MANAGER’S NOTES BRIAN GRAHAM
I’d like to begin my notes today by welcoming Malky Thomson and everyone at Rangers Women to Petershill Park for today’s SWPL 1 match. We’ve had two weeks since our last game so we’re really looking forward to getting back to playing, against a very good Rangers side this afternoon. The defeat to Hearts last time out was a real disappointment because we certainly felt that we did enough to draw the game at the very least. We dominated much of the second half and eventually got ourselves in front deservedly thanks to Danica’s goal but then we let our levels drop and threw it away really. The two late goals we concede both come from set pieces which was frustrating for the team. The free-kick was a brilliant hit but we probably could have done certain things to avoid conceding it in the first place. We have to move on though and hopefully learn a few lessons in the process. As a group, we’re still growing and developing each week and we’re going to make mistakes along the way this season. The important thing is that we keep working hard to make sure we’re always improving. The Hearts game was our last of the first round of fixtures and we are in sixth place with eight points from nine games. That represents a very decent start for us but it’s just a start and we need to build on it. There was a lot to like in the games that we’ve played already but there are a lot of areas for us to improve on as well and, as I’ve said, the challenge for us is to push ourselves to get to our full potential. It’s still very tight from 5th all the way down to bottom spot so we have to keep picking up points or we’ll quickly slip down the table. This season, as is the case in today’s game, we are the underdogs but we’re enjoying the challenge and looking forward to the rest of the season and the excitement it brings. Enjoy the game,
Date
2021/22 FIXTURES
Venue
Opposition
Compeition
Score
08.08.21
Home
Celtic
SWPL Cup
1-3
15.08.21
Away
St Johnstone
SWPL Cup
4-0
29.08.21
Away
Hearts
SWPL Cup
0-0
12.09.21
Home
Aberdeen
SWPL1
0-2
19.09.21
Home
Motherwell
SWPL1
3-2
30.09.21
Away
Glasgow City
SWPL1
1-3
03.10.21
Away
Celtic
SWPL1
0-6
06.10.21
Away
Rangers
SWPL1
1-7
10.10.21
Home
Hibernian
SWPL1
3-2
17.10.21
Home
Hamilton
SWPL1
2-2
31.10.21
Away
Glasgow City
SWPL Cup
0-5
03.11.21
Away
Spartans
SWPL1
0-0
07.11.21
Home
Hearts
SWPL1
2-3
21.11.21
Home
Rangers
SWPL1
28.11.21
Away
Aberdeen
SWPL1
12.12.21
Home
Glasgow City
SWPL1
16.01.22
Away
Motherwell
SWPL1
23.01.22
Home
Celtic
SWPL1
30.01.22
Away
Hibernian
SWPL1
06.02.22
Away
Hamilton
SWPL1
20.02.22
Home
Spartans
SWPL1
27.02.22
Away
Hearts
SWPL1
06.03.22
Away
Rangers
SWPL1
13.03.22
Home
Aberdeen
SWPL1
20.03.22
Away
Glasgow City
SWPL1
27.03.22
Away
Motherwell
SWPL1
17.04.22
Home
Celtic
SWPL1
24.04.22
Home
Hibernian
SWPL1
08.05.22
Home
Hamilton
SWPL1
11.05.22
Home
Spartans
SWPL1
15.05.22
Away
Hearts
SWPL!
