Euan Henderson’s masterclass places Mark Wilson’s side top of the table as Partick Thistle swept aside Stenhousemuir in torrential conditions at Firhill.
Partick Thistle started very brightly as Ben Stanway’s shot was blocked in the early moments of the game.
Their encouraging energy led to them opening the scoring in the 7th minute, as Euan Henderson’s effort sneaked in at Darren Jamieson’s bottom-left post, after tremendous footwork from Tony Watt.
It was almost two in the 11th minute. Ben Stanway’s rocket effort from outside the box was saved tremendously by Jamieson.
Seb Drozd, who was lively from the opening first seconds of the match, found himself one on one with Jamieson after a through ball from team-mate Tony Watt. But it was Jamieson again who stood his ground and kept his team in the game with a strong save.
It went from bad to worse for Stenhousemuir in the 25th minute. The combination of Watt and Henderson doubled Thistle’s lead, with Henderson finding the top-left corner of the net from inside the box. A well-deserved second for Mark Wilson’s side.
Jamieson made another brilliant save late on in the first half, when Thistle’s eye-catching passing spell led to an opening for Drozd. Unfortunately for the Englishman, he couldn’t make it three, which would have left Stenhousemuir with a mountain to climb before the interval.
It was 3-0 and hat-trick for Euan Henderson just after the opening 10 minutes of the second half. Seb Drozd showed fancy feet, before slipping just after he was about to take aim at Jamieson’s goal. However, that didn’t matter as Henderson was there to calmly place the ball into the bottom-left corner, putting Thistle into a comfortable position.
The rain was lashing down heavily at Firhill, but Mark Wilson’s side continued to show great effort. However, after the third goal the pitch became barely playable with the ball holding up in play and players slipping all over the place.
There appeared to be a discussion about the game being called off at 3-0. But the referee continued to play the last 20 minutes of the match.
Thistle thought they made it four in the 90th minute. However, the referee spared Jamieson’s blushes, ruling out his howler after spotting a foul from Alex Samuel in the build-up of the goal.
This victory sends Mark Wilson’s side to the top of the table and surely gives his players a significant boost ahead of their next match against Greenock Morton.
For Stenhousemuir, they slip down to second, albeit they have a game in hand over Thistle. But with four games in the next two weeks, it will be an almighty fortnight for Marvin Bartley’s part-time side.
Partick Thistle: McFarlane (7), Ingram (7), Ashcroft (7), O’Reilly (7), Reading (7), Smyth (8), Dempsey (6), Drozd (8), Stanway (7), Henderson (10), Watt (9)
Stenhousemuir: Jamieson (6), Bright (2), Young (3), Grant (3), Penman (3), Robson (2), Anderson (3), Meechan (3), Hodgkiss (3), O’Reilly (2), Shinnie (2)
