IT's not where you start, but where you finish.
The Irn-Bru First Division table will make pleasant reading for Partick Thistle fans this morning and Jackie McNamara, the club's manager, and his players will rightly be proud of their achievements thus far. Yet the squad will also acknowledge that they have some way to go before they can celebrate any tangible success.
Victory over Dumbarton on Saturday was Thistle's third in a row on league duty and their sixth in all competitions, with Alan Adamson's side now propping up the division following a hat trick of defeats. On Saturday they joined Clyde, Forfar Athletic, Falkirk, Queen's Park and Dunfermline Athletic in succumbing to Thistle.
The three-goal cushion by which they eventually won told its own story, with McNamara's side worthy of the points as Kris Doolan, Chris Erskine and Stuart Bannigan each found the net.
There were moments of anxiety, however, with the hosts having their own spell of pressure while the deficit was still one goal. In seasons gone by, Thistle may have crumbled but this current crop have proven themselves to be hardier sorts and that will surely bode well for the challenges ahead.
"I'm happy with the start that we have made to the season but it's like anything, we need to keep it going," McNamara said. "I told the players that there was no point beating Falkirk and Dunfermline if we didn't take the advantage of playing at home on Saturday. It was a big test for us and we came through it well. We had some good passing sequences and I thought that we thoroughly deserved the victory.
"I think since I've been at the club, as a player first of all, we have struggled against teams that have just come up a division and are part-time. We have overcome a couple of these kind of games in the cups and Saturday was the first that we have faced in the league and we overcame that particular barrier well. It's now just a case of looking forward to Tuesday's game with Hamilton [in the Scottish Communities League Cup second round]."
The contrast in fortunes between these clubs so far this season could not have been greater yet both left Firhill content. Defeat for Dumbarton followed losses to Airdrie United and Cowdenbeath in the opening fortnight but they showed enough improvement to ensure they may not linger at the foot of the table for too long.
"I think that's the best that we have played this season," Adamson said. "All credit to Thistle, they got the ball down and passed it and I think we tried to do the same. I think it was a good game of football to watch. I've told my players to keep their heads up as they'll not be playing a team as sharp as that every week. There are signs that we are heading in the right direction."
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