Solitary point for a battling Thistle side at the Haughs
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Turriff Thistle 3 - Stonehaven Athletic 3
Turriff Thistle had to settle for a solitary point against Stonehaven at the Haughs on Saturday but, in typical Jags fashion they had to do it the hard way.
After cruising into the lead after 20 minutes through Michael Harris they lost it in 30 minutes then found themselves 3-1 behind with 25 minutes left, however, two goals in two minutes from Harris, again, then Joe Bisset levelled the score once more and, although they created another couple of scoring chances could not nick a winner and had to accept the stalemate in the end.
With Kian Beaton out for the remainder of the season with a fractured ankle and Greg Miazek suspended, Manager, Matthew Sim juggled around with his starting line-up to a 4-3-3 formation bringing in Dan Bruce and Steven Wight at full-back alongside Mike McCombie and Ryan Catto in a back four, Mitchell Allan, Ryan Morrison and Joe Bisset in midfield and Bruce Mair, Michael Harris and Regan Fowlie up front.
Due to Jordan Ogg suffering from severe sunburn after his midweek trip to Seville a four-man subs bench consisted of Kyle Chalmers, Lee Stuart, Shane Cogan and Joe Stephen.
Thistle started brightly and were in control for the first 15 minutes, moving the ball about crisply and with confidence, but could not breach the resolute Stonehaven defence and the only pop at goal they had was a turn and shot from Harris 25 yards out on the right that fizzed close past the back post.
In 17 minutes a Stonehaven cross from the right brought out a hand-ball shout from the entire Jags defence, however, play was allowed to continue and the final shot saved by Lewis Cheyne’s feet before, for some reason, the original hand-ball was then given by the referee.
Thistle deservedly took the lead in 19 minutes when a brilliant through-ball from Allan put HARRIS free behind the Stonehaven defence on the right and he finished the move in style side-footing the ball past the advancing keeper and into the empty net from just inside the box.
Another contentious refereeing decision in 26 minutes occurred after Harris and Fowlie had linked up on the left to carve through the Stonehaven defence, however, a covering defender clearly attempted a pass-back to his keeper who palmed the ball behind for a corner but no deliberate pass-back was awarded and nothing came of the resultant corner.
Stonehaven equalised in 30 minutes when a cross from the right was met by a powerful header in the centre which Cheyne brilliantly blocked at full stretch, however, the ball dropped perfectly to another attacker inside the packed six-yard box who headed it into the empty net with Cheyne still on the ground.
The goal gave Stonehaven a massive boost of confidence and they continued to push forward, outnumbering the Jags in midfield, but the Thistle back-four stood firm.
The only close call at the Jags end, before half-time, came in 35 minutes when an in- swinging Stonehaven corner flew through everyone in the packed goalmouth and only a reaction clearance off the goal-line by Wight at the back post saved the ball from sneaking into the net at the bottom corner.
The second half began with Stonehaven on the front foot and the opening incident within the first minute replicated the last in the first half when another deep cross from the right again evaded everyone in the Thistle goalmouth and the ball was heading for the bottom corner at the back post before Cheyne superbly clawed it away and round the post at full stretch.
The corner was then swung in and the ball was met in the box by a Stonehaven attacker whose shot was yet again blocked on the line by Wight, however, it fell for another attacker but Wight was again on hand to clear the second shot.
In 47 minutes a ball from the back found Harris in the clear through the middle with just the keeper to beat, however, he was caught and blatantly bundled over just outside the Stonehaven box but, despite it being a clear last-man tackle, no foul whatsoever was awarded.
Stonehaven maintained their pressure and a 25 yard effort in 55 minutes flew narrowly over the Jags bar.
Stonehaven took the lead in 58 minutes with a delightful goal when a cross from the right was met perfectly in the middle and the header bulleted the ball into the bottom corner of the net.
Before the restart Shane Cogan was introduced in place of Mair.
Thistle found themselves two behind in 65 minutes when a Stonehaven breakaway freed two players behind the defence and a quick one-two in the box gave Cheyne no chance.
This must have brought the Jags to their senses because they completely tore into Stonehaven from the restart and it only took them five minutes to reduce the two-goal deficit when Cogan curled a ball through the defence to find HARRIS on the left and another shot from the edge of the box flew past the advancing keeper and into the net.
There was no stopping Thistle at this time and two minutes later the match was all- square when Wight set Fowlie away on the left and he powered up the wing, leaving three players in his wake, hit the bye-line and drove in a low cross for BISSET to meet at the back post and side-foot the ball into the net for a well-deserved equaliser.
The Jags went in search for the winner but were nearly caught out again in 75 minutes with another Stonehaven breakaway but Cheyne was off his line quickly to clear the danger.
Thistle created a further three chances to complete the comeback in the final ten minutes.
In 80 minutes an Allan through-ball provided Fowlie with space just outside the box but his fierce shot skimmed the Stonehaven bar then in 84 minutes Fowlie again burst through on the left, however, this time, his shot was blocked.
The ball broke to Cogan who immediately cut it back into the middle to Bruce but he had no time to adjust his feet and his snap-shot flew past the post.
Lee Stuart replaced Allan with five minutes left on the clock before the Jags final effort saw Harris drive up the right and fire a low cross into the centre for Cogan to meet on the volley but the ball again flew just over the bar.
Overall, this was a good performance by Thistle in a match they dominated for long periods but let their opponents back into for the last 15 minutes of the first half and the first 20 minutes of the second during which the three goals were conceded.
The Jags have two remaining fixtures to play and they can still move up a couple of places in the table with another two wins, however, they have guaranteed First Division football for next season as there are already five teams in their league who cannot match their current points total.
