Thistle stay in top flightThree second half goals for Partick Thistle ensured that they will be playing Scottish Premiership football next season.Ryan Stevenson, Kris Doolan and Steven Lawless scored the goals that gave Partick all three points in a 3-0 victory which put St Mirren on the brink of relegation.The visitors were second best all afternoon to a lively Thistle side, who cemented their place in next season's Scottish Premiership after Motherwell failed to beat Ross County.In what was a must-win game for St Mirren, manager Gary Teale named an unchanged starting XI following last weekend's home win against KilmarnockThistle were looking to secure their safety and Alan Archibald also named an unchanged side.Partick enjoyed the most of the early possession and it was the home side who could have been in front inside the opening eight minutes
Thistle striker Lyle Taylor latched onto a through ball played by Stevenson, but he dragged his shot just wide of Mark Ridgers' near post.In a very one-sided start to the game, Thistle almost took the lead when midfielder Lawless went close on two separate occasions midway through the first half.On 25 minutes Lawless reacted quickest to a Stevenson cutback but the midfielder saw his effort blocked by Jack Baird
Moments later Lawless did well to control a loose ball in the six yard box, although the midfielder failed to connect properly with his shot, Ridgers still felt the need to tip the ball over the bar.St Mirren felt aggrieved five minutes before half time, when the visitors felt that they should have been given a penalty
In a rare venture forward, St Mirren full back Jason Naismith burst into the box and looked set to get a shot away, but was bundled over by Calum Booth.Referee Craig Thomson had a good view of the incident but deemed the challenge by Booth to be a fair one.Shortly after the interval St Mirren went close to taking the lead in a strange circumstances, after a mix up in communication between goalkeeper Scott Fox and defender Conrad Balatoni
As Steven Thompson chased down a loose ball, both Balatoni and Fox were waiting for one another to clear their lines
Fox eventually took the initiative, but the goalkeeper thumped his clearance off the St Mirren captain, but the ball fell wide of the target.Thistle always looked lively and found the St Mirren defence to be pretty strong, however, Teale's side saw their resistance broken in the 68th minute.Kallum Higginbotham and Stevenson had linked up well all afternoon, and it was that duo which combined for the opening goal
Higginbotham floated in a cross from the right hand side and it was Stevenson who rose highest in the box to steer a header beyond Ridgers to give Thistle a deserved lead.Ten minutes later, Firhill erupted again when substitute Doolan scored his 10th goal of the season
A corner kick was not properly dealt with by the St Mirren defence, with Abdul Osman nodding the ball back towards the goal where it fell to Doolan.Doolan looked to have scuffed his half volley,but it was enough to divert the ball past Ridgers.In injury time the Firhill faithful were on their feet again when Lawless pounced on a loose ball on the edge of the box and drilled a shot past Ridgers for goal number three and Scottish Premiership safety
Source : PA
Source: PA