Match Report
The only statistic that of course matters in football is the number of goals scored but the fact that Thistle won 8 corners to Queen of the South’s two, the first of those coming in the 82nd minute, couple with the Queen of the South keeper collecting the Man of the Match award provides an indication that Thistle hadf a strong case for taking something from the game.
Ian McCall switched things about for this game and employed an attack minded 4-3-3 formation with Damon Gray, Simon Donnelly and Steven Lennon forming a three pronged attack.
It was the home side though that started the game in the ascendancy. In the first minute Jonny Tuffey had to push away a Robert Harris free kick with the rebound proving just a little too high for Sean O’Connor who could only direct the ball over the bar.
Queens continued to make a bright start and in the 3rd minute Stevie Tosh sent a shot from 25 yards only inches over the bar after collecting a Gary Arbuckle pass.
In their very next attack Queens again came close, Stevie Tosh heading a Stephen Dobbie cross wide. As the pressure mounted Thistle were in the 7th minute only just able to scramble a Dobbie cross clear.
A run from Gary Harkins in the 8th minute was the first sign of promise from Thistle and in the 12th minute Ian Maxwell saw a header from a Simon Donnelly corner cleared right in front of the home keeper.
In the 15th minute Thistle came close to opening the scoring. Bell failed to gather a cross ball and after Gary Harkins had managed to find space Stephen McKeown’s shot from Harkins’ pass bounced off the base of the post.
Thistle were starting to take control at this point and in the 16th minute Gary Harkins was unfortunate to see a shot curl wide of goal.
Harkins was again unlucky in the 19th minute when his volley from a Donnelly cross struck a Queen of the South defender.
It was more than a little against the run of play then when Queens took a 24th minute lead. Marc Twaddle was adjudged to have fouled a Queens player inside the box. Although Jonny Tuffey guessed correctly Stevie Tosh’s penalty was right into the corner and Queen of the South had the lead.
Thistle didn’t in any way look disheartened at the loss of oa goal and came close to squaring the game in the 32nd minute. Marc Twaddle’s near post cross was gathered by Steven Lennon who showed good control before seeing his shot just fail to hit target.
If Thistle thought themselves unfortunate to be one goal down you can imagine the disappointment when they found themselves trailing by two in the 34th minute. Stephen Dobbie was on hand to seize an opportunity after an Ian Maxwell stumble. Strikers of the quality of Dobbie rarely need a second invitation to take that kind of chance and sure enough he found the net with a low shot into the corner.
Shortly after the loss of that goal Thistle had to reorganise things with an injured David Rowson replaced by Scott Chaplain.
Despite that enforced change Thistle should have halved the deficit in the 39th minute and only didn’t thanks to an excellent save from Cameron Bell who denied Damon Gray a 5th goal of the season after the Thistle striker had looked odds on to score.
That was just about Gray’s last involvement in the game as he was replaced by Paul Paton at the interval as Ian McCall sought a way back into the game.
Indeed Thistle could have had a goal in the first attack of the second half. Marc Twaddle touched the ball into the path of Steven lennon but his shot was on the rise and cleared the bar.
Thistle had Queen of the South more or less hemmed in during the opening period of the second half and Stephen McKeown saw a shot deflected for a corner. Bell was unable to gather the resultant corner but no Thistle player was able to force the loose ball into the net.
There was further anxiety in the home def
ence in the 55th minute when Steven Lennon headed a Simon Donnelly cross back across goal but Queens were able to clear the ball at the expense of a corner.
It was all Thistle at this point and in the 56th minute Cameron bell produced the save of the game to deny Simon Donnelly a goal. When Sean O’Connor sent a header off his own crossbar a short time later it began to look more and more likely that this wouldn’t be Thistle’s day.
Still the search for a goal and a lifeline continued. Gary Harkins was able to get his head to yet another Donnelly corner but he was always stretching and his header was too high. The same player was able to hold off the attention of several Queens players in the 67th minute but his final shot cleared the bar.
As much as Thistle were pressing a third goal would have finished the game and substitute Jim Thomson, who had already helped solidify the Queens defence, came close to scoring that third goal with a header from a Harris free kick.
Sean O’Connor, in fairly bizarre fashion, also came close to extending his team’s lead when he charged down a Jonny Tuffey kick out, the ball just clearing the bar.
Time was very much against Thistle at this stage but the players continued to fight to the finish. Bell produced a sace low down at his post to deny Simon Donnelly and grabbed the ball from the feet of Steven Lennon who looked set to notch a debut goal.
Lennon had another shot saved in the 81st minute before the last serious action of the game saw Bell well placed to save a Paul Paton shot.
