| Date | Saturday, 12 March 2005 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 1 |
| Fixture/Score | Partick Thistle 0:0 Ross County |
| Venue | Firhill Stadium |
| Attendance | 2,939 |
| Referee | Kenny Clark |
| Comments | Match Report Report from the Press & Journal. Partick Thistle 0 Ross County 0 Relegation-haunted clubs are being hit by the fear factor as they fight to evade the drop into the Second Division. Ross County's experienced manager Alex Smith said: "The First Division with 10 teams does not make for good football because it puts the emphasis on fear." Smith has long been an advocate of larger leagues to give clubs a breathing space, but it would seem unlikely there will be any major change in the near future. And that means that the fight to escape the drop will continue almost certainly to the final game of the season. There are only nine points separating midtable St Johnstone from second bottom Partick Thistle to decide who goes down with Raith Rovers. It could have been worse for Ross County as Jamie Mitchell had an off day in front of goal, missing three good chances. Against that County could point to twice hitting woodwork as they came within inches of earning all three points. After 13 minutes Mitchell was given his chance to open the scoring when Juan Escalas sent him clear, but County goalkeeper Colin Stewart was equal to the danger and forced him wide. Two minutes later the County goal was under threat again, but this time Mitchell headed over after Kenny Milne had knocked on an Andy Gibson corner. But it was County who had the best chance to break the deadlock in the second half and had bad luck when a John Rankin shot beat goalkeeper Kenny Arthur, only to come back off the inside of the post and along the line to safety. There was even more bad luck for County with just 15 minutes to go when Alex Burke crashed his shot against the same post. Smith added: "That was a big result for us. I think we can now gather enough points to be safe, but this is one of the tightest leagues I have ever been involved in." |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Alexander (Alex) Smith |
| Starting 11 | 1: Colin Stewart, 2: Martin Canning, 3: James Lauchlan, 4: Mark McCulloch, 5: Stuart Taylor, 6: John Rankin, 7: Jamie McCunnie, 8: Don (JNR) Cowie, 9: Alexander Burke, 10: Steven McGarry, 11: Sean Higgins |
| Bench | 0: Stuart Garden, 0: Neil McDonald, 0: Steven MacKay, 0: Sean Kilgannon, 0: David Winters |
| Partick Thistle | |
| Manager | Dick Campbell |
| Starting 11 | Kenny Arthur, Will Snowdon, Kenny Milne, Darren Brady, Grant Murray, Andy Dowie, James Gibson, Andy Ross, Juan Ramon, Jamie Mitchell, Adam Strachan |
| Bench | Leigh Hinds, Stephen McConalogue, Neil Bennett, Derek Fleming, Billy Gibson |