IF anything summed this game up from an Aberdeen perspective, it came from the usually trusty left foot of Ryan Christie five minutes from time.
Free on the left and with the opportunity of a cross into the box, or indeed a shot, having already whistled one by the far post at the beginning of the second half, he did neither and ballooned the ball into the stand with a kick more in common to the ones Johnny Sexton was adding to Scotland’s misery with across the Irish Sea.
Yet if anything summed up the afternoon from a Thistle perspective, it was defender Baily Cargill’s impeccably timed and very vital sliding tackle on Christie as the Aberdeen attacker motored towards the penalty area just a few minutes before his wild swipe. A tackle that epitomised a display which helped earn an important point in 11th-placed Thistle’s battle against relegation.
“It was far from a classic,” was Partick Thistle manager Alan Archibald’s take on it, something his counterpart Derek McInnes agreed with, but Archibald added his side “merited a point”, especially after the loss of last-minute goals in the recent defeats to Dundee and Hamilton.
“We were glad to see it out and get a clean sheet,” he said. “Delighted, after losing late goals.”
Aberdeen never looked like adding to that late misery, dominating but producing little. Thistle created nothing of note in the first half, but had chances in the second with Steven Lawless forcing a save from Freddie Woodman immediately after the restart and Stevie May then having to head off the line to prevent Shay Logan’s attempted clearance from the corner looping into the net.
Substitute Blair Spittal forced a last-gasp block from Anthony O’Connor and Ryan Edwards could have possibly won it at the death but couldn’t beat Woodman from the angle.
The main talking point for Thistle fans though was midway through the first half when last-man Christie appeared to impede Chris Erskine trying to latch on to a clearance travelling towards the Aberdeen box, only for referee Greg Aitken to wave away claims for a free-kick at the edge of the area.
Archibald waved it away as a coming together but Erskine, in his 250th game for Thistle, felt it was a foul and a red card.
Aberdeen did have their chances but, as McInnes admitted, were simply not good enough in the final third.
The best came in the 33rd minute when Kenny McLean played in Christie down the right to cut back for Graeme Shinnie who, with plenty of time to pick his spot, only side-footed straight at the sprawling Tomas Cerny from close range.
May, while under pressure, could have perhaps done better than bundle past the near post when McLean cut back just before the interval as well.
“I thought we controlled the game without really being in top gear, certainly in that attacking third,” said McInnes, whose side now go into Tuesday’s vital Scottish Cup quarter-final replay against Kilmarnock having not won since beating Dundee United in the last round.
“Sometimes that desire to get back to winning ways can stifle the performance,” he added. “We need to be more instinctive.”
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