Thistle humbled by clincial Westdyke
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TURRIFF Thistle’s time in the Association Trophy was short-lived as they were trounced in the first round by Division One (East) Westdyke at Lawsondale AstroTurf in Westhill.
Despite falling behind early in the first half, the Jags fought back to equalise with a sensational individual strikes from Ewen Clark, however they conceded two messy goals before the interval.
Thistle battered Westdyke from the start of the second half but could not breach the well organised defence and an on-form keeper.
The game swung in the hosts favour as the match hit the last quarter when Daryn Bruce received a straight red card, and Westdyke capitalised on their man advantage and added three more goals in the final 15 minutes to comfortably move into the next round.
The Jags made a few changes to their starting line-up with Andy Paton returning to the back four and Neil Chapman switching to right-back with Steven Wight rested.
Greg Miazek and Mo Morrison returned to the midfield in place of the unavailable Phil Burnett and Joe Bisset who moved to the subs bench alongside the returning Mark Robertson.
Thistle hit the first blow in seven minutes with a Chapman cross that Clark got on the end of but his shot was blocked, then a couple of minutes later a Westdyke corner was headed over the Jags bar.
The deadlock was soon broken on 14 minutes when Westdyke broke through on the left and as goalkeeper Ryan Smith came out to narrow. the angle the striker slipped the ball past him from outside the box and it rolled agonisingly into the bottom corner.
A minute later Ryan Morrison was booked for a late tackle then Clark was cynically barged over at the other end allowing Daryn Bruce to try his luck from the free-kick which he saw held by the keeper.
Thistle drew level on 23 minutes with a brilliant opportunistic goal from Clark. Mo Morrison took a quick throw-in deep in the Westdyke half on the right which the big striker picked up near the byline then unbelievably lobbed the keeper from the acute angle and dropped the ball high over him into the net for a deserved equaliser.
The Jags should have gone ahead moments later when Clark met a Mo Morrison cross from the right but his point-blank header was parried by the keeper.
Another goal-scoring chance eluded the Jags when a Daryn Bruce corner to the back post was headed back by Paton for Chris Strachan to see his left foot volley saved.
But Westdyke took a two-goal lead into the half-time interval with scrappy efforts that could have been prevented.
A Westdyke corner was headed on at the near post and the ball was scooped into the back corner of the Thistle net with the defence stationary then, five minutes before the break, a free-kick from 25 yards flew through the Thistle defensive wall, bounced underneath Smith’s diving body and into the net.
The Jags had a couple of efforts to reduce the deficit before the half-time whistle but Strachan’s first pop was deflected over the bar and the second flew over of its own accord.
Thistle started the second half with Mitchell Allan replacing Ryan Morrison and they pummelled Westdyke from the whistle.
Lewis Hendry took a quick free kick through the Westdyke defence for Clark to run onto but again the keeper pulled off another amazing save to block the effort.
Daryn Bruce's through-ball to Greg Miazek saw the midfielder turn his marker and blast in a shot that the Westdyke keeper brilliantly turned round the post.
Then Michael Williams cut inside from the left, beat two defenders but saw his low shot yet again saved by the keeper, while a Mo Morrison corner to the back post was headed narrowly over by Paton as the Jags continued to turn the screw.
Thistle freshened up the team when Joe Bisset and Mark Robertson came on for Miazek and Mo Morrison, but the wheels came off the Jags wagon when Daryn Bruce was dismissed after a lunging tackle that the Westdyke player made a real meal of, but in hindsight it was the correct decision.
Thistle reverted to a three-man defence but Westdyke made their advantage pay with 15 minutes left when they broke away in numbers to extend their lead.
Worse was to come when a long kick out by the Westdyke keeper was headed on to put their striker through behind the Jags defence to score number five.
With 10 minutes remaining Jay Robertson and Daniel Bruce replaced Clark and Williams but within a minute Westdyke burst through on the right to complete the six-goal rout, although they also hit the post in the final minutes as the Jags were relieved to hear the final whistle.
Despite the disastrous scoreline and a below-par performance, this one game does not suddenly make Thistle a poor team and they will just have to dust themselves off, put it behind them and get on with the job in hand.
They will not have long to wait to make matters right as they welcome high-flying Blackburn from Division Two (East) to the Haughs on Saturday (October 19) for a first round tie in the North of Scotland Cup (2pm).
Turriff Thistle: Ryan Smith, Neil Chapman, Andy Paton, Ryan Morrison (Mitchell Allan 46), Daryn Bruce, Mo Morrison (Joe Bisset 63), Greg Miazek (Mark Robertson 63), Lewis Hendry, Michael Williams (Daniel Bruce 80), Chris Strachan, Ewen Clark (Jay Robertson 80).
