Published: Monday, 23rd February, 2009 12:30pm

Thistle's sting

Partick Thistle 1 Morton 0

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WINNING STRIKE: Partick Thistle’s Kris Doolan hits the ball home for the only goal of the game with Dom Shimmin’s challenge coming in too late.
Pic by: David Bell

FOR manager Davie Irons the body language said it all.

At the after-match press conference he looked down at the floor, saying: 'It wasn"t a pretty game. The first half was nothing at all; very flat.

'Thistle scored [three minutes after the interval] and we decided to up the game a wee bit.

'That was the disappointing thing. We tried to get the boys to take the game by the scruff of the neck.'

Asked if the two-week break without a game had affected his side, Irons replied: 'I"m not going to make excuses for that. The fact that we didn"t have a game didn"t greatly matter.

'It"s about our desire and our attitude - that"s the important thing.

'On the day I don"t think there was anything in the game, really. There were very few chances.

'We hit the post. We had a "goal" by Kevin [Finlayson] disallowed for offside, but he"s that quick I think he might just have timed it right. There"s not been many chances, but that"s what"s going to happen in this league because there"s nothing between any of the teams.

'It"s very disappointing because it was obviously an opportunity to get in touch with the top half of the table again.'

Partick boss Ian McCall said: 'It wasn"t particularly pure, the football.

'But I think we merited our victory. Any football that was played was by us.

'Morton play a certain way and, as I"ve said before, I"ve no qualms about how they play. But it"s a big three points.'

There was a reference then by McCall to some booing of Partick substitute Simon Donnelly late in the game by some of his own supporters.

Said McCall: 'The only thing - and I hope you print this - I was really, really gutted by some of our own support today in the way they treated Simon Donnelly,

'I thought Simon Donnelly went on for five minutes and he must have kept the ball for three minutes, and that was his instruction. He did great for us.

'He"s a fantastic professional, a really popular boy.'

There was then a peculiar addendum. 'Please use that,' said McCall, 'particularly the Herald.'

The assumption is that the bourgeois boys and girls of the Pertick support - the "e" is of course deliberate - read only the high brow press.