AT least Partick Thistle were not alone.
On a night when lower-league teams smelled SPFL Premiership blood, the Firhill side suffered their own scare against Cowdenbeath as they emerged unscathed, if traumatised, from their League Cup ordeal.
It may have taken until extra time, but the top-flight newcomers finally saw off Colin Cameron's team at Firhill as goals from Christie Elliot and Steven Lawless as well as a penalty from Aaron Muirhead booked their place in the third-round draw. This was far from Thistle's most accomplished showing on Alan Archibald's watch but as their Premiership counterparts toiled, the Firhill side, at least, made it through.
There were few glimpses of the free-flowing, attacking football that has won them many admirers so far this season, with passes going astray and moves too often breaking down. The groans from the Firhill crowd told their own story but they would have been significantly louder were it not for Scott Fox as the home side's goalkeeper prevented his team from going behind on 56 minutes. Greg Stewart was downed by a Muirhead challenge but Jamie Stevenson could not take advantage, Fox diving to his right to tip the midfielder's penalty to safety as the home crowd breathed a significant sigh of relief.
Archibald soon turned to his bench for inspiration in the shape of Lawless and then Kris Doolan as the search continued for the decisive opening goal, but the inevitable extra time period arrived. Archibald's final throw of the dice, Elliott, gave Thistle the lead just seconds into the added-on period, but Kane Hemmings immediately equalised.
There was an urgency to Thistle's play as they went forward in search of the winner and it was Lawless who would come up trumps, firing across Adam before then winning a penalty, which Muirhead duly converted.
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