Partick Thistle 0 Cove Rangers 1 - Ian McCall concedes Championship title hopes over after latest home defeat

Ian McCall conceded Partick Thistle’s title aspirations are now firmly out of reach after a hugely damaging 1-0 defeat to Cove Rangers at Firhill in his 900th competitive match as a manager.

Mitch Megginson headed home the match-winner after 16 minutes from Cieran Dunne’s cross, while visiting goalkeeper Scott Fox made a string of top-class saves to keep the home side out.

Half-time substitute Brian Graham was sent off with 20 minutes left to ensure the Aberdeenshire outfit held on to claim their first away league win of the season and leave the Jags’ slim hopes of finishing in top spot all but over.

The Maryhill club remain in fourth place after a second straight home defeat but fall ten points adrift of Championship leaders Queen’s Park and seething Thistle boss McCall exclaimed “We can forget about the title unless we go on some run now.”

He continued: “I thought we were truly awful in the first-half. We had a couple of decent chances but there wasn’t enough desire. The changes (at half-time) helped, we missed two or three really good chances and had a pretty clear penalty turned down.

“But we can’t make excuses. It wasn’t a good enough performance in front of our supporters. We gave away a ridiculous goal and it gave them something to hold onto. Listen, we’ve no divine right to beat Hamilton or Cove at home, but it certainly looked as though the game was there for us. Brian getting sent off makes it even harder and that falls at my door, it’s as simple as that.

“Their keeper makes a couple of great saves, especially the one before half-time. Kevin Holt has got to score (in the second half) but they had a cause and are fighting for their lives. We’ll maybe have to change the way we play now and go with a different formation.

“This season we’ve not drawn enough games. I know that sounds like a bizzare thing to say but there’s at least five or six games where you’d take a draw and move on because the league’s incredibly hard.”

Thistle head to Ibrox next Sunday to face Rangers in the Scottish Cup last-16 and McCall added: “That game is a bonus and we’ll go there and enjoy it. We’ll try and put on a good performance and then we’ve got three hard away games. Hopefully we’ll finish the season really strongly.”

Despite losing four of their last five matches by three goals or more, Cove displayed no signs of any fragile confidence early on. Morgyn Neill headed narrowly wide of the target after connecting with Luis Longstaff’s corner before the centre-back produced an excellent goal-saving block to deny Danny Mullen at the opposite end inside the opening 10 minutes.

Visiting keeper Scott Fox was called into action on 19 minutes, tipping Kyle Turner’s swerving free-kick around the far post. Cove looked a real threat on the counter-attack and a stray backpass from Fitzpatrick allowed Leighton McIntosh to intercept but the striker’s heavy touch was pounced on by Jags No.1 Jamie Sneddon.

The opening goal arrived after 26 minutes when Cieran Dunne found himself in space down the left-hand side before picking out the on-rushing Mitch Megginson with an inch-perfect cross at the back post. The former Aberdeen striker timed his run to perfection and nodded past the keeper into the net.

Thistle fans were growing increasingly frustrated as the half wore on, but Fox had to be alert to prevent the lively Turner from equalising before Fitzpatrick saw his low drive parried round the post on the stroke of half-time as the hosts looked for a quick response.

Furious with his side’s uninspiring display, McCall made a TRIPLE substitution at the break and despite a slow start to the second half, the introduction of fan-favourite Tiffoney eventually sparked the home side into life. The winger forced Fox into another important save just before the hour mark and two minutes later the former Jags stopper displayed great reflexes to push Cole McKinnon’s dipping volley over the crossbar.

Fox was enjoying a sensational afternoon between the sticks and an outrageous point-blank save then thwarted Kevin Holt’s header, which was somehow tipped onto the post after the stand-in skipper connected with Turner’s dangerous free-kick.

Thistle’s afternoon went from bad to worse with 20 minutes remaining when Graham was shown a straight red card by referee Duncan Williams for abusive language in reaction to a penalty appeal and the striker’s dismissal halted any momentum his team-mates had built up.

Cove’s defensive live stood firm in the closing stages to secure a vital win in their bid for survival as they moved four points clear of second-bottom Arbroath and, in the process, kept their unbeaten six-match record against Thistle intact.

Manager Paul Hartley stated: “It was a hard-fought game but we showed a different side to us today. We’re still in transition after bringing eight players in and letting eight players go, so it was going to take a wee bit of time to gel but you don’t get that in this league.

“I thought we were outstanding to a man. Our keeper was absolutely brilliant, he’s made some unbelievable saves. Even when they went down to ten men, the pressure was still on us. We did have some opportunities on the counter-attack as well and if you get the first goal then you’ve got a good chance of winning the game.

“Thistle are a big club and the home support can get on top of their players. We just kept saying to our players, ‘stay in the game,’ and we certainly did that. We’ve been conceding far too many goals of late but we’ll continue to work on that. This result will give them so much confidence.”

Partick Thistle (4-2-3-1): Sneddon, McMillan (McKinnon; 45), Milne, Holt, Turner, Bannigan, Lawless (Tiffoney; 45), Hodson, McAvoy (Muirhead; 59), Mullen (Graham; 45), Fitzpatrick

Unused: Mitchell (GK), Brownlie, Lyon, MacKenzie

Cove Rangers (4-4-1-1): Fox, Logan, Naismith (Reynolds; 81), Scully, Ross, Neill, Megginson, McIntosh (Weston; 81), Virtanen, Longstaff, Dunne (McClelland; 81)

Unused: Gourlay (GK), Vigurs, Glass, Paterson

Referee: Duncan Williams

Attendance: 2,450 (63 away)

GlasgowWorld Man of the Match: Kyle Turner (Partick Thistle)