Partick Thistle ran out convincing 3-0 winners over Arbroath at Firhill on Saturday afternoon in the Scottish Championship.
Two first-half goals from Ben Stanway and a goal from Tony Watt secured a historic day for Partick Thistle, who extend their unbeaten run at Firhill to 24 games, which breaks a club record as they move up to third place.
Arbroath started the game on the front foot and had an early chance within the first minute, Airdrieonians loanee Scott Constable picked up the ball inside the box but could only drag his shot from close range wide of goal.
Moments later, Partick Thistle had their first opportunity of the match. Lee Ashcroft rose highest from a corner kick delivery, his powerful header was cleared off the line by defender Craig Watson.
In the seventh minute, Partick Thistle opened the scoring courtesy of Ben Stanway. The ball had fallen kindly to Seb Drozd in a dangerous area, he laid the ball to Stanway, who fired the ball beyond Arbroath goalkeeper Aidan McAdams to give his side an early lead.
The hosts were a constant threat going forward in the opening stages of the game. Seb Drozd came close to putting Thistle two goals in front in the 15th minute, his curling shot towards goal from the left-hand side sailed narrowly wide of the far post.
Arbroath came close to an equaliser in the 20th minute. Michael McKenna drove forward with the ball before striking from long range, his strike cannoned back off the post.
Partick responded quickly amid pressure from Arbroath and had a second goal of the afternoon from the restart. Impressive build-up play from Thistle saw Drozd involved once more, he played a simple pass to Stanway on the edge of the box, who controlled the ball before striking into the top right corner, with McAdams in the Arbroath goal left helpless.
Mark Wilson’s men were pushing for a third. Ben Dempsey had a couple of chances of his own as Thistle looked to add to their advantage.
Dempsey’s first effort from outside the box on the half-hour mark was too high and flew comfortably wide. His second chance came when he forced a fine save from McAdams from range, who did well to push the ball away from goal.
The last piece of action from the first half came from Ben Stanway, who had been a nuisance all afternoon.
He found space in the box to get a strike away, McAdams got down well to his left-hand side to parry the ball away from any potential danger and deny the midfielder a first-half hat-trick.
The tempo of the game began to slow down in the second period, with both sides defending their box well.
Dempsey and Alex Samuel both had early chances for Thistle but were unable to trouble McAdams.
Arbroath showed very little sign of a comeback or an improvement in the second half. Andrew Winter and Charlie Dewar both saw headed attempts gathered with ease by Partick Thistle goalkeeper Lewis Budinauckas. Arbroath failed to pose any threat to the Partick Thistle backline throughout.
In the 67th minute, Second-half substitution Tony Watt all but secured the three points for Partick Thistle.
Watt forced the ball goalwards with a crucial touch after Arbroath were scrambling to clear the ball from a corner, with the 32-year-old netting his first goal of the campaign.
Thistle were unfortunate not to have a fourth goal with ten minutes remaining. Aidan Fitzpatrick was played through on goal, McAdams was out quick to meet him. Fitzpatrick was made to watch his effort sail agonisingly wide of goal.
An excellent performance from Partick Thistle means they now move into third position on 15 points with a game in hand as they continue to push towards automatic promotion. It was a difficult afternoon for Arbroath, who drop down to seventh position.
Next up for Partick Thistle is an away trip to Livingston next Saturday, while Arbroath welcome Morton to Gayfield Park, with both games kicking off at 15:00.
