Match ends, Partick Thistle 1, Kilmarnock 1.
Partick Thistle 1-1 Kilmarnock
By Richard Wilson
BBC Scotland at Firhill
- From the section Football
Kilmarnock arrested a run of five straight defeats with a well-earned draw at Firhill.
The visitors opened the scoring through Tope Obadeyi, but they could only hold on to the advantage for seven minutes.
Partick Thistle equalised through Danny Seaborne's header, and the hosts probably had the better of the few chances that followed.
Thistle would have been frustrated by the outcome, but Kilmarnock will have been relieved at ending their poor run.
Kilmarnock did not let their recent circumstances inhibit them. A sense of caution might have been expected in a side that had lost its previous five games, four of them in the league, but the visitors were prepared to be adventurous.
That attitude was rewarded with a bright, intrepid start. Partick Thistle were similarly bold, and the openness of the game brought an early breakthrough.
Josh Magennis, who was playing wide on the right for Kilmarnock, drilled a cross into the penalty area, which Lee Miller met with a firm connection. The Thistle goalkeeper Paul Gallacher provided a magnificent one-hand save, but Obadeyi converted the rebound.
Thistle treated the goal as a mere nuisance, because they remained committed to their crisp passing style. A slick move early on had already seen Kilmarnock's defence breached by three passes and a cross, but nobody was on hand to meet the deliveries into the penalty area.
A more direct move was rewarded, though, when Stuart Bannigan slung a free-kick into the area and Seaborne, running away from goal, steered a header past goalkeeper Craig Samson.
The set piece had been awarded after Chris Chantler tripped Stephen O'Donnell, and other flashpoints were scattered through the opening half.
One Christie Elliott foul on Jamie Hamill caused a confrontation between several players, while Hamill was seldom far away from any scenes of aggression in midfield.
For all that Thistle were capable of neat passing moves, it was set-pieces that allowed them to be most threatening. When Bannigan delivered another curling ball into the area, it looked as though it would carry over Samson and into the net, but the Kilmarnock goalkeeper reached up an arm to tip the ball over the crossbar.
The accomplishment appeared to have been left behind in the dressing room at half-time, since the play became disjointed. The best opportunity came from a free-kick for the home side, but any hope was quickly extinguished when the referee Steven McLean blew for a foul.
As if feeling compelled to take matters into his own hands, the Thistle centre-back Conrad Balatoni dribbled upfield and surged into the penalty area, but the ball was stolen off his toe and lashed clear.
Kilmarnock managed a breakthrough of their own, when Obadeyi latched on to Hamill's pass, but the winger's effort bounced under Gallacher's body and out for a corner.
James Craigen might have won the game for the home side, but he shot wide from just inside the penalty area after the ball was diverted into his path.
Line-ups
Partick Thistle
- 12Gallacher
- 2O'Donnell
- 6Balatoni
- 3SeaborneBooked at 80mins
- 17CarrollSubstituted forFraserat 59'minutes
- 18Osman
- 8Bannigan
- 14Elliott
- 7Craigen
- 15HigginbothamBooked at 29minsSubstituted forLawlessat 69'minutes
- 10StevensonSubstituted forDoolanat 75'minutes
Substitutes
- 1Fox
- 9Doolan
- 11Lawless
- 22Fraser
- 23Wilson
- 26Lindsay
- 28McDaid
Kilmarnock
- 1Samson
- 22Westlake
- 6Connolly
- 29Pascali
- 23ChantlerBooked at 18mins
- 7McKenzieSubstituted forJohnstonat 76'minutes
- 4Hamill
- 8Clingan
- 16Obadeyi
- 28Magennis
- 9MillerSubstituted forMuirheadat 67'minutes
Substitutes
- 10Johnston
- 13Brennan
- 18Ashcroft
- 19Slater
- 20Eremenko
- 26O'Hara
- 33Muirhead
- Referee:
- Steven McLean
- Attendance:
- 3,054
Match Stats
Home TeamPartick ThistleAway TeamKilmarnock
- Possession
- Home56%
- Away44%
- Shots
- Home6
- Away4
- Shots on Target
- Home1
- Away2
- Corners
- Home5
- Away3
- Fouls
- Home15
- Away11
Live Text
Full Time
Second Half ends, Partick Thistle 1, Kilmarnock 1.
Corner, Partick Thistle. Conceded by Mark Connolly.
Corner, Kilmarnock. Conceded by Stuart Bannigan.
Corner, Partick Thistle. Conceded by Mark Connolly.
Attempt missed. Gary Fraser (Partick Thistle) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the right from a direct free kick.
Steven Lawless (Partick Thistle) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Mark Connolly (Kilmarnock).
Corner, Partick Thistle. Conceded by Manuel Pascali.
Abdul Osman (Partick Thistle) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Jamie Hamill (Kilmarnock).
Hand ball by Tope Obadeyi (Kilmarnock).
Attempt blocked. Sammy Clingan (Kilmarnock) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Booking
Danny Seaborne (Partick Thistle) is shown the yellow card.
Foul by Danny Seaborne (Partick Thistle).
Robbie Muirhead (Kilmarnock) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Corner, Kilmarnock. Conceded by Paul Gallacher.
Attempt saved. Tope Obadeyi (Kilmarnock) right footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the bottom left corner.
Substitution
Substitution, Kilmarnock. Chris Johnston replaces Rory McKenzie.
Substitution
Substitution, Partick Thistle. Kris Doolan replaces Ryan Stevenson.
Foul by Christie Elliott (Partick Thistle).
Mark Connolly (Kilmarnock) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Substitution
Substitution, Partick Thistle. Steven Lawless replaces Kallum Higginbotham.
Substitution
Substitution, Kilmarnock. Robbie Muirhead replaces Lee Miller.
Chris Chantler (Kilmarnock) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Christie Elliott (Partick Thistle).
Substitution
Substitution, Partick Thistle. Gary Fraser replaces Jake Carroll.
Foul by Darryl Westlake (Kilmarnock).
Kallum Higginbotham (Partick Thistle) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt missed. Jake Carroll (Partick Thistle) header from the centre of the box is just a bit too high following a set piece situation.
Foul by Manuel Pascali (Kilmarnock).
Christie Elliott (Partick Thistle) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Mark Connolly (Kilmarnock) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Ryan Stevenson (Partick Thistle).
Foul by Lee Miller (Kilmarnock).
Danny Seaborne (Partick Thistle) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Lee Miller (Kilmarnock).
Abdul Osman (Partick Thistle) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Attempt missed. Kallum Higginbotham (Partick Thistle) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right.
Second Half
Second Half begins Partick Thistle 1, Kilmarnock 1.