Partick Thistle 1 v 2 Albion Rovers

Attendance : 1208

Scorers ~ Partick Thistle : Ferguson (21). Albion Rovers : McBride (3), Chaplain (28).

As Partick Thistle were no less than 25 places above Albion Rovers in the SFL pecking order and were joint first in the 1st division, few thought an away win in the Challenge Cup match at Firhill was on the cards for Rovers. A fighting  performance however by the Coatbridge men sent the Jags crashing out.

Before kick-off the news that a certain Colin Hardie was officiating raised some eyebrows as he'd given Rovers a controversial second chance to score a penalty in a CIS cup shoot-out against Brechin City managed by current Firhill gaffer Dick Campbell almost precisely 2 years ago. That penalty retake won the tie for Rovers and reportedly caused Mr. Campbell much vexation. Once again the whistler was perceived to be rather eccentric in his decision making.

Within 20 seconds of the kick-off Rovers made their intentions clear as Jamie Doyle tried his luck from distance sending the ball somewhat wide. The next action of note was Rovers taking the lead in 3 minutes Joe Savage making his competitive debut set up the ball for Chaplain whose shot rebounded for former Jag Martin McBride to slam home.

In 8 minutes a ridiculous amount of passing by Thistle around the last third of the pitch ended with Gordon Lennon stepping in to remove the ball from an attacker and taking it out of harms way. A few minutes later Graham Gibson had a "goal" disallowed for a handball offence.

A couple of Thistle moves failed before they drew level in 21 minutes when a McCulloch corner was headed into the Rovers net by Brown Ferguson. Seconds later Billy Gibson made space to loose a shot which had the defence and Ewings helpless but fortunately for Rovers it cleared the bar.

Rovers made a foray upfield in 24 minutes and a long ball into the homesters box by Gordon Moffat was caught by 'keeper Arthur high in the air whilst under some pressure from Rovers players. A period of sustained Thistle possession ended with Rovers regaining the lead in 28 minutes, Martin McBride put the ball through to Scott Chaplain in the heart of the Jags defence and he slipped the ball low into the net.

After more Thistle pressure a Scott McCulloch free-kick from 30 yards avoided the wall and had Jamie Ewings at full-stretch to save. At the other end Scott Chaplain drove in a shot from 30 yards which proved too high to be troublesome for Arthur. A long ball to Bryan Felvus saw the forward stretch to get a touch and it was deflected out for a corner.

Scott Chaplain crossed the ball to Joe Savage in front of the home goal, he turned but couldn't quite capitalise on the opportunity as his marker intervened. Savage was far upfield once more when he worked well from the corner area beating a defender whilst running goalward, unfortunately his cross was cut out by a Thistle man before it could reach its intended recipient.

A strong drive by McCulloch was held by Ewings and a long ball in from the side was headed over the Jags crossbar by a distraught Felvus before Mr. Hardy called time on the first half.

Half-Time

No doubt at least partly down to a tongue-lashing from manager Dick Campbell in the interval Partick Thistle started strongly and Jimmy Gibson had a decent shot blocked by Graham McGhee giving them a corner. The ball swung in to Jimmy Gibson who had his shot blocked once more but this time by Ewings at point-blank range.

Next McGhee was called on again and didn't disappoint travelling fans when he edged Simon Donnelly off the ball and gave the ball to Ewings. A couple of moments of indecision by Savage at the far side of Rovers penalty area caused concern for Rovers but proved harmless in the end.

A controversial decision by Mr. Hardie 56 minutes when he apparently correctly didn't give a foul in Jags favour led to Scott Chaplain storming up the field and provide a cross to Felvus who skelped the ball a tad wide of the target.

Gordon Lennon showed his trademark skill shortly afterwards when he expertly dispossessed a couple of attackers. Scott Boyd shooting wildly over Rovers goal preceded a good Thistle move in which Ewings had to dig deep on his resources to deal with. Joe Savage who was obviously fatigued after putting in 100% effort the whole match was replaced by Iain Chisholm.

Martin McBride took it upon himself to create the next chance when he ran up the far wing and supplied Chaplain whose attempt skimmed the junction of bar and post on its way out.

In 72 minutes the only booking of the match was given to Darren Brady of Thistle for complaining about a referees' decision which was followed by a change of strikers by Jim Chapman Rovers when Patrick Walker replaced Bryan Felvus.

Ewings saved the day once more when he had to stretch to catch a Strachan effort, Strachan again looked dangerous just after but missed the goal.

With minutes seeming like hours to Rovers fans Lennon again put in a vital tackle in the Rovers penalty area to avert danger. Lots of Jags possession ensued without much goalmouth action, Jimmy Gibson forcing a save in 87 minutes was the last notable occurrence.

Summary

A stunning performance by an Albion Rovers team against all odds. Partick Thistle dominated possession and at times passed the ball around to a frankly ridiculous extent without achieving anything whatsoever. Rovers have nothing to fear in the next round of this cup and if they play in a similar fashion can progress further.

Partick Thistle : Arthur, Sives, McCulloch (Strachan 65), Brady, Boyd, Robertson, Jimmy Gibson, Donnelly, Graham Gibson, Ferguson, Billy Gibson (McConalogue 82). Subs Not Used : Samushonga, Kane, Hodge.

Albion Rovers : Ewings, Moffat, McGhee, Lennon, Donnelly, Friel, Doyle, Chaplain, Felvus (Walker 73), Savage (Chisholm 65), McBride (Clearie 88). Subs Not Used : Thompson, Creaney.

Referee : Colin Hardie

Man of the Match - Gordon Lennon

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