Archives | Dunfermline 0 Partick Thistle 0

Such is the competitiveness of the William Hill Championship the season had reached match day 34 with every team in the league with something to play for. Following Hamilton`s 15 point deduction by the SPFL, Dunfermline still required five points to be absolutely certain of avoiding the Championship play-off place and visitors Partick Thistle were in search of points to strengthen their Premiership play-offs bid.

The Dunfermline side showed two changes from that which started the previous match against Queen`s Park. Chris Hamilton and Michael O`Halloran came into the side for Andre Raymond who dropped to the bench and Lewis McCann who incurred a hamstring injury in training during the week.

Partick Thistle caretaker manager Brian Graham brought back David Mitchell between the sticks, preferred to Lewis Budinauckas. Kyle Turner and Logan Chalmers were also missing from the side beaten by Hamilton the previous Saturday, with Sean Kelly and former Par Steven Lawless were handed starts.

The teams changed ends before the kick off meaning the Pars were playing into the newly emerged sunshine. The home side forced a corner within a minute but taken short, failed to get the cross in. Chris Kane fought for possession deep into the right side of the Thistle box and his 4th minute cut back was glanced narrowly wide by Matty Todd. The travelling support appealed for a penalty when Kyle Benedictus and Aidan Fitzpatrick went to ground on the right perimeter of the Dunfermline box but referee Nick Walsh saw nothing untoward.

Dunfermline had been the much better side in the first quarter of of the match but apart from a Todd cross from the right had barely given keeper David Mitchell much to do. In fact the biggest cheer came in 21 minutes for a perfectly timed tackle by Benedictus on Fitzpatrick as he worryingly charged in on goal. Jeremiah Chilokoa-Mullen displayed some of the Fifers frustrations with a shot from 35 yards that ended up in the McCathie Stand.

A Hamilton cross from the left was spilled by Mitchell but he recovered to thwart Kane`s predatory instincts. Lawless aimed a 30th minute shot for the top left of the Pars goal but Tobi Oluwayemi effortlessly plucked the ball out of the air.

Ashcroft headed away twice after Oluwayemi had launched a free kick long into the Partick box and then the 21 year-old goalie on-loan from Celtic made a great save when Fitzpatrick manage to spring the defence to get through one on one with the keeper. Two minutes from the break Oluwayemi had to react fast to deny Kelly on the left edge of the six yard box.

The first half stats would show little between the sides. They had cancelled each other out to a great extent but Dunfermline could rightly feel that their performance gave them grounds for optimism in the second half.

Half Time: Dunfermline 0 Partick Thistle 0

First chance of the second half came in front of the Dunfermline goal when Comrie mistimed his clearance but he redeemed himself to scramble the ball away from the feet of Dan O`Reilly. Dunfermline responded winning their second corner of the game but it was a 57th minute free kick that threatened. Ewan Otoo pumped the ball to the far post and Benedictus connected. He sent the ball wide but the offside flag had been raised in any case.

Neil Lennon then made a double substitution introducing Ephraim Yeboah and David Wotherspoon for Chris Kane and Matty Todd. It was a clever ball played from a free kick on the right by Wotherspoon that had O`Halloran haring into the right side of the box but he could not catch the inviting ball.

In 64 minutes there was a huge let off for the Fifers when Graham`s effort came back off the crossbar, Lawless had a follow up that was blocked and there were a number of chances that the defence and the Pars keeper blocked. The howls and screams from the home fans were silenced when Oluwayemi eventually dropped on top of the ball.

Anxiety was creeping into the home support. A foul on Robbie Crawford Thistle free kick allowed sub Kyle Turner to float the ball across the face of the Pars goal, fortunately too high for attackers to head home. An outfield excursion by Oluwayemi raised real concerns when Turner launched the ball at the unguarded goal but Chilokoa-Mullen and Benedictus managed to save the bacon.

With eleven minutes remaining Dunfermline made a triple substitution. Off went Aaron Comrie, Michael O`Halloran and Craig Clay to be replaced by Kane Ritchie-Hosler,Josh Cooper and Victor Wanyama. It was a Cooper cross in 87th minute that Wotherspoon drove wide right from 20 yards out. In the second minute of added time Mitchell was called upon to beat away a fierce on target effort from Wotherspoon but it would end goalless.

With Airdrieonians losing at home to Morton, the one point was good for Dunfermline since they moved six points clear of the Diamonds with a much better goal difference. As for Partick they were certainly disappointed. One point took them to 49 points but Raith`s 3-1 win at Falkirk took them level on points with the Jags.

DUNFERMLINE: Tobi Oluwayemi: Jeremiah Chilokoa-Mullen, Kyle Benedictus (c), Tommy Fogarty, Aaron Comrie (Kane Ritchie-Hosler 79), Craig Clay (Victor Wanyama 79), Chris Hamilton, Ewan Otoo: Michael O`Halloran (Josh Cooper 79), Matty Todd (David Wotherspoon 58), Chris Kane (Ephraim Yeboah 58).
SUBS NOT USED: Andre Raymond, Tashan Oakley-Boothe, Owen Hampson, Deniz Mehmet (GK)
YELLOW CARDS: Kane (49), Benedictus (81)

PARTICK THISTLE: David Mitchell: Luke McBeth, Lee Ashcroft, Sean Kelly: Kanayo Megwa, Robbie Crawford, Ben Stanway (Kyle Turner 66), Dan O`Reilly: Steven Lawless (Terry Ablade 76), Aidan Fitzpatrick, Brian Graham
SUBS NOT USED: Josh Reid, Liam Rooney, Matthew Falconer, Nick Lockhart, Zander Mackenzie, Luis Cameron (GK), Lewis Budinauckas (GK)
YELLOW CARD: Fitzpatrick (86)

REFEREE: Nick Walsh
ATTENDANCE: 5688 inc 699 away fans
WEATHER: Fine 9°C

50/50 Ticket: 07364 `“ Prize: £975

NEXT MATCH: William Hill Championship (v Airdrieonians), Saturday 26th April 2025, kick off 3.00pm at KDM Group East End Park.

Related Stories

• Queen`s Park 0 Dunfermline 1
• Dunfermline 0 Hamilton Academical 1
• Partick Thistle 1 Dunfermline 4
• Dunfermline 0 Partick Thistle 1