Ayr United 0
Partick Thistle 5
League Play Off (Premiership Semi Final 2nd Leg)


Ayr United
0 - 5
Partick Thistle 

League Play Off (Premiership Semi Final 2nd Leg)
Friday, May 26th, 2023
Somerset Park
Attendance: 5,811

Goalscorers
None. McMillan (7'minutes), Tiffoney (27'minutes, 54'minutes),
Lawless (63'minutes), Holt (88'minutes)

Team Managers
Lee Bullen
Unknown.

Starting Eleven
Charlie Albinson
Patrick Reading
Sean McGinty
Frankie Musonda
Ben Dempsey
Josh Mullin
Reece Mcalear
Mark McKenzie
Nick McAllister
Sam Ashford
Dipo Akinyemi
31 Mitchell
2 McMillan
22 Muirhead
5 Brownlie
4 Holt
6 Turner
23 Docherty
11 Lawless
7 Tiffoney
21 Fitzpatrick
9 Graham

Bench
Aiden McAdams
Alex Kirk
Daire OConnor
Jayden Mitchell-Lawson
Michael Hewitt
David Bangala
Andy Murdoch
Fraser Bryden
Chris Maguire
Paul Smith
1 Sneddon
10 Dowds
15 McKinnon
16 Hodson
19 Mullen
25 Owens
29 Mackenzie
30 Stevenson

Substitutions
Paul Smith for Reece Mcalear (45)
Andy Murdoch for Sam Ashford (45)
Chris Maguire for Ben Dempsey (62)
Jayden Mitchell-Lawson for Mark McKenzie (62)
22 Muirhead for Hodson 71'
11 Lawless for McKinnon 66'
7 Tiffoneyfor Mullenat 59'
21 Fitzpatrick for Mackenzie 66'
9 GrahamS for Dowds 59'

Cautions
Nick McAllister
Reece Mcalear
Muirhead

Red Cards
Dipo Akinyemi (25)
None.
Match Officials

Colin Steven (Referee)




Photography by SNS Group

Match Report


Partick Thistle are through to the Premiership play-off final after brushing aside 10-man Ayr United at a packed Somerset Park.

Leading 3-0 from the first leg, the visitors added five more goals, Jack McMillan striking early and Scott Tiffoney doubling their lead moments after Dipo Akinyemi was sent off for an angry shove.

In the second half, McMillan set up Tiffoney's second, Stevie Lawless drilled home and Kevin Holt added a late header in a one-sided contest.

Thistle, who also hit eight against Queen's Park in the quarter-final, are the first team to make the final after finishing fourth in the Championship.

The first leg is at Firhill on Thursday and the Jags' scintillating form will have their top-flight opponents very concerned.

Ross County and Kilmarnock, who meet at Rugby Park on Sunday, are battling to avoid 11th spot, while there is a remote chance of Dundee United hauling themselves off the bottom.

A bumper crowd turned out, with the home faithful hoping for something special, but that bubble was burst on seven minutes when McMillan headed in after an Aidan Fitzpatrick shot was stopped by goalkeeper Charlie Albinson.

And the hosts' slim hopes evaporated when top-scorer Akinyemi was dismissed for reacting to being held by Aaron Muirhead, with the defender making the most of it with a dramatic fall.

Thistle soon doubled their lead on the counter-attack, Tiffoney converting from Fitzpatrick's low cross.

Tiffoney added another goal in the 54th minute, poking in a McMillan delivery from six yards.

Lawless cracked in a neat reverse finish after Albinson had palmed away Holt's cross and the defender got the better of the keeper from a corner to complete the scoring.

Match report written by BBC



Squad Statistics (as at May 26th, 2023)


2022-23 All Time
Age
Charlie Albinson (GK)26 40 - 51 -
Sean McGinty29 423774
Patrick Reading23 46 - 1113
Frankie Musonda25 302302
Reece Mcalear21 17 - 17 -
Josh Mullin - 269269
Ben Dempsey23 468538
Nick McAllister22 331461
Mark McKenzie22 4251149
Dipo Akinyemi25 46254625
Sam Ashford27 413545
Jayden Mitchell-Lawson (sub) - 342342
Andy Murdoch (sub)28 3421506
Paul Smith (sub)21 24 - 33 -
Chris Maguire (sub) - 15 - 15 -






League Table (as at May 26th, 2023)


Pld W D L Pts
1. Dundee 35 17 12 6 63
2. Ayr United 36 16 10 10 58
3. Queen's Park 36 17 7 12 58
4. Morton 36 15 12 9 57
5. ICT 36 15 10 11 55
6. Partick Thistle 35 15 9 11 54
7. Raith Rovers 36 11 10 15 43
8. Arbroath 36 6 16 14 34
9. Hamilton Academical 36 7 10 19 31
10. Cove Rangers 36 7 10 19 31