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Getting slightly off track here I watched my 12 year old grandson play against Raith Rovers. As the team captain and centre half was absent my grandson was captain for the day and dropped back from Central Midfield to Centre Half. The day after the game, which my grandson's team won by a 5 goal margin, the Coach issued his normal post match summary which though i have abbreviated read something like this (i have used first name initials rather than full name): "Although like Raith we were 3 players short today everyone played well to deliver a convincing victory. Due to Js absence we made B captain for the day and moved him from his usual position in Central Midfield back to Central defence. B played very well and gave a solid and commanding performance protecting our keeper who as a result had very little to do in the first half. With a 3 goal lead at HT we moved B forward to Central Midfied where he gave his usual strong tackling performance breaking up attacks high up the pitch, winning possession and starting our attacks". Man of the match was awarded, deservedly, to the centre forward who put in tireless performance and scored a hat trick. Watching this game and my grandson's performance I couldn't help but hope that in 8-10 years time he will be in the Jags midfield because the attributes he displayed in the above game were exactly what we need in both Central defence and midfield. Apologies for the lengthy account.

I have not seen Barton”s social media post and I do not want to see it, but would he not have been better raving about Rachel Donaldson’s wonder strike. I suspect that he will not have scored a better goal than that in his rather up and down football career. Back to Ava Easdon. From my excellent vantage point high in the stand, the gap left for the first goal looked obvious. I am sure that it is not so easy on the ground when you realise that your whole defence has abandoned you and there is no option but to come rushing out trying all the time to protect your near post (which Ava managed successfully!). Beyond that I cannot remember any significant mistakes. I do recall a brave save at the feet of a Rangers attacker, as a result of which Ava had to receive treatment. Absolutely no chance with the 2nd and 4th goals. For the 3rd she had the shall I stay or shall I go dilemma when the Rangers forward outpaced the defence and came through centrally one on one. In the end she came and the attacker poked the ball past her. I do not think that staying would have produced any better outcome. After the 4th goal she adopted Gandalf’s “You shall not pass” declaration from the Bridge of Khazad-dum and kept the Rangers Balrog at bay for 40 minutes with some excellent saves, including from a few high net bound efforts. So, taken in the round, a creditable performance on a challenging day, and a cause for praise and encouragement rather than excessive criticism. Ava Easdon, we salute you!

Just a sharing a piece i wrote a few years back. They only put it on the website yesterday on the great man's birthday. Hope you like it if you have the time. https://www.nutmegmagazine.co.uk/issue-12/john-lambie-partick-thistle/

We're delighted to report that this celebration of the great man now has a forever home on The Thistle Archive, with thanks to Kenny and to the good people Nutmeg Magazine! John Lambie: Partick Thistle's Ultimate Character Still Stands Tall →

Very positive start and really took the game to Rangers early on. Strong tackling to win the ball back and putting together some good moves. Did appear to be pressing quite high up the park which left the huge gap for the first goal. Came back brilliantly with Rachel's equaliser. After about half an hour the pace and snap seemed to gradually decline and from then on we found it difficult to retain possession for any great length of time. No doubt that was when the difference between full and part time training was beginning to tell. Agree that the timing of the third goal was really deflating. Half-time at 1-2 could have been the springboard for renewed momentum in the second half. As it was Rangers scored the fourth soon after the interval. From that time on it was backs to the wall, but a spirited defensive performance not to concede further. The team did themselves and Thistle proud. Their spectacular over-achievement this season is worthy of tremendous credit.

Does anyone here remember the last time we played at Starks Park on Grand National Day? Scenario.- Season 2004/05. Raith already relegated having previously accumulated only 13pts beat us 1-2, effectively relegating us as well. One person on here (let's call the poster, me) on leaving the ground spots three unselected regular team members sauntering back into Starks having forsaken our match for the lure of Aintree. This poster who lived a relatively short journey from Kirkcaldy and still irate at the result (and no doubt the world in general) too promptly posted observations on the then current Jags forum. Didn't foresee that some web lurcher from the Daily Record would pick up on this. By Monday said paper would deem such an incident worthy of headlining import. Looking forward to tomorrow's game in full knowledge that whatever the result I won't be on anything like the downer I was on 19 year ago.

Wish we could have put the clock forward at 3.45 this afternoon..

