It’s true what they say, it doesn’t matter how they go in, they all count. It is a footballing cliche that aptly described the two goals that Partick Thistle and Hearts shared at Firhill yesterday. And sometimes, they even count when they might not have gone in.

There was no doubt over Blair Spittal’s opener for Thistle, which was a personal nightmare for young Hearts keeper Jon McLaughlin, but more of that later.

It was Ross Callachan’s equaliser for Hearts which denied Thistle a first win in the league at the seventh time of asking that was the main talking point post-match, with views on whether or not the ball had crept over the line seemingly determined by the colour of scarf around the neck of the person offering their opinion.

The rest of us were none the wiser. In actual fact, the only person who seemed certain that the midfielder’s header had crossed the line before being headed out by Thistle defender Danny Devine was the one that counted, assistant referee Joseph Lawson, who immediately signalled for the goal and ran towards the halfway line.

It was a tough call for the linesman, and a difficult one to take for Thistle, but manager Alan Archibald was magnanimous enough to shift any blame from the official onto his own players for allowing the situation to develop in the first place. Perhaps not least because he had viewed the incident several times before addressing the press and still hadn’t the foggiest whether the ball was in or not.

“I’ve seen it back and it’s hard to tell,” Archibald said. “I am more disappointed with our defending in the build-up to be honest with you.

“We’d rode out Hearts pressure at that stage, we’d dealt with all their balls into the box really well.

“But it came from a bad kick out from us and then a quick corner which caught us out. We should have been better than that and quicker.

“I don’t know about the call but we didn’t deal with it. But when you’re down where we are and we’ve not won a game these things always become harder and it seems to happen a lot more.

“But it was a good positive performance, I was delighted with the way the boys went about their business.”

There were two changes for Thistle from Tuesday night’s extra-time defeat to Rangers in the Betfred Cup, with Miles Storey replacing Stevie Lawless and midweek goalscorer Kris Doolan coming in for Conor Sammon, who was unable to play against his parent club.

Hearts boss Craig Levein also mixed things up after the win over Hamilton last time out, with Kyle Lafferty and Arnaud Djoum missing out through injury and Ashley Smith-Brown dropping to the bench. Aaron Hughes, Don Cowie and Connor Randall were the men to come in.

Hearts started brightly and went close when Michael Smith drifted inside from the right and brought a fine low save out of Ryan Scully, but they literally handed Thistle the lead after 18 minutes.

Blair Spittal cut inside from the right and strolled into the centre of the Hearts box as Christophe Berra stood and admired his run, but the groan that momentarily accompanied his effort straight at Hearts keeper McLaughlin was instantly replaced by cheers. and some laughter, as the young goalie somehow let the ball slip through his hands, through his legs and into the net.

It was terrible goalkeeping, but the defending would probably be the thing that most upset visiting manager Craig Levein.

McLaughlin redeemed himself as he got down to deny Paul McGinn’s effort clever effort at his near post as Hearts struggled to find a way back into it, and Thistle might have been further ahead when Barton nipped in front of McLaughlin to head McGinn’s cross over the keeper, but John Souttar was there to head off the line. That one definitely wasn't in. I don't think.

Hearts showed greater intent after the break, and Jamie Walker came close with a fizzing effort from distance that veered just wide of Ryan Scully’s left-hand post with the keeper rooted to the spot, and Isma Goncalves and Randall also had pops that weren’t too far away.

Thistle were becoming camped in as the half wore on, perhaps understandably given their desperation to hang on for their maiden victory, but Hearts were becoming increasingly frustrated by the red and yellow wall in front of them. That was neatly encapsulated by Walker jumping up and punching the ball for no apparent reason to pick up a booking.

Thistle withdrew Kris Doolan and threw on Stuart Bannigan in an attempt to shore things up, but the masterplan was in tatters moments later as Hearts eventually got back on level terms.

A clipped ball in from substitute David Milinkovic was met by Callachan, who extended his dream start to his Hearts career by heading beyond Scully and perhaps over the line before Devine’s intervention.

Either way, a point was probably about fair given the balance of play, a view echoed by Hearts boss Levein.

“It was a tough match and I didn’t think either team dominated for any length of time,” said Levein. “It swung back and forward.

“I was pleased with the resilience we showed – and I was hoping that resilience might extent to us nicking a winner at the end.

“That would have been harsh on Thistle – but I wouldn’t really have cared much about that!”

PARTICK THISTLE: Scully; Devine, Turnbull, Keown; McGinn, Barton, Edwards, Spittal, Elliott (Nitriansky, 66’); Storey (Nisbet, 90’), Doolan (Bannigan, 78’).

Scorers: Spittal (18’)

Booked: Devine (88’)

HEARTS: McLaughlin, Souttar, Hughes, Berra; Smith (Milinkovic, 73’), Cowie (Currie, 88’), Walker, Randall, Grzelak (Smith-Brown, 53’); Callachan; Goncalves.

Scorers: Callachan (80’)

Booked: Berra (34’), Walker (74’)

Referee: Don Robertson

Attendance: 4671