Partick Thistle 4-0 St Johnstone: Thistle are rising again

By Iain Hepburn on Aug 24, 08 07:11 AM in Results

Sometimes it's not the victory that's the key. Sometimes it's the manner of the victory that's more special. And what the Jags did against St Johnstone was very special indeed.

Literally from minute one this was blowaway stuff. The patchy performances in the cup, which have seen us taken to extra time by smaller sides? All gone. We were unlucky down at Palmerston last Sunday but today it wasn't just luck, it was absolute skill and class from beginning to end.

Simon Donnelly continued to prove he really is the most important player at Firhill these days and I'm just praying now that he gets a goal sooner rather than later, because if anyone deserves it for all his hard work and his near misses, it's Sid. Meanwhile our new signing up front, Sonic the Hedgehog-alike Stevie Lennon, already looks a great capture and injects pace to our front like. With Liam Buchanananananan now back in training, hopefully we'll get the chance to see these two link up - ideally with Sid feeding the ball to them.

There seemed to be a real vein of confidence running through the side too. I thought Paul Paton looked nervous as hell in the first couple of matches since his transfer to Firhill, but he looked brilliant here - and that fired-up attitude seemed to inspire him to some outstanding play down the right flank, looking to beat men, looking for the ball and hitting one of the sweetest goals I've ever seen. Genuinely - words can't describe how good a shot that was.

Likewise Ian Maxwell has now settled well and he too hit a gorgeous goal. It was one of those shots that, in any other match, would have had people raving as a goal of the season contender but it ended up being merely the second best of the day. Actually, it feels unfair picking out individuals, because the whole team looked fantastic today.

McCall's always tried to get Thistle keeping the ball down and passing, and at times, through the technical limitations of some of the players, and the pace of the game in division one, it hasn't always worked. But today, it did. Everything clicked. and if anything the 4-0 scoreline flattered a St Johnstone side that looked one-dimensional and flat.

Well, almost everything clicked. Can someone tell me the point of Gary Harkins? He remains an enigma to me - he's capable of moments of sheer genius, full of running and with an exocet-accurate crossing ability that caused Saints all kinds of problems when he was hitting them in from the wing. But his fundamentals are shocking. He repeatedly gives the ball away cheaply making even simple passes about the pitch, and it undermines his fantastic positional play and the other aspects of his game. Too often yesterday I found myself muttering the same phrase - one which ended '...sake, Harkins!'

But let's not dwell. Because this was one of those matches that give you real hope for the season. Real, pure, unadulterated hope. McCall said in the patch programme that he believes the Jags could do something this season and on the strength of this performance, he might be right. Saints are supposed to be one of the top sides in the league, yet they looked like newly-promoted part-timers, massively out of their depth and having to resort to physicality to get anything.

Big test coming up with the midweek trip to Dens. If we can impress against Dundee - even if it's not a win, but at least a decent performance - I'll get myself off down Paddy Power for a punt on us going up.