BLAIR Spittal says Partick Thistle must take full advantage and make a concerted move up the Ladbrokes Championship table after a somewhat fortuitous end to their miserable winless streak.
Leading through Spittal’s excellent low strike, Thistle clinched victory in controversial circumstances when Miles Storey’s shot was judged to have crossed the line before Lee Robinson clawed it away.
The limited video footage available is inconclusive but Spittal feels that if it is a slice of luck then Thistle deserve it having been the victims of poor decisions during their difficult run.
He said: “From where I was it looked to me it had gone past the keeper and had gone in.
“A few people have said it’s a close one but over the past few weeks we have been on the wrong end of the stick in terms of decisions going our way.
“It’s more relief than anything. Over the past couple of weeks our performance levels have been decent so it’s good to now get the rewards for it.
“Hopefully that’s the monkey off the back now and we have to back it up. We can’t beat Dunfermline at the weekend and then not follow it up next weekend against Alloa.
“If you get a run going in this league you can move up quickly. It’s tight. You just need a couple of wins and you’re right in about it.
“I felt we were quite comfortable. It was more chances outside the box we restricted them to.
“We looked a threat throughout the game on the counter-attack and that’s something we had worked all week on in training so it’s nice to finally get the three points.
“I think nerves kicked in in the past few weeks and we were on the end of a few 1-0 defeats.
“I was pleased with my goal. It was a late run to the edge of the box and I was just trying to keep it low. Thankfully I caught it well and it flew into the bottom corner. Maybe the damp, skiddy conditions helped.
“I thought we played the conditions well. We limited the risks we took but when we did get the ball down we played well.”
It was Gary Caldwell’s first victory in seven attempts and moved Thistle up to eighth only five points behind Dunfermline.
Spittal’s strike came in 12 minutes with Storey’s contentious clincher arriving in the 56th minute and while Dunfermline hit the bar twice, Thistle were worth it.
Robinson feels the ramifications of the controversial second goal could be punitive as, in his eyes, players may lose their livelihoods if Dunfermline don’t reach the play-offs. He reckons assistant Alan Grainger got it wrong.
The former Rangers keeper said: “The ball never crossed the line. The linesman is 40 yards away, so I don’t know how he has made the decision. If you don’t know you don’t give it.
“I know Kevin Clancy and he’s a good lad, but it was the linesman that gave it.
“At this level there are people’s jobs at stake, so you have to be absolutely sure.
“At the end of it all a decision like that could lead to some of us losing our jobs.
“It’s been too inconsistent. We win a couple and then lose a couple. When we do get into our stride, we will batter a few teams.
“I have played around this league for a few years and I have not seen a more talented group of players.
“We’ve got such a good squad we should be a lot higher than we are.”
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