Sunday 6th September v Partick Thistle at Holyrood Sports Centre 5-3 (2-1)
Martin Kelly, Craig McKenna, Calum MacDonald, Arthur McCue, Robert Shimmons, Andy Dick,
Andy McNaught jnr, Michael Monti, Paul Joyce (c), Paul Stormonth and Ally McNaught
After the euphoria of a win against Ormond Saints there was an air of excitement in the air with the arrival of Partick Thistle at Holyrood (Toryglen had an event on until early evening). Well, not so much an arrival of Partick more a case of, "is that all there is ?"
Unfortunately Thistle were short of players, unless we were playing fives as that is all that turned up. They only had eight to begin with, apparently, and three of them were stuck in traffic due to the Great Scottish Run.
No such problems for us, run or no run, as we had a squad of sixteen with only Stormy missing from the Saintees game but we had his brother, and All Time Top Scorer, Jazza taking his place.
Jazza has a long career behind him, and a huge belly in front of him, and he was given a starting place up front with Paul in a 3-5-2 formation.
Martin remained in goals with the defenders in front of him being Craig, Calum and Arthur, whilst in the middle of the park we had Robert and Ally wide with Andy D, Andy Boy and Michael in the middle.
So we had eleven but Thistle ended up with ten after we loaned them Crossers, in goals, Fraser, Davie and two new boys, Danny and Callum.
A shambolic start to the game and we kicked off twenty five minutes late with Thistle wearing odd tops and two of them in QP hoops.
Now, in years gone past this organisational nightmare would have affected us on the park but full credit to the guys who never let it get to them and we started off playing in a calm and composed manner.
Obviously we were a wee bit quiet but that's to be expected until people get to know each other but we tried to play the ball about on the Holyrood surface despite the conditions. The conditions being the slidy pitch and the constant rain which made the ball skid off the surface.
It wasn't long before Jazza turned back the clock and missed an easy chance when he was left with only Crossers to beat. His shot beat the auld yin in goals but came off the bar and into Crossers arms. Just like old times !
Not long after this we took the lead. Andy D, having an excellent game in the middle of the park, threaded a ball through the middle for Paul to run on to and he made no mistake with a low shot past Crossers.
Martin was called into action and saved well from a close range shot before he was put on the spot as Thistle gained a penalty. A harmless ball in the area bounced off the spongey surface and hit the hand of Andy Boy. It was a clear penalty but Martin rose to the challenge and dived to his right to save the kick and also gathered the rebound.
Buoyed by this we went further ahead shortly after. Another through ball found Paul and again he made no mistake for his, and our, second.
With the mecurial Fitzy refereeing it wasn't apparent whether we were playing straight through or having a half time interval as we started late. However, Mr Fitzpatrick did indeed decide to give the teams a break but unfortunately we lost a goal just before he blew his whistle when Danny from Thistle headed in a corner after our defence left the ball on hearing a shout of "keeper". It was almost as if the other Martin was still in goals.
Considering the conditions, and the makeshift team we were playing against, it was a good game with few fouls and played in the right spirit, as all our games are with Thistle.
The second half continued the same way and we were pegged back when Thistle snatched an equaliser before we scored the goal of the game.
Craig picked up the ball on the edge of our area and sprinted forward with it. At the halfway line the Thistle defence tried to play offside but only succeeded in leaving a gap through the middle and Craig ran through with only his father-in-law to beat. Showing great composure, Craig easily finished past the veteran keeper, who claimed he let it in, aye right !
So a goal ahead again but Thistle were still in the game and equalised through Danny as the game headed for the last ten minutes.
Like the previous game against Saintees we were the stronger team in the closing stages and Paul completed his first hat trick for the team with a similar goal to the others. A pass from the midfield found him free and he finished expertly.
With only a couple of minutes remaining we sealed the victory when Paul again got through on his own and shot past Crossers. Thistle protested that he was offside but, after a discussion with the ref, Partick realised the folly of their protest.
That's two games played and two wins but, more importantly, nine goals scored. It was another good performance despite the hassle before the game and again we showed good spirit to keep going until the end.
It was good that everybody got a full game, even if they were playing for Partick, and everybody seemed to enjoy the game which is the what it's all about.
Player of the Day: Craig McKenna
PHOTOS
Sssshhhhh the Captains talking
"I was impressed at the way the guys played for the other team without any fuss even though it was a bit of a shambles at the start of the game. As for our own team, we again played well and showed great spirit and everybody seems to be getting along and gelling with each other. Thanks for the passes for the four goals but, seeing it's a team game, I was just delighted the team scored five and we got another win"
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