Partick Thistle fell to a frustrating 1-0 defeat at home to Hamilton as the Glasgow club’s bid for promotion to the Premiership took a hit on Saturday afternoon.
Ian McCall’s side had the lion’s share of possession at Firhill but didn’t use the ball as well as they could before an Accies counter-attack nudged the visitors in front.
The Jags were unable to find a leveller but remain in fourth place, seven points behind league leaders Queen’s Park.
Here are three things we learned from the contest at Firhill.
Thistle fail to pull the trigger
The home side enjoyed plenty of the ball at Firhill but struggled to make the most of the opportunities afforded to them. Accies barely had a sniff in the first half and spent large chunks of it camped out in their own box, congesting space and daring their opponents to break them down. It was a challenge that McCall’s men were not up to.
Attacking quartet Brian Graham, Anton Dowds, Scott Tiffoney and Stevie Lawless missed this fixture through injury and their absence was conspicuous. Thistle laid siege to the Accies goal for large spells of the contest but struggled to fashion clear-cut opportunities while Danny Mullen, handed a rare start against his former club, struggled to make a telling impact in the final third.
When Hamilton broke the deadlock, the goal arrived against the run of play but Thistle could have few complaints. They didn’t take their chances while their opponents did, and they ultimately paid the price for their ponderous approach to breaking John Rankin’s side down. Too often they looked reluctant to shoot and on the rare occasion that they did, they regularly failed to hit the target.
Accies showing signs of life
The visitors found themselves under the cosh at times in Glasgow’s west end but the relegation-threatened side can be proud of the defensive resilience they showed. They restricted Thistle to half-chances rather than clear-cut opportunities but grew into the game as it wore on.
A chance would eventually fall Hamilton’s way, though, and Dylan Stephenson took it well. A long ball forward was flicked on by Jean-Pierre Tiehi, catching out the Thistle defence who were stationed perilously high up the pitch. Stephenson latched onto the ball, motored away from the last defender and retained his composure to coolly slot the ball past Jamie Sneddon.
This was a very welcome three points for Rankin’s side. The Lanarkshire outfit have been embroiled in a relegation battle this season but this win – coupled with Cove Rangers’ 5-0 hammering at home to Ayr on Friday night – will have reignited Hamilton’s hopes of staying in the division. They remain four points adrift of Arbroath in ninth but on this evidence, the battle to beat the drop is anything but over.
McCall looking short of options
There are only a few days left of the transfer window and McCall will be hoping to pull off one or two pieces of last-minute shopping to strengthen his side’s push for promotion.
So far this month, extending Lee Hodson’s loan from Kilmarnock to the end of the season has been the only ‘in’, while centre-half Tunji Akinola has departed and Tony Weston returned to his parent club Rangers.
It leaves the Jags conspicuously short of options, particularly in central defence. McCall is closing in on a loan move for a defender – and hopes to conclude that move imminently – but it was telling that the all the outfield players on the Thistle bench against Accies came from the academy and had a handful of senior appearances between them. With the Jags trailing in the second half, McCall had no seasoned senior players to turn to to try and affect the game's outcome.
Six first-team players missed the defeat to Hamilton – and their return will be most welcome – but an extra body or two wouldn’t go amiss either.
