Partick Thistle 0, St Johnstone 0

Mar 25 2008

THEY play football and rugby on them but the Firhill dunes are made to measure for 4x4 safaris, Dubai desert style.

The combined demands of round and oval ball have proved too much for a grossly abused pitch in Maryhill and St Johnstone’s championship hopes disappeared in the sandpit.

With a 14-point gap opening-up and games fast running out, Lawrence of Arabia would be hard pushed to plot a route to the title now.

Evidence of the Glasgow Warriors rugby campaign is stamped all over Firhill, with scrums laying waste to huge swathes of a surface normally spared by football boots.

As a spectacle, this was a non-starter. But one thing’s for sure. Rangers must be wishing they’d taken care of the Jags at recently re-laid Ibrox. Their trip across town to endure a cup replay, for the right to face Saints in the Hampden semi-final, is going to be a culture shock.

Forget football, a Perthshire ploughing match would have been in danger of a late call-off when competitors rolled-up. No self-respecting ploughman would have left the scene in such an almighty mess.

But there was still no masking the fact that Saints and Thistle looked drained, perhaps mentally as much as physically, after their midweek cup endeavours.

The Perth side might have had 24 hours grace but they were heavy-limbed, static and predictable until the manager rattled a cage or two at the interval.

The only touch of imagination shown in a disjointed and pretty awful first 45 was a second minute free-kick from 20 yards range which worked keeper Tuffey. A training ground ploy, it resulted in Rocco Quinn curling in a shot as Thistle and most observers suspected a breakdown in communication between a trio of blue-shirted personnel hanging around the ball.

Quinn exited before the interval but while Thistle had more of the ball, only once was Alan Main worked, turning Murray’s shot past the post five minutes from the respite provided by the interval.

It was a far cry from the midweek dramas of Love Street and Ibrox, where more fancied SPL opposition were squirming with embarrassment.

The second period was livelier and Steven Milne was frustrated by a timely block after latching onto an Andy Jackson lay-off. Then Peter MacDonald might have steered a Liam Craig shot on target.

But 10 minutes from time, Rowson miscued a shot beyond a defeated Main. The patchy turf steered it back towards the target but Thistle were denied by the width of the post. In the final seconds Harkins clipped the other post.

But the chance of the game, in which they were few and far between, was missed by Jackson.

The youngster is on 17 for the season and frankly admitted it should have been 18.

By this stage sterling defender Kevin Rutkiewicz had been pressed into service up front and even got a speculative 30-yarder on target.

With Daniel McBreen still absent, route one really wasn’t an option.

But removing the midfield from the equation still made sense.

Milne managed to flick the ball into Jackson’s path yards from goal.

Given the striker’s form this term, it was odds-on a vital winner.

Instead, he connected perfectly but rammed it a yard wide of the far stick when a sclaff might have secured the points.

In effect, the league was lost months ago.

Draw number 12 allows Hamilton and Dundee to discard St Johnstone from the equation. But with Hampden round the corner, Saints and their fans can’t afford to clock-off yet.

Partick Thistle: Tuffey, Storey (Kinniburgh 64), Twaddle, Murray (Donnelly 56), Robertson, Archibald, McKeown, Rowson, Gray (McKinlay 71), Roberts and Harkins. Subs not used: Hinchcliffe and McStay.

St Johnstone: Main, Irvine, Anderson (Sheerin 61), Morris, Rutkiewicz, McManus, Quinn (Moon 44), Craig, Jackson, Milne and MacDonald (Wilson 68). Subs not used: James and Cuthbert.

Referee: David Somers