afternoon with Simon Donnelly coming on for Lucas Akins.
Thistle nearly made the most of their good fortune in the 67th minute with Gary Harkins hooking a half volley just wide just three minutes after Dunfermline's disallowed goal.
A second Thistle change soon followed with Kevin McKinlay replacing Stephen McKeown.
McKinlay's first serious involvement in the game was to try and test Gallacher with a snap shot from 20 yards out but the Dunfermline keeper was able to complete a routine save.
A second goal would undoubtedly have eased Thistle nerves considerably and Kris Doolan wasn't too far away from securing that second goal in the 76th minute. Good play from Paul Paton created the chance for Doolan whose shot was just a matter of inches too high.
Doolan was at the heart of things again in the 80th minute lifting the ball to the back post for Kevin McKinlay whose header was grabbed by Gallacher with Donnelly, nursing a knock at this point, in close attendance.
A one goal lead is always a nervy lead and Loy raised anxiety levels a little with a shot from a few yards outside the box but Tuffey was more the equal to the task of maintaining Thistle's slender advantage. He was sharp too off his line to grab the ball from almost right off the toes of Jamie Mole.
With the game in injury time David Graham was able to work his way to the edge of the Thistle box and Jonny Tuffey was more than a little relieved to be hold to Graham's low drive.
Less than a minute later the full-time whistle sounded on Thistle's first win in Dunfermline for 26 years.
