Ground 30: Firhill

Firhill for Thrills

Game: Partick Thistle 3 v 0 Dumbarton

Date: Saturday 9^th March

Competition: Scottish Football League Division 1

Attendance: 2,715

Admission: £17

Programme: £2.50

Highlights of Saturday’s game are available on the Partick Thistle website here. Also well worth a look is their video to promote attending games at Firhill. It captures what being a football fan means beautifully.

In the previous weeks I’d contemplated the fact that we were getting closer to the end of the season and as such, I would soon be able to attend games without twelve layers of clothing. Both Forfar and Kilmarnock were pretty mild, but this thought didn’t last for long. When I think of my visit to Firhill, I’ll remember how cold I was! There’s no chance that the thick coat, gloves and hats will be retried just yet. There was a clear chill in the air as 2^nd placed Partick Thistle hosted Dumbarton, currently residing in 9^th position in SFL 1.

The visit to Firhill also saw another form of transport on this 42 Grounds adventure – after getting off my train from Edinburgh, I took the Glasgow’s subway, the Clockwork Orange, to St George’s Cross and then a short walk up Maryhill Road to Firhill, home of Partick Thistle since 1909.

I’ve been to Firhill several times before, when Glasgow Warriors played rugby at the ground, but this was my first visit to see the Maryhill Magyars. This was my second time seeing Thistle this season, having seen them in action at New Douglas Park where Graeme Smith punched the ball into his net for the game’s only goal. This, however, was my first sighting of Dumbarton. The Sons had a horrid start to the season, but since the appointment of Ian Murray the club have undergone resurgence and are aiming to stay in the division, which looked unthinkable when the 31 year old was appointed in November. Thistle have also seen a managerial change – with Jackie McNamara departing to Dundee United, Alan Archibald has taking over the reins on a temporary basis. With results like today, there’s a good chance he’ll secure the job on a permanent basis.

The game started with a bang. Both sides went out with the clear intent of attacking from the kick-off. Partick looked the more threatening and early on, right back Stephen O’Donnell seemed to find himself in plenty of space a lot in the early stages. His cross was nodded back and Steven Lawless was there to fire Thistle into a 1-0 lead after nine minutes.

Despite going a goal down, Dumbarton didn’t let their heads drop and proceeded to try and attack whenever possible, their forward line being led by the evergreen Robbie Winters, who at 39 is almost a decade older than his manager. Winters is also looking slimmer than at any other point in his career, which is some achievement! Dumbarton’s play was positive and unexpected from a part-time team in their league position. It was great to see two sides trying to pass the ball as quickly and as often as possible. They were thwarted a little by an inconsistent refereeing performance, although I should point out that the Thistle fans were strongly partisan and perhaps not the best judge of each decision.

Patience is a virtue, but it must be said that many Scottish football fans do not possess this attribute. Patience build-up play is not particularly appreciated, which is a shame for sides who want to keep possession and slowly build moves. Too often this season I’ve heard cries from the sidelines to “get it forward” “just shoot” or something similar and it was the same at Firhill. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt: that Thistle are involved in a promotion race and every single goal counts.

University flats overlook the action

Firhill was certainly a family-friendly place to visit – there were lots of families, young children and youth teams in attendance, which is really heartening to see. This feeling was furthered at half-time when Chris Erskine came out to do the prize draw and then spent the next ten minutes posing for pictures and signing autographs for youngsters at the bottom of the stand. I think football clubs underestimate just how big a deal meeting players is to kids. At every level, clubs have heroes that can and should be utilised to make casual fans into hardcore supporters.

The second half saw Thistle get nervy, and a minority of the fans started to get on their back, despite the fact they were still winning! I was glad this wasn’t just a phenomenon that was unique to Hibs fans.

The South Stand, ripe for development

The game was put out of doubt in the 74^th minute when Steven Lawless grabbed his second of the day with a beautiful strike from the edge of the box that rattled off the bar. It was the piece of quality that Partick Thistle had and Dumbarton were without.

Partick then compounded Dumbarton’s misery with a third and final goal when the Jags broke down the left and Christie Elliot drove the ball across for Kris Doolan to bundle it. It was a goal that was probably reflective of the gap in quality between the teams.

As the crowd filed out of Firhill, we were greeted to news that Glasgow’s bigger sides – Celtic and Rangers had both lost to Ross County and Annan Athletic respectively. Glasgow’s new footballing force? Perhaps. I think there’s a good chance we’ll see Partick returned to Scotland’s top flight by the summer.