There is a famous old saying about the futility of ‘what-ifs’ involving your mum being your dad if she had a certain appendage that I won’t reproduce verbatim in a quality broadsheet newspaper. But you get the drift.
That’s not to say that it is easy to shrug off perceived injustices, particularly when you are as clearly wronged as Miles Story and Partick Thistle were going into the final stages of Friday night’s game against Celtic at Firhill.
But for an errant call by referee Andrew Dallas, the Thistle debutant would have had a penalty after being tripped by Nir Bitton, and a chance to get his Jags career off to a flying start by claiming a draw against the champions.
The player himself is still a little raw from the experience, and he felt that Thistle may even have won the match had the normally reliable Kris Doolan not blown an earlier chance to draw them level, and brought the Celtic ‘invincible’ juggernaut to a shuddering halt.
“I think we played well in the game, I don’t think Celtic were at their best and there was maybe a chance to nick it,” said Storey, facing the press for the first time since making his move to Thistle from Aberdeen.
“Obviously there was Dools’s header, which was unlucky, and then we could have had the penalty at the end, so we could have easily come out of that game at 2-1 and could have broken the streak.”
The immediate reactions of players in such situations normally tells you the story, and when asked if he immediately knew that it was a spot-kick, Storey said: “Yes. He had a bad touch and I knew I was going to get in front of him, and if I get there and turn around the keeper is on the floor I would have scored, so there’s no reason for me to go down otherwise.
“I was running at pace and got clipped and nearly broke my shoulder, so I think it’s a penalty all day.
“Anywhere else on the pitch you get that, but it’s the 92nd minute and it’s a big call to make, and I can kind of understand it in a way, even though it’s annoying.
“Someone mentioned after the game that the normal penalty taker wasn’t on, so maybe if no one was jumping on it I would have taken it.
“But I enjoyed playing and I felt a freedom that I haven’t had for a while.”
Storey is frank when discussing his nightmare spell at Aberdeen, but as his willingness to forgive referee Andrew Dallas shows, he isn’t one to apportion blame to others when things don’t go his way.
And although he feels that he didn’t get a fair crack of the whip at Pittodrie, he is hoping to use the experience to prove a point to himself at Thistle.
“There were times when you feel kind of rejected because you are not getting game time,” he said. “That plays on your mind.
“It is hard to be focused going into training everyday when you haven’t played for eight games on the spin.
“I am not from Scotland, I am from Birmingham and it is tough being away from your family. It got to the stage where my mum and dad would talk about coming to watch a game and I would tell them that there was no point because I wasn’t even going to get on the pitch. It would have been a wasted journey for them.
“This year the Aberdeen manager was brilliant with me and he promised me I would get a move.
“He has been true to his word and he has given me the opportunity to kickstart my career again at Partick Thistle and I have to thank him for that.
“He has done me a favour really.”
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