Good to see James Lyon scoring for East Fife today.

From Willie Paul (the pioneer) to Willie Sharp (the Old Firm slayer) all the way to Kris Doolan (the milestone man) and Brian Graham (Peter Pan) via (super) Maurice Johnston in-between, this brand new Partickle explores the exceptional Thistle strikers who've dominated particular teams in the same league season by bombarding their goal nets. An astonishing realisation re Brian Graham ensues... The King Of The Slams →

Oh, we can do something about it next week 🤞😂

Good to see James get another 80 minutes and a goal.

What in the wide, wide world o' sports is a goin' on here? https://crescentcitysports.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Slim-Pickens.jpg

Utter nonsense. His shooting may have been below par, however his work rate and closing down of their defenders was exemplary.

I remember I used to go to clubs and moan about the music until a friend asked why I went if I didn't enjoy it. It was a fair point - I stopped going to clubs. The point being if you get so little enjoyment from watching Thistle, that your primary reaction from our first win in two months or so is as above, you perhaps need to find something else to do on a Saturday afternoon. Unless of course you enjoy being angry, in which case fill your boots.

They certainly never spent much of that on pitch anyways. Perhaps splurged it on a new fax machine.

It is indeed quiet in here. So much so Albert's Ghost is talking to himself over on the "PTFC v The Loch Inverness Monster" thread. 😀

I thought when they went down to 10 it was very sporting of Doolan to even it up by bringing on Blair Alston

Not quite sure if this is the best thread for this (not worth opening one specially), but as it relates to the squad, I will put it in here. A friend of mine is an East Fife supporter and when emailing me about something else he added the following: East Fife are doing well just now, with 4 wins & 3 draws in their last 7 matches. I wanted to let you know that we saw the best of James Lyon at last week’s game against Stranraer. He played really well & scored our opening goal in a 2-1 victory. It’s taken him a while to settle into our squad (quite understandably so) but it was very good to see his drive & confidence on the ball finally coming to the fore. Hopefully James will kick on from here.

Thank you. At my age mid-70s it would be unusual not to have some ailments. I am very fortunate to have nothing too serious, so far. I think I over did the DIY and issues with my hips flared up. I will be OK in a few days. The irony is that Arbroath is only a 90 min drive and is one of the fixtures I can normally get to. Anyway as others have said 3 points and a clean sheet - a good days work. Thanks again.

Checking the records Tommy Gibb won a single under-23 cap. Joe McBride was a terrific player. Arrived from Luton town in a swap ,(I think) for Jim Fleming and had a tremendous scoring record at every club for whom he played. Would have been a Lisbon Lion but for injury...

An incredible pod cast, he’s came through so much hardship yet is still so positive, comes across as a lovely guy

That's my view on the game as well. On the others: Mitchell had a couple of good saves, and looked comfortable throughout. Thought Milne was careless at times. The McMillan and Lawless partnership worked mostly well, for the first time in a while. Fitzpatrick made some good runs, one terrific one in the 2nd half; his final ball too often lets the move down. Muirhead: had a good game. Neilsen: I'd rather see him where he played yesterday than as a central defender. BBG: worked hard throughout, unlucky his first burst through the defence and shot at goal wasn't placed slightly better. McInroy worked hard too, with some effective harrying of the opposition, not giving them time on the ball. A better performance than of late.

Boing. Boing.

2-0 up 3 mins left. We can still win this!

It’s just a pity we managed to lose the 2 games when we had the protection 🙄

Take a point & move on.

Looking at the bench, we’ve done tremendously well to be 3rd at this stage of the season.

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So we really just need a better result than Dunfermline tomorrow and the playoff will be secured.

Bad news for Stevie and for us. Got to make the best of what we have; here's hoping that the players and coaches can produce some positives out of this, and that we supporters will give them even more encouragement. Here's hoping for a full recovery for Stevie, who's been great for us.

Okay I have to bite. What is daft or unfair about our playoff system? It rewards finishing second over 3rd or 4th which seems fair enough to me. It equates to a 15% promotion ratio per league size, which is reasonable. And it equalises the number of league games to be played by the Premier team and the second placed team (if they make it), to 38 games. A 3rd or 4th placed team plays just two more. And when we finish our regular season on 3rd May, the Premier teams will still have four post split (usually competitive) games to play before the playoff final on 23rd. If you finish 3rd or 4th in a league of 10 it should be very difficult to succeed through playoffs. The current 4th placed team has only won one more game than it has lost. I accept that it's difficult for a team in 3rd or 4th. I don't accept that it's unfair

A goal scored in every game against the Pars this season. What a player!

