Match Report
After a fortnight with a game manager Ian McCall has made three changes to the side that lost to Inverness in their last outing. Suspended Ian Maxwell is replaced by Alan Archibald himself returning from a period of suspension while Paul Cairney and Simon Donnelly return at the expense of Chris Erskine and Steve Lovell.
This game took a little time to get warmed up. A Ryan Conroy free kick from wide on the Thistle right that caused the Airdrie defence some problems being the only incident of the game's open skirmishes. Indeed we would need to wait until the 12th minute for the game's first shot on target and even then Jonny Tuffey was well placed to save Tom Parratt's shot.
Thistle though were close to a goal in the 25th minute. Referee MacDonald spotting an off the ball infringement which earned Thistle a free kick directly in front of goal no more than a step outside the box. Ryan Conroy was the man to take the free kick and he saw his shot slip just the wrong side of Robertson's left hand post.
Four minutes later and Thistle were in front. David Rowson and Liam Buchanan exchanged passes with the latter's shot saved but not held by Robertson. Paul Cairney following in was the first to the loose ball and he bundled it into the net.
It was a lead that Thistle nearly held for just five minutes. Coming forward former Thistle defender Marc Smyth was able to latch onto a ball inside the Thistle box before promptly smacking the ball off the Thistle crossbar.
It proved to be a significant miss as with half-time just 4 minutes away Thistle doubled their lead. The scorer was once again Paul Cairney taking his tally for the season to an impressive eight. Mark Corcoran set him up for this goal with Cairney turning sharply before burying a shot low past Robertson and into the corner of the net.
There could even have been a third Thistle goal before the break but Liam Buchanan was rather harshly penalised for a tug on an Airdrie defender and play was halted for a free kick.
That this game wasn't yet won was emphasised five minutes after the restart. Airdrie sub Scott Gemmill appeared to be barged to the ground for what looked a stick on penalty only for referee MacDonald to decide otherwise. Seconds later there was a further reprieve for Thistle when Alan Trouten fired wide from an excellent position inside the box.
Gemmill was continuing to cause the Thistle defence problems and a run towards the Thistle goal was only halted by a perfectly times tackle from Martryn Corrigan. The decision to book Gemmill when he hit the ground was a curious one to say the least.
In the 67th minute Thistle were close to sealing the points. Liam Buchanan set up Steve Lovell, now on a sub for Simon Donnelly, and his shot struck the inside of the post before rolling across the goal line.
There was still plenty life in this game and in the 76th minute Thistle had Jonny Tuffey to thank for maintaining Thistle's two goal advantage denying Parratt with an excellent blocking save. As Thistle broke clear a Ryan Conroy cross just failed to pick out Liam Buchanan.
Chris Erskine, as he did the last time the two teams met, was causing Airdrie major problems and he was close to sealing Thistle's victory only to see his shot blocked by an Airdrie defender.
Airdrie were having absolutely no luck at all and with five minutes remaining they found themselves down to ten men in highly unfortunate circumstances. After being awarded a free kick just a few yards outside the box Trouten sent the ball into the back of the net. Referee MacDonald though had blown his whistle, disallowed the goal and handed Trouten a second yellow card and off he went.
A minute later Thistle were also down to ten in fairly baffling circumstances as David Rowson flashed a second yellow at Rowson.
With the 90 minutes all but over Thistle should have scored a third goal. Liam Buchanan sprung the offside trap before laying the ball on a plate for Paul Paton only for Paton fail to make contact with the ball.