PLAYER Amy Bulloch
2021/22 STATS APPS
GOALS
8(2)
2
Summer Christie
1(3)
Emma Craig
3
Danica Dalziel
4(4)
1
Clare Docherty
8(1)
1
Demi Falconer
13
Colette Fleming
3(1)
Jade Gallon
3
Lauren Grant
2
Jade Greenshields
2(2)
1
Freya MacDonald
11(2)
1
Cara McBrearty
11(1)
3
Teigan McCann
9
3
Cheryl McCulloch
10
Taylor McGlashan
4(2)
Rebecca McGowan
9
Lauren McGregor
7(1)
Kim Murphy
5(1)
Eva Payne
(3)
Sophie Payne
1(2)
London Pollard
6
2
Cheryl Rigden
8(4)
1
Rosie Slater
9(2)
Eleanor Smith
4(6)
Ellie Vernal
2(1)
2
REBECCA MCGOWAN PLAYER INFO
PLAYER INTERVIEW
Name: Rebecca McGowan Date of Birth: 01/08/2001 Position: Midfield Joined Thistle: September 12th 2021 Previous Club(s): Raith Rovers, St Johnstone International Honours: Scotland Under 19 Caps: 13, Scotland Under 17 Caps: 9, Scotland Under 16 Caps: 2 Thistle Debut: v Aberdeen, SWPL1, September 12th 2021 First Goal: v Hibernian, SWPL1, October 10th 2021 Thistle Appearances and Goals: Apps 9, Goals 2
You joined the club after the start of the season, how are you enjoying life at Partick Thistle? I’m really enjoying my football at Partick Thistle, everyone has been so welcoming since I joined and it’s a great group to be part of. What made Partick Thistle an attractive destination when signing? While I was at St Johnstone playing against Partick Thistle was always a tough match. They were always very organised and tough team to break down. With the club playing in SWPL1 it’s a league I’ve always wanted to play in and challenge myself. The togetherness of the group and the visions of the club made Thistle an attractive destination when signing. It’s a great environment to be part of with everyone determined and working hard for each other.
You’ve already opened your account with a few goals so far, what are your aims for the season?
As a team we have made a great start to the league and continuing to show why we belong in SWPL1. To continue to add goals to my game is something that I would like to do it’s always a great feeling! You’re a young player still, how can you learn from such experienced coaching staff and other experienced players in the team? It’s a great group of coaching staff and players with lots of experience. It’s brilliant for the younge r players in the squad to keep learning in both training and games at this level.
PLAYER SPONSORS 1. Lauren McGregor 2, Rosie Slater
Pauline and Elaine Dr Wilma Hogg
Dr Wilma Hogg
Dr Wilma Hogg
3. Kim Murphy 4. Cheryl McCulloch 5. Demi Falconer
Morag & Graham Elrick CL Flooring
6. Colette Fleming
Dunmuir Coachworks
7. Teigan McCann
True Potential Wealth
8. Clare Docherty
Ivy, Etta & Amos
9. Taylor McGlashan
Donald DIngwall PTFC Nomads
JM Mobile Valeting
Drumchapel United
10. Emma Craig 11. Cara McBrearty
Catriona Tucker
Gordon McClure Cairnhill Structures
The Mayes Family
13. Ellie Vernal
W Munro (Rehab) Ltd
14. Sophie Gallacher 15. Jade Gallon 16. Rebecca McGowan
Allied Interiors
17. Sophie Payne 18. Danica Dalziel
Teng Tools UK
19. Cheryl Rigden 20. Freya MacDonald 21. Lauren Grant
41 Sports Media Cobie O’Neil
Cobie O’Neil
Dogs Without Border Scotland
Greenhill Tyres & Exhaust
22. Eleanor Smith 24. Amy Bulloch 25. Summer Christie 26. Eva Payne 27. Jade Greenshields
The Welsh Family
Maureen Thomas
Cobie O’Neil
OUR SPONSORS THANK YOU
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED? TOM HOSIE
Our last home game against Hearts signalled the end of the first round of league fixtures of the season. In an otherwise highly encouraging first round of matches it was disappointing to reach that landmark with a defeat. It still seems an appropriate time though to take stock and consider what we’ve learned so far as a SWPL1 club. Not Just Here to Make Up the Numbers Our elevation to SWPL1 didn’t come in the happiest, or the most ideal, of circumstances. Given the lateness of the hour of our step up some observers may have been a little sceptical surrounding our ability to be competitive at this level. What the opening 9 league games have demonstrated is that we will not be mere cannon fodder for the other 9 teams and an easy 3 points. Anything but. We were confident we wouldn’t be, but a few months into the season it is demonstrably clear that we are not just here to make up the numbers. There Will be Some Tough Days The importance of self-belief is something that the management team are constantly stressing to the players. Every game is approached with a positive mind