Partick Thistle 2-1 Livingston: Pass marks

Stephen McKeown, an unlikely nominee for top scorer, turned in a stunning candidate for goal of the season with his outstanding goal after some truly tremendous play from the Jags midfield. Pinpoint passing from Simon Donnelly and the mercurial Gary Harkins, and a tremendous end product from McKeown, highlighted the very good aspects of the team.

Harkins, who for so long this season has provoked much muttering and grumbling from your hapless blogger, also produced a sublime, gorgeous run which was almost Maradona-esque in execution, although ending in a shot that curled just past the post rather than with the goal it richly deserved.

Indeed, Harkins was on song - and about bloody time too - as Thistle dominated the first half with some tremendous one-touch football and silky passing, right throughout the team. Paul Paton's growing confidence was reflected in the diminutive right-back (gasp!) jumping for headers and shouting for the ball, and rewarded with some nice crosses from the wing into the box. Likewise Kevin McKinlay on the left, deputising once again for the crocked Twaddle, bombed up and down the flanks, exchanging touches with Donnelly and Harkins.

Meanwhile Liam Buchananananan up front looks like he's never been away - his pace and ability mean he's going to be bloody hard to keep hold of this January.

But we have a huge problem at Thistle. No, two huge problems. We can't kill off teams. And we get murdered by sides who like physical play.

Throw us up against side that like to pass and move, as John Barnes once rapped, and we shine. It's one of the reasons we looked decent against Rangers in the cup two months ago - let us knock the ball about, and McCall's skill-based game comes to the fore. But we lack physical presence anywhere except in defence. Harkins is our tallest midfielder, but is a lanky streak of nothing and has more than once bottled out of a tackle where he should have put the foot in. Rowson has a bit of bulk behind him, but our wingers, Donnelly, McKeown, Chaplain, Liam and loan Ranger Stevie Lennon would struggle to outweigh Rey Mysterio Jr, let alone a towering monster like Dave McKay.

And that's what's causing us problems this season. Because as soon as we get an edge in a game, Thistle get battered and beaten, outmuscled to the ball on too many occasions. We've got the guile, we've got the moves, but we just don't have the presence on the park. And in as competitive a league as this one, that physicality is a criticality.

While I get a chance - what's with the Lions fans giving it yahoo with the 'in your Glasgow slums' ditty. For any club in their perilous position to be making jibes about poverty is either supreme irony or just asking for a fall.

No, Livvy have no money to pay the bills, but they do have Callum Elliot, a lumbering, lurching, cheating giant against Thistle's liliputian side. His continual diving and the odd forearm smash here or there came back to haunt him, and perhaps unfairly. In no way was it a penalty after his best Greg Louganis impersonation, but he did deserve a free kick for being felled later on - and instead got a warning from the lacklustre ref.

Meanwhile, Livvy boasted Ant McPartland among their line-up. With McPartland on Livvy duty and Donnelly in the Thistle ranks, I'm A Celebrity must have had the b-team presenters out last night.

But three home wins out of three from our ridiculously screwed-up fixture calendar is a fantastic result, especially when you see just how tight this league is shaping up to be. And since we don't have another home game for a whole month, the tough test comes mid-week when the SFL, in it's infinite wisdom, has Thistle heading north to Dingwall, in winter, for a 7.30pm kick-off.

Utter genius from our league paymasters, obviously.