Arbroath put in another outstanding team performance to move to 3rd in the cinch Scottish Championship after they outplayed Partick Thistle at Firhill on Saturday and in turn scored only the 5th and 6th goal Thistle had conceded at home all season and also and ended their run of 766 minutes without conceding a goal.
Arbroath made 2 changes as Ricky Little missed out due to concussion as Liam Henderson came into the defence with Anton Dowds replacing Luke Donnelly upfront. Gavin Swankie also returned to the squad.
On a very wet and slick pitch Arbroath soon started to get into their rhythm and Anton Dowds was creating lots of problems for the Thistle defence.
Scott Stewart had a great chance in the 19th minute as he broke free down the right wing but his shot was just wide of the far post, with Joel Nouble having a header saved just 4 minutes later as he connected to a James Craigen cross.
Michael McKenna picked up a yellow card in the 29th minute but Arbroath kept pressing winning a series of corner kicks.
Brian Graham had a shot saved in the 39th minute, then also had a shot saved in the 40th minute but both were comfortable saves for Derek Gaston.
As the first half creeped towards half time, Arbroath again won a series of corner kicks and just on the stroke of half time Anton Dowds met a James Craigen corner kick to thump a header past Jamie Sneddon and to stun Firhill.
Half Time Stats
Possession – Partick Thistle 53% – 47% Arbroath
Shots – Partick Thistle 3 – 4 Arbroath
Shots on Target – Partick Thistle 3 – 3 Arbroath
Shots Off Target – Partick Thistle 0 – 1 Arbroath
Blocked – Partick Thistle 0 – 0 Arbroath
Corners – Partick Thistle 3 – 7 Arbroath
Fouls – Partick Thistle 3 – 6 Arbroath
Into the second half and the hosts had the first chance as Gaston caught a Lewis Mayo header, but it was again Arbroath who looked to threaten and Scott Stewart thought he had done enough but Richard Foster cleared his shot off the line in the 55th minute.
5 minutes later and Arbroath should have doubled their lead, a combination of play between Nouble and Stewart seen Stewart’s shot fly across goal to James Craigen who was unmarked and had an open goal, but his shot could only find the side netting.
It would maybe come back to haunt Arbroath as Ross MacIver smashed the Arbroath bar with a powerful shot in the 63rd minute.
However Arbroath kept going and finally got their second goal as Liam Henderson bulleted a header in at the back post from a Michael McKenna free kick in the 78th minute.
Arbroath kept going and in the closing 12 minutes had more great chances. First of all Joel Nouble was played in by Dale Hilson but he pulled his shot wide, then Thomas O’Brien hit the post with a long range drive, but as the rebound fell to Dale Hilson he showed lightning reactions to power the ball into the net but was ruled offside.
In the closing minutes, Nouble had another great run past two defenders and his long range shot was just wide.
Full Time – Partick Thistle 0 – 2 Arbroath
Full Time Stats
Possession – Partick Thistle 57% – 43% Arbroath
Shots – Partick Thistle 7 – 11 Arbroath
Shots on Target – Partick Thistle 4 – 5 Arbroath
Shots Off Target – Partick Thistle 3 – 5 Arbroath
Blocked – Partick Thistle 0 – 1 Arbroath
Corners – Partick Thistle 5 – 8 Arbroath
Fouls – Partick Thistle 9 – 9 Arbroath
Partick Thistle
1 – Jamie Sneddon
2 – Richard Foster
3 – Kevin Holt
4 – Lewis Mayo
6 – Kyle Turner
7 – Scott Tiffoney (Hendrie 68)
8 – Stuart Brannigan (Gordon 74)
9 – Brian Graham
11 – Cammy Smith (MacIver 25)
18 – Tunji Akinola
23 – Ross Docherty (c)
Substitutes
14 – Shea Gordon – 8; 74th
16 – Ciaran McKenna
17 – Connor Murray
19 – Ross MacIver – 11; 25th
32 – Jake Hastie
33 – Stephen Hendrie – 7; 68th
12 – Harry Stone (GK)
Yellow Card – Foster 90+2
Arbroath
1 – Derek Gaston
2 – Jason Thomson
3 – Colin Hamilton
22 – Liam Henderson
5 – Thomas O’Brien (c)
18 – Chris Hamilton
12 – Scott Stewart (Gold 87)
8 – Michael McKenna
17 – Joel Nouble
19 – Anton Dowds (Hilson 73)
28 – James Craigen
Substitutes
7 – David Gold – 12; 87th
9 – Dale Hilson – 19; 73rd
10 – Gavin Swankie
11 – Bobby Linn
15 – Luke Donnelly
16 – Harrison Clark
21 – Calum Antell (GK)
Goals – Dowds 45, Henderson 78
Yellow Cards – O’Brien 20, McKenna 29
Referee; Alan Newlands
Assistant Referee 1: Alan Mulvanny
Assistant Referee 2: Andrew McWilliam
Partick Thistle 0 – 2 Arbroath – Dick Campbell – Post Match Interview
A delighted Dick Campbell spoke to the press after watching his side score only the 5th and 6th goal Partick Thistle had conceded at Firhill all season
It also meant that thanks to goal from Anton Dowds and Liam Henderson that the Lichties have scored in all of their 9 away matches so far this season.
