Partick Thistle 3
Ayr United 2
League (Championship)


Partick Thistle 

3 - 2

Ayr United


League (Championship)
Saturday, December 17th, 2022
Firhill Stadium
Attendance: 2,831


Goalscorers
Milne (21)
Graham (46)
Lawless (56)
Dipo Akinyemi (9)
Logan Chalmers (47)

Team Managers
Ian McCall Lee Bullen

Starting Eleven
1 Sneddon
2 McMillan
5 Brownlie
22 Muirhead
3 Milne
6 Turner
8 Bannigan
15 McKinnon
11 Lawless
9 Graham
21 Fitzpatrick
Charlie Albinson .21
Patrick Reading .3
Sean McGinty .5
Finn Ecrepont .25
Andy Murdoch .6
Mark McKenzie .22
Nick McAllister .17
Ben Dempsey .8
Josh Mullin .14
Sam Ashford .23
Dipo Akinyemi .9

Bench
4 Holt
10 Dowds
14 Smith
17 Weston
19 Mullen
26 Stanway
27 Lyon
29 Mackenzie
31 Mitchell
Aiden McAdams .1
Kinlay Bilham .26
Dylan Watret .32
David Bangala .29
Fraser Bryden .30
Brad Young .18
Paul Smith .31
Logan Chalmers

Substitutions
11 Lawless Substituted for Weston 89'minutes
9 GrahamSubstituted for Dowds 73'minutes
21 Fitzpatrick Substituted for Mackenzie 79'minutes
Logan Chalmers for Sam Ashford (45)
David Bangala for Finn Ecrepont (64)
Brad Young for Ben Dempsey (64)

Cautions
Brownlie
Bannigan
Lawless
Graham
None.

Red Cards
None. None.

Match Officials

David Munro (Referee)





Photography by Dave Sargent

Match Report


Partick Thistle narrowed the gap on Scottish Championship leaders Ayr United with a thrilling win over them.

Magnificent goals in each half from Dipo Akinyemi and substitute Logan Chalmers weren't enough to save Ayr from their first defeat since October.

Harry Milne equalised Akinyemi's fine opener, then his header went in via the knee of Brian Graham to restore the lead as Ayr claimed offside.

Chalmers equalised but Stevie Lawless popped up with the winner.

It was a thoroughly entertaining 90 minutes which launches Thistle back into the title race, five points off Ayr, who remain top by a point.

Partick Thistle manager Ian McCall: "It's a big result for us because we have five players out injured. No-one at this club ever thought we were out of the title race. We are all united now in getting this club to win matches.

Ayr United manager Lee Bullen: "We scored two wonderful goals. Our video analyst has seen their second goal. Brian Graham is standing on the line. There is no way he could be onside."

Match report written by BBC



Squad Statistics (as at December 17th, 2022)


2022-23 All Time
Age
Charlie Albinson (GK)26 20 - 31 -
Finn Ecrepont20 9 - 15 -
Sean McGinty29 191542
Patrick Reading23 23 - 883
Mark McKenzie22 223947
Andy Murdoch27 2221386
Josh Mullin - 145145
Ben Dempsey23 244314
Nick McAllister21 15 - 28 -
Dipo Akinyemi25 24162416
Sam Ashford26 21 - 342
David Bangala (sub)25 5 - 5 -
Logan Chalmers (sub)22 9393
Brad Young (sub) - 112112






League Table (as at December 17th, 2022)


Pld W D L Pts
1. Ayr United 18 9 5 4 32
2. Dundee 17 9 4 4 31
3. Queen's Park 17 9 3 5 30
4. Morton 17 8 5 4 29
5. Partick Thistle 18 8 3 7 27
6. Raith Rovers 18 7 2 9 23
7. ICT 17 6 5 6 23
8. Cove Rangers 17 4 6 7 18
9. Arbroath 18 2 8 8 14
10. Hamilton Academical 17 2 5 10 11