Match Preview
A not inconsiderable time has passed since a Thistle side last visited Central Park, Cowdenbeath for a competitive first team fixture. October 1st 1991 to be precise when a Thistle side, destined to win promotion from the First Division at that season's end, squeezed past Cowdenbeath by three goals to two after extra-time in a Challenge Cup tie. The highlight of that night nearly 19 years ago was the bullet header from Gordon Rae that, with time ticking by, took the tie to extra-time.
You need go back even further to 1933 for the last league meeting between the two sides at Central Park, Robert Regan scoring the Thistle goal in a 1-1 draw.
Back in the present, tomorrow’s fixture will provide Liam Buchanan, who scored over 50 league and cup goals in his time at Central Park, with the first opportunity to play against his former club since joining Thistle in the summer of 2007.
While some Thistle fans might be visiting Central Park for the first time tomorrow and Liam Buchanan might have the chance to meet up with some old friends the primary focus tomorrow is collecting three points and making amends for two disappointing results, though contrasting performances, in the last couple of matches.
As always www.ptfc.co.uk caught up with Thistle manager Ian McCall to take a look ahead at the weekend’s fixture.
"We sat down with the players and had a chat about things yesterday and we all felt that we did well against Falkirk on Tuesday night. We've now played Dundee and Falkirk at Firhill, two of the favourites to win the First Division this season, and while I'll not go as far as to say that we out played them, we were comfortably the better team in both of those games. There is no reason, therefore, why we shouldn't go into tomorrow's game in a confident frame of mind."
"We know though that we are in for a tough game tomorrow. Ian Maxwell watched Cowdenbeath in their game with Queen of the South last Sunday and, at home, they will be a real handful for us tomorrow. They are though probably one of just two teams in the division that have a smaller budget than we do, so there will be no excuses whatsoever if we don't achieve our aim of collecting three points tomorrow."
"Scoring the first goal tomorrow I feel will be crucial and we were working hard in training yesterday, and will do so again today, on trying to get players into scoring positions. To be fair, we did get into those kind of positions against Falkirk but we want to start converting those chances."
"In terms of team news things remain pretty much unchanged from midweek. Alan Archibald and Jackie McNamara are still making good progress on their comebacks while Ryan MacBeth is in full training again and in the squad for tomorrow's game."
Partick Thistle Stats
Current Form – Last Five Games
W D L F A
2 0 3 3 8
Scorers Season 2010/2011
Paddy Boyle 1
Liam Buchanan 1
Paul Cairney 1
Simon Donnelly 1
Ryan MacBeth 1
David Rowson 1
Last Game
Co-Operative Insurance Cup Second Round
Tuesday August 24th 2010
Partick Thistle 0, Falkirk 1
Cowdenbeath Stats
Current Form – Last Five Games
W D L F A
1 0 4 5 10
Scorers Season 2010/2011
John Armstrong 1
Dean Brett 1
John Dempster 1
Marc McKenzie 1
Mark Ramsay 1
Lee Sibanda 1
Last Game
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Sunday August 22nd 2010
Cowdenbeath 1, Queen of the South 3
Last Meeting
Challenge Cup First Round
Saturday July 30th 2005
Partick Thistle 2, Cowdenbeath 0
Teams
Thistle: Arthur, Murray, Smyth, McCulloch, Snowdon, Brady, A Gibson (McGoldrick), Gillies, J Gibson, McConalogue (Stewart), Kilgannon (B Gibson).
Cowdenbeath: Hay (Carlin), Wilson, Ward, Ritchie, McBride, Hill, Allison (Gribben), McGregor, Fusco, Buchanan, Downs (McCallum).
Scorers
Thistle: McConalogue (31), A Gibson (55)
Crowd: 1,541
Match Details
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday August 28th 2010
Cowdenbeath v Partick Thistle
Kick-off: 3:00pm
Prices
Adults £15
OAP/Under 16: £8
Adult & Child: £20
There will be NO segregation in place at Central Park tomorrow but Thistle fans should enter the ground through the turnstiles off High Street.
Match Officials
Referee: Steven McLean
Assistant Referees: Gary Sweeney & Michael Banks
Other First Division Fixtures
Dundee v Falkirk
Queen of the South v Ross County
Raith Rovers v Morton
Stirling Albion v Dunfermline Athletic
