IN the strange way of matters pertaining to Partick Thistle and the form book it should have been wholly predictable that since they had lost five of their six previous matches while their visitors had beaten Celtic last time out this would be a comfortable home win.

All the moreso given that Thistle were without Kallum Higginbotham, so often their inspiration, as a result of the red card he picked up when they allowed Ross County to claw their way off the bottom of the table a week earlier.

"The big word's been consistency all season, that's the problem we've got," Alan Archibald, their manager who has yet to see his side win two matches in succession this season, acknowledged.

"We go from performances with the 11 being outstanding to maybe three being outstanding, we can't do that. We need to get a balance of maybe seven continually giving you eight or nine out of 10, carrying the ones who are having a bad game."

This was one of those days when pretty much all of them performed from the off, his side going ahead three minutes in when their lively opening was rewarded as Abdul Osman's cross from the right picked out Kris Doolan, one of four players recalled to the starting line-up yesterday, allowing him, in turn, to select his spot behind Alan Mannus which he duly did.

Six minutes later and the advantage, against normally resolute opponents, was doubled all too easily when Stuart Bannigan's corner from the right was met by Conrad Ballatoni who did just enough with his glancing header to deflect the ball goalwards, where Mannus and Chris Millar should have dealt with it but got tangled up with one another and somehow let it squeeze past them into the net.

It might have been three just a couple of minutes later, when Millar was caught in possession by James Craigen, creating a four on two situation, but after he fed Stevenson the striker's well struck left footed shot produced a one-handed save of similar quality from Mannus.

Saints came into game more thereafter without providing much in way of a serious threat to Scott Fox's goal, Thistle continuing to look the more dangerous side, albeit there was a freakish element to the best of their subsequent chances as an attempted clearance was wildly sliced back into his own penalty box by Murray Davidson. It fell into the path of Stevenson who did the hard technical work of pirouetting into good position as it came over his right shoulder then meeting the ball flush with his right foot so well that he would have been disappointed that he could not quite get it on target, hitting Mannus's left post from only around six yards out.

Thistle had largely regained the initiative by the latter stages of the half, but Saints finally created a clearcut chance when a ball fired in early from the left by Brian Easton was met by Michael O'Halloran whose first touch caused the ball to hop up nicely for him, but from 10 yards out he, too, will feel he should at least have tested the goal-keeper rather than dragging his shot wide.

That was a timely reminder to Thistle that their job was not done because their recent run suggested that for all that they had been very much the more dangerous looking side it might not take too much to get them jittery.

Consequently they began the second half with renewed intent and Balatoni might have provided the three goal cushion that could have made all the difference with a free header from a corner of the right, but this time put it over.

Saints brought on McFadden and his creativity quickly helped provide them with another chance to get back into the game as his neat pass to the inside of O'Donnell, let Easton meet ball at bye-line and measure a cross which Davidson met firmly, but put his header too close to Fox.

However the goal that ensured that Thistle would get their vital three points was deservedly registered 20 minutes into the half.

After Stevenson won a free kick deep in Saints territory on the right Stephen O'Donnell's initial attempt to send it into the box was a poor one, but it was cleared only as far as Bannigan who, 20 yards out teed it up with a touch of his right foot then rifled an unstoppable shot with his left to the left of the helpless Mannus.

His side having moved into the top six with that win over the champions on their last outing Tommy Wright's frustration was evident afterwards since, for all that he was prepared to concede that Thistle had been the better side, he felt there had been little between the teams, that his men had gifted their opponents their goals and that it should consequently be considered "a blip".

Partick Thistle (4-1-2-1-2): S Fox, S O'Donnell, C Booth, F Frans, C Balatoni, A Osman, J Craigen, S Bannigan (G Fraser 82), S Lawless (D Wilson 75), K Doolan (L Taylor 80), R Stevenson

St Johnstone (4-4-2): A Mannus, D Mackay, T Scobbie, B Easton, D Wotherspoon (J McFadden 55), C Millar, M Davidson, D Swanson (L Croft 65), S MacLean (C Kane 78), M O'Halloran

Referee: W Collum

Man of the match: Bannigan

Attendance: 3196