Thistle win out after battling the elements
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University 2 - Turriff Thistle 3
Turriff Thistle returned to competitive football after a four week lay-off and recorded a hard-fought victory against University at Sheddocksley in Aberdeen, although the battle was mainly against the weather conditions and the state of the pitch rather than the opposition.
With the atrocious pitch, desperately in need of a cut, with areas of pooling water, squelchy mud and nearly invisible lines together with a gale-force wind and a low sun it was evident well before kick-off that football would be the only loser.
The Jags faced the wind and sun in the first half and within 15 minutes found themselves two down.
They managed to pull one back from the penalty spot in the first half through Paul Williamson before Michael Harris levelled the scores early in the second half then popped up with the winner with 20 minutes remaining.
Thistle might have added a few more, however, the three points were all that the team had come for – so, job done.
With Jonny Buist and Dan Bruce unavailable and Ryan Morrison under a one match suspension for hitting five yellow cards, the back three consisted of Kian Beaton, Neil Chapman and recent signing Ryan Catto.
A five-man midfield of Mike McCombie, Mitchell Allan, Greg Miazek, Joe Bisset and Bruce Mair supported a strike pairing of Paul Williamson and Michael Harris.
A depleted subs bench consisted of Kyle Chalmers, Colin Bain Jnr., and Regan Fowlie.
The match kicked off with University having the wind and sun at their backs although both teams struggled with the sticky conditions underfoot rather than being blown over or blinded.
Thistle attempted to play their close passing game into the wind but made heavy weather of it.
In eight minutes Williamson rose to head a Chapman cross from the right but the wind took the sting right out of it and the ball dropped into the keeper’s arms.
A minute later Allan tried a shot from outside the box but the ball shot over the bar before blowing back onto the pitch from behind the goal.
University went ahead in 10 minutes with a low shot from close to 30 yards that skipped off the sodden turf and fairly flew into the bottom corner despite Jordan Ogg getting a hand to it at full stretch.
In 13 minutes the Jags carved open the University defence with a neat passing move involving Williamson, Bisset and McCombie that set Mair clear in on goal but play was halted for offside.
Thistle went further behind in 16 minutes, in bizarre fashion, when Allan heard the loud blast of a whistle as he played the ball out of defence.
He immediately stopped and picked up the ball only to discover that the whistle he had heard was from the match on the adjacent pitch and University were awarded the free kick.
The kick was duly hammered from close to 40 yards and the ball shot over the defensive wall and into the roof of the Jag’s net past the unsighted Ogg.
Both teams continued to battle against the pitch and the elements with Thistle attempting to string passes together and make leeway into the wind and University struggling to control the ball playing with it which resulted in very few chances being created.
The Jags clawed their way back into the match in 35 minutes when Miazek managed to make space for himself in the University box only to be pulled down from behind and the penalty was awarded.
WILLIAMSON stepped up to take the spot kick and clinically dispatched it into the corner of the net with the keeper going the other way.
The first half ended with both teams simply attempting to keep the ball on the pitch.
Thistle were keen to get going at the start of the second half and adjusted to the conditions quickly.
Within three minutes Bisset fired the first warning shot over the bar from 20 yards then a blocked shot from Miazek was blasted over by Mair and finally Harris drove in from the left only to shoot narrowly past the near post.
The Jags brought on Fowlie for Mair in 52 minutes before Bisset headed over from a McCombie corner as they continued to pile the pressure on the packed University defence.
The equaliser eventually came in 58 minutes, via route-one, when a long kick-out from Ogg was missed by the University back-line and ran beautifully to HARRIS, wide on the left, who cut into the box and superbly blasted the ball across the approaching keeper and into the top right-hand corner of the net.
Thistle were well on top at this time and looked favourites to add to their goal tally, however, the wind died down a little and allowed University back into the match although the Jags defence held firm and kept them at bay.
The Jags maintained control of the midfield and were rewarded in 70 minutes when a brilliant through-ball from Miazek set HARRIS free again on the left and this time he rolled the ball beneath the advancing keeper and into the bottom right-hand corner of the net via the base of the post to give Thistle a well-deserved lead.
The Jags could have easily added to their lead when Miazek drifted through three defenders with ease in the middle of the park before his shot was blocked, however, the ball spun up for him to head it off the bar.
As the clock ran down Chapman headed a Harris corner past the post then another long kick-out from Ogg found Fowlie driving in from the right but he saw his fierce shot well saved low at the near post.
Thistle made a final substitution in added-on time with Colin Bain Jnr. replacing an exhausted Williamson as University made a final push for a late equaliser, and, despite a couple of free kicks from dangerous positions, the Jags were in no mood to give anything away and Ogg was never troubled.
Thistle will be ecstatic to take home three priceless points from a match that should not have been played on this pitch and in these conditions and should also be delighted with their second half performance, especially during the first 25 minutes.
This victory lifts the Jags up another place in the league table and also moves them a further three points away from the teams battling in the relegation zone, so, all in all, a good Saturday shift.
