Dundee After Match Reaction
Saturday 5th December 2009
It was an afternoon of bitter disappointment for Thistle afternoon. With the biggest league crowd in over five years inside Firhill the scene was set for a Thistle victory and a memorable afternoon. The first half performance promised much but after missing a string of chances Dundee struck with half-time just minutes away. A second Dundee just three minutes after the restart proved to be a killer blow and there was no way back for Thistle.
After the game it was an obviously disappointed Ian McCall that www.ptfc.co.uk caught up with but there was no intent to deflect attention away from his own side's deficiencies when looking for reasons for the eventual defeat.
"The one thing that I have to be clear about is that today's defeat didn't have anything to do with Dundee and the amount of money they have spent. It was down to our own failure to take chances when we were given them."
"There was a big crowd inside the ground and the Thistle fans I thought were excellent and for the most part of the first half we gave them plenty to be encouraged about. I thought we were tremendous in the first 45 minutes but we missed three excellent chances. Three chances that I consider to be out and out sitters."
"I don't think that there was single person in the stadium, and that includes the Dundee players, management and supporters ,who would disagree with the view that we were by far the better side but our failure to take gilt edged chances has proved to be pivotal."
"Instead of going in at half-time three ahead and the game over, which we could have been, we went in 1-0 down and in those circumstances it can be difficult to lift the players at the break. We then conceded a very soft goal right at the start of the second half which made things virtually impossible for us."
"I must reiterate though that we have no one but ourselves to blame for this defeat. The whole shape of the game has changed upon Dundee taking the lead. Dundee came today to sit in and catch us on the break and with a one goal and then a two goal lead they were able to do that. If truth be told they could even have scored a few more."
"If we had scored when on top then Dundee would have had to chase the game and we could have sit in a bit deeper. As it was they were able to dictate the play and I felt Gary Harkins, who had been virtually anonymous in the first half, ran the show after half-time."
"The defeat today is a sore one, there is no doubt about that but we will keep chipping away and, starting with next week's game at Airdrie United, try to start putting some wins together."
