Match Preview
Tomorrow signals the end of Firhill's Centenary Season. It is disappointing that we aren't rounding off those celebrations by parading the First Division trophy in front of an ecstatic Firhill crowd. Indeed win, lose or draw tomorrow we won't move from our current league position of sixth.
That said we do want to finish the season on a positive note and the only way that we can do that is by following up last weekend's excellent win at Ross County with victory against a Queen of the South side who are aiming to secure third spot in the division.
For the last time this season www.ptfc.co.uk caught up with manager Ian McCall for his pre-match thoughts and he took time to reflect back upon the season about to finish.
"The season in many ways can be split into two. The first half of the season offered promise but we weren't able to match that promise in the second half of the season. We went from the division's top scorers in the first half of the season to the lowest scores in the second half. That was a major source of frustration for us all. We will finish the season in sixth position which in terms of money spend is just about right, or even maybe a little better."
"I am of the belief though that the football that we played at times this season was better than the football we played last season when we finished second in the league. Looking at the First Division as a whole I feel that Dunfermline are the only other team to try and play the type of football that we prefer. We can't disguise the fact that the second half of the season was very difficult for us."
"There are positives, however, that we can take from the season. What we have achieved so far in terms of youth development, our scouting structure and our fledgling community programme is only a fraction of what I want ultimately to achieve here. However, in first two areas we have come on leaps and bounds this season. In Gerry Britton we have absolutely have the right person to head up these two very important areas."
"It has been positive too to see some of our under 19 side feature in the first team in recent weeks. We have recently extended the contracts of three players, Ryan MacBeth, Ross McGeough and Ryan Scully, who were in the last year of their apprentice contracts. While it is important not to rush these players all three players are players that we have very high hopes for as we do for other players some of which are still in their first year of their two year deal."
"Of those three players mentioned above Ryan MacBeth is likely to play against Queen of the South tomorrow. Otherwise with us pretty much down to just 16 fit players the team isn't likely to differ too much from the team that defeated Ross County. Jonny Tuffey is one player that will play tomorrow. We have offered Jonny a new contract but it is almost certain that he will not sign that contract. I think though after four years of excellent service to Partick Thistle that has earned the opportunity to play tomorrow."
Queen of the South meantime are set to be at virtually full strength tomorrow with only former loan Jag Jamie Adams set to miss out.
Thistle Stats
Current Form - Last Five Games
W D L F A
1 1 3 2 5
Scorers Season 2009/2010
Liam Buchanan 14
Simon Donnelly 10
Paul Cairney 8
Mark Corcoran 4
Bryan Hodge 3
Chris Erskine 3
Steve Lovell 3
Jamie Adams 2
Kris Doolan 2
Jim Hamilton 2
Alan Archibald 1
Martin Grehan 1
Paul Paton 1
David Rowson 1
Last Game
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday April 24th 2010
Ross County 1, Partick Thistle 2
Queen of the South Stats
Current Form - Last Five Games
W D L F A
3 2 0 7 2
Scorers Season 2009/2010
Derek Holmes 12
David Weatherston 10
Stewart Kean 8
Paul Burns 7
Willie McLaren 6
Robert Harris 5
Rocco Quinn 5
Barry Wilson 4
Steven Tosh 2
Dennis Wyness 2
David Lilley 1
Steven McKenna 1
Last Game
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Wednesday May 28th 2010
Raith Rovers 0, Queen of the South 0
Last Meeting
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday March 6th 2010
Queen of the South 1, Partick Thistle 0
Teams
Queen of the South: Hutton, McMillan, Harris, Scally, Lilley, Reid, Burns, McKenna, Holmes, Kean, Weatherston (McLaren).
Partick Thistle: Tuffey, Corrigan, Conroy, McNamara, Robertson, Archibald, McKeown (Cairney), Rowson, Buchanan, Lovell (Donnelly), Hodge (Erskine).
Scorer
Queen of the South: Kean (54)
Crowd: 2,674
Match Details
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday May 1st 2010
Partick Thistle v Queen of the South
Kick-off: 3:00pm
Prices
Adults: £16
OAP/Full time Education/16-21: £11
Under 16s: FREE
Programme: £2.50
Other First Division Fixtures
Airdrie United v Dunfermline Athletic
Inverness Caledonian Thistle v Dundee
Morton v Ayr United
Raith Rovers v Ross County
Match Officials
Referee: Thomas Robertson
Assistant Referees: Chris Young and Andrew Dallas