In tribute to JeannieD starting the thread, but also because it's true... I would probably take a draw

Must have heard you…. Posted minutes after your post. Hopefully we’re faster out the traps tomorrow

Don’t worry. I won’t be looking anywhere near this thread until 5 minutes before ko Drat !

Robinson was given acres of space by ICT - they were fixated on marking our wide men.

Haven’t posted for a long time but felt the need as that twat Barton does my head in however on the real positive side don’t think he realized who her father is 🤔🤔 well I know who my monies on should they ever come head to head😋😋 can’t see Barton visiting Paisley any time soon

The 5 M's is a strange co-incidence. In all of history, based on a 1-5 query, it was only seen for the first time on 4 March 2023, the 3-0 home win vs. Raith Rovers: David Mitchell, Jack McMillan, Harry Milne, Connor McAvoy, Aaron Muirhead Most common surname letter in a starting eleven is 7 (M's again), seen only in 1988, 3 times in close proximity, firstly in the 1-1 midweek Scottish Cup draw at Station Park on 3 February 1988: Archie MacLean, Alan Dinnie, John Workman, Bryan Purdie, Budgie McGhie, John McCormack, Pat Kelly, Willie McGuire, John McNaught, John Mitchell, Ian McDonald Re the close proximity thing, will skip that on the grounds of time constraints, if you don't mind. Most common surname in the first-team A-Z: 25 - Smith 24 - Robertson 22 - Wilson 19 - Brown 19 - Campbell 17 - Stewart 16 - Murray 14 - Ferguson 14 - Gray 13 - Gibson 13 - McDonald 13 - Thomson Actually, we recently passed a club-record in that regard. 24 games in 3rd place is the longest run in the same position when considering mid-table positions only. The previous joint-record (20) was set in 6th place (1915) and 9th place (2015).

3 points and a clean sheet! Wow!

Not the best of games but a good win and a good clean sheet.

Happy to oblige! 746, Stirling Albion (home): G. Bennie, Alloa (Yellow Flag); W. W. Campbell, Irvine (Red Flag) 747, Stranraer (away): Mr A. McCririck, Kilmarnock; Mr J. McWhan, Dumfries Hero, Just for one day. 😇

I can see why clubs in England are interested. He's just turned 16 and he has a real physival presence. Ticks a lot of boxes and with him, in relative terms, likely to be inexpensive he's absolutely worth a punt. Especially since recruiting from Europe has become much harder since Brexit. Hence why this dual ownership nonsense is creeping in.

Inspired by the Draw, Lose or Draw podcast's excellent production (embedded - check it out), we've fast-forwarded the full match hub for the classic match on 4th May 1993... Thistle 3 Rangers 0 →

I did indeed. McBeth mentioned that in his interview on YouTube. There must be more players like him out there.

Did you know it was actually former player Gary Fraser who recommended him to us

Was saying exactly this to my pal at the game today. Maybe we should be looking at the Juniors rather than loanees from the OF? You can see how much it means for McBeth to be part of the club and I would love to see more players with that kind of desire than pampered OF cast offs.

Mitchell was fine today - badly let down by his defence for the goal. McBeth looked a natural at CB. Read the game well, and his tackling was clean. Robbie Muirhead is a handful, and, goal apart, McBeth kept him quiet throughout. What was noticeable to me was that it appeared that McBeth was the dominant CB calling the shots with Aero falling into line. Midfield was OK. Neilson has something in that position, but has to think and act more quickly to be truly dominant in that area of the field. Scott Robinson - love this guy. His work rate is phenomenal. He is the best foil for Brian Graham that doesn't disrupt the formation, and his leap for a guy of average height is truly impressive. Well merited MoM today. Going forward, perhaps McBeth could cement the dominant CB role??

Hope nobody took your advice. Never rely on the Jags for any bets.

That last minute goal today ruined it 😁

Great to get the win despite just falling short at death with clean sheet. Agree with above re McBeth, motm for me. And my favourite Sat night tipple soon, a pint of Imrie tears.