Partick Thistle 2 Ross County 0 - Jags in Premiership play-off final driving seat after win over ten-man Staggies

Partick Thistle will take a 2-0 advantage into the Scottish Premiership play-off final second leg against Ross County after goals from Aidan Fitzpatrick and Brian Graham moved the Firhill club on to the brink of a top-flight return.

Ex-Norwich City winger Fitzpatrick opened the scoring after just nine minutes with a solo effort, before teenager County defender Dylan Smith was sent off for denying the hosts a clear goalscoring opportunity. Prolific striker Graham then found the net with a stunning volley to give the Jags some breathing space in their promotion bid.

The depleted visitors were on the ropes throughout the second half, but left themselves with an outside chance of retaining their Premiership status due to some heroic last-ditch defending.

Thistle boss Kris Doolan was thrilled to see his side continue their impressive play-off form, that has now seen them score 18 goals across their five previous matches and insists they will aim to play on the front foot once again in Dingwall on Sunday.

“We only have one way of playing,” Doolan said. “I said that before, we play in the same manner and we will do the same in Dingwall. We go out with the same mindset, so I’m delighted we’ve got the lead but it won’t change our approach to the next game. We will play to win that one as well.

“If you had offered us 2-0 before the game, we would have taken your hand off to have any kind of lead. It could have been more to me. It maybe should have been but part of that’s down to good defending from Ross County throwing their bodies in front of things and a good save at the end from the goalkeeper, he put it on to the bar.

“If the third one goes in, then it’s a different game. But I do think at 2-0 we looked like the team on that front foot and we’ll take all that confidence into Dingwall on Sunday now. We’ve got boys who have been over the course before and we know what’s at stake. There’s no panicking from us.”

Backed by a raucous home crowd of just under 7,000, the Maryhill outfit displayed no signs of early nerves when Stevie Lawless cut inside from the right and unleashed a strike which County goalkeeper Ross Laidlaw had to palm away to safety.

Thistle, who have lost just once in 18 games since Doolan took over as manager in mid-Febuary, broke the deadlock shortly after when Aidan Fitzpatrick evaded the attention of two County defenders on the left-hand side of the penalty are before curling a shot into the opposite corner.

The goal scorer then looked to take the ball past 16-year-old Smith only to be sent tumbling by a misttimed challenge from the County defender, who was initially shown a yellow card by David Munro. However, with VAR in operation the referee was invited across to review the incident and decided to upgrade his decision to a red after 17 minutes.

That early setback led visiting manager Malky Mackay to sacrifice an attacking player, Alex Samuel, with vice-captain Keith Watson slotting into defence. Thistle continued to apply pressure and Laidlaw looked unconvincing when he juggled Brian Graham’s shot from a corner on the goal line before eventually securing the ball in his grasp.

The night went from bad to worse for the Highlanders when veteran frontman Graham rifled a near identical effort in first-half stoppage time past Laidlaw from 12-yards out, sparking wild celebration among the Jags supporters.

Thistle attempted to pick up from where they left off at the start of the second half when Kevin Holt fired narrowly over the crossbar and Graham headed wide of the target as the County goal led a charmed life. Three frantic blocks were to follow in quick succession to prevent the Staggies from falling further behind, with Laidlaw reacted quickly to deny the impressive Graham.

Laidlaw was called into action again in the closing stages when he tipped substitute Danny Mullen’s effort on to the bar. County did create a few chances of their own, with towering forward Jordan White twice coming close but a marked improvement is required if they are to avoid relegation.

County manager Malky Mackay felt the red card decision changed the game but remains adamant that the tie is far from over ahead of Sunday’s second leg at the Global Energy Stadium.

He stated: “There’s 90 minutes to go. It’s 2-0. We were 2-0 down ten minutes into the second half last Wednesday night against St Johnstone and then we scored three. We scored three the week before at Tannadice. It just helps if you’ve got 11 men on the pitch.

“It’s a long way up into the Highands and it’s great that they came down, so many of them. I think there was a wee bit of misfortune as far as obviously the sending off, that changes the dynamics of the game. But I think they’ll see players trying for the jersey, see the blocks that were happening near the end and if nothing else they’re seeing boys that are trying hard, really trying hard to make sure that we actually pull this back.

“We’ll get back to Dingwall and on Sunday there’ll be a good crowd there, I imagine. I spoke to the players about ‘get your disappointment out the road just now’. By the time we get on that bus and go up the road focused on recovering tomorrow and nothing else but going out there with a positive mindset. It’s halftime and it’s 2-0.”

Partick Thistle (4-2-3-1): Mitchell, McMillan, Holt, Brownlie, Turner, Tiffoney, Graham (Mullen; 84), Lawless (Bannigan; 75), Fitzpatrick (MacKenzie; 84), Muirhead, Docherty

Unused: Sneddon (GK), Dowds, Smith, McKinnon, Owens, Stevenson

Ross County (3-4-1-2): Laidlaw, Randall, Baldwin, D. Smith, Harmon (Purrington; 45), Owura, Loturi (Kenneh; 74), Tillson (Cancola; 54), Dhanda, A. Samuel (Watson; 18), White (Murray; 74)

Unused: Munro (GK), Sims

Referee: David Munro

Attendance: 7,291 (491 away)

GlasgowWorld Man of the Match: Brian Graham (Partick Thistle)