ONE up and one almost down.
Partick Thistle will play Premiership football for the third-successive season when the new campaign begins in August but St Mirren's stay at this level now has just days to run.
Alan Archibald's side inched closer to the finishing line with victory over Ross County last weekend and yesterday they burst through the tape thanks to a 3-0 win against the beleaguered Buddies, who will survive for another week after Motherwell and Ross County drew 1-1 at Fir Park.
Five wins in their previous eight games put the Jags on course for survival and saw them climb the table and now they can focus on finishing seventh rather than worrying about the battle at the bottom thanks to goals from Ryan Stevenson, Kris Doolan and Steven Lawless. Thistle have always had just enough of an advantage to keep their noses in front over the last few weeks and they completed the job in style to deservedly retain their top flight status.
"I'm delighted to do it at home and off our own back," Archibald said. "It was great to get the victory and a clean sheet too. At one point I thought it was going to be hard to break St Mirren down because they are a hard team to play against. Something was missing in the final third in the first half but fair play to the boys they kept on going and we got our just rewards."
Thistle remembered one of their unsung heroes before kick-off, with the players wearing t-shirts emblazoned with a picture of James 'Chico' Reilly during their warm-up and the Firhill crowd rising to their feet pre-match to applaud the long-serving kit man, who passed away last month.
The home fans were almost back out of their seats just five minutes later but a Lyle Taylor effort that went narrowly wide of Mark Ridgers' goal set the tone for a frustrating first half in front of goal. Lawless passed up two decent chances after cutbacks from Stephen O'Donnell and Stevenson, his first effort deflected wide and the second well saved by Ridgers. There was plenty of attacking intent from Thistle but the finishing touch was proving hard to find.
It meant St Mirren spent much of the first half on the back foot but when they did venture forward they were left aggrieved, referee Craig Thomson waving away a penalty appeal from Jason Naismith after a collision with Callum Booth.
"We had a good bit of play and got Jason away, he was coming into the box and he was brought down," Gary Teale, the St Mirren manager, said. "These decisions are huge and there is not a lot of accountability for them. I am disappointed for the boys because they put in a lot of effort and to come away with a 3-0 defeat is hard to take."
Chances were few and far between for St Mirren and it took a Thistle error, or three of them, to give them another sight of goal as Scott Fox, Conrad Balatoni and Frederic Frans got their wires crossed and a clearance from the keeper rebounded off Steven Thompson. Typically for St Mirren, the ball wouldn't find its way into the net as their luck deserted them once again.
It was Thistle who would finally break the deadlock with just twenty minutes remaining, Stevenson heading home a Kallum Higginbotham cross. It wasn't the goal that condemned St Mirren but the one that confirmed victory for Thistle arrived just minutes later, substitute Doolan finishing acrobatically to clinch the points.
As the Firhill crowd celebrated their achievement, Lawless finally got his goa, a sweet drive from distance a fine way to cap the afternoon for Thistle.
St Mirren trudged off not knowing if they were officially down or not but the news when they got the dressing room wouldn't have raised spirits that much. They had been given a reprieve, but it will surely be their last.
Partick Thistle: Fox; O'Donnell, Balatoni, Frans, Booth; Osman, Bannigan; Lawless, Stevenson, Higginbotham (Fraser 83); Taylor (Doolan 75)
Subs not used: Gallacher, Craigen, Elliott, Richards-Everton, Wilson
Booked: O'Donnell, Higginbotham
St Mirren: Ridgers; Naismith, Baird, Kelly, Tesselaar; Dayton, Mallan, Reilly (Gow 76), Wylde; Sadlier (Brown 69), Thompson (Arquin 75)
Subs not used: Kello, Genev, Morgan, Cuddihy
Booked: Mallan
Man of the Match: Stuart Bannigan
Referee: Craig Thomson
Attendance: 3865
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