set but nobody can shy away from the knowledge that there are disparities between the top few in this league and the rest. With that knowledge comes the realisation that there will be tough days. It’s not defeatist to recognise that there will be tough days, it’s vital though not to let them define our season. There is Fantastic Team Spirit in the Squad To be fair this isn’t something that we’ve just learned since making the step up to SWPL1. We had seen evidence of that aplenty in last season’s SWPL2 played against the backdrop of an uncertain world and a pandemic. If there was any uncertainty about stepping up to the top league at the last minute then it hasn’t been evident on the pitch. From the very start of the league season this group of girls have faced the challenge handed to them head on. It’s a challenge that hasn’t been made any easier by a string of injuries that in squads with less team spirit might have proved to be a challenge too far. Not for these girls. We’ve had outfield players volunteer to play in goal. Defenders thrust into roles up front that they have occupied for years. It’s been a joy and an inspiration to watch which takes me to the final thing I’ve learned so far this season. This team are a credit to the name of Partick Thistle.
MATCH REPORT
PARTICK THISTLE 2 v 3 HEARTS
It was an afternoon of bitter disappointment for Thistle as the loss of two late goals meant a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Hearts at a blustery Petershill Park. There was little action in front of either goal in the opening exchanges, although Falconer side footed a flicked on McBrearty free kick wide of goal after 9 minutes. Three minutes later Hearts were in front. The ball was worked out wide to Begg on the right and her looping cross dropped over the head of McGregor and into the net. A series of Bulloch’s corners had the Hearts goal under pressure as Thistle tried to find an equaliser. The third of those corners just escaping the reach of McCulloch at the back post. Hearts though were close to a second goal after 24 minutes when Hunter was able to beat McGregor to an Anderson free kick only to see her shot go wide. That was an important break for Thistle as just two minutes later they were back on level terms. Bulloch lifted a ball deep into the Hearts box and Rebecca McGowan won a tussle for the ball with the Hearts keeper and was able to roll the ball into the empty net. Thistle were close to taking a half-time lead when a Parker-Smith clearance fell to the feet of McBrearty. Her first time shot looked to be flying into the net only for it to hit the side netting. Thistle started the second half in a positive fashion and a McGowan volley after a Bulloch free kick had been partially cleared wasn’t too far wide. Thistle though were grateful for the timely intervention of Slater who cleared an Anderson effort from close to the Thistle goal line after 52 minutes. It was Thistle that was dominating the game at this point and a Smith header from a McBrearty cross was saved by Parker-Smith before Thistle took a 74th minute lead. On as a sub Danica Dalziel had only been on the pitch for 4 minutes when her right foot shot from 25 yards out eluded the grasp of the Hearts keeper. For the third time this season Thistle had turned a home deficit into a winning position, but there was to be no happy ending on this occasion. The Jags lead lasted just four minutes. There was no doubting the quality of the Hearts equaliser though. McAneny’s free kick from the right edge of the Thistle box was destined for one place only, the back of the Thistle net, from the moment it left her foot. It took an excellent one handed save from McGregor to deny Birse to keep the score at 2-2 with five minutes remaining it was, however, only a temporary reprieve for Thistle. From the corner that followed the ball landed at the feet of Delworth who took a touch before sending an unstoppable shot high past McGregor and into the back of the net. Team: McGregor, Slater, McCulloch, Falconer, Docherty, McBrearty (Dalziel), McGowan, Rigden (Trialist), MacDonald, Smith (Greenshields), Bulloch.
OUR VISITORS RANGERS
After a weekend without a fixture we return to action this afternoon and could scarcely face a tougher challenge than a fixture against the current league leaders Rangers. In 2008 Rangers followed the route taken by others previously by establishing a women’s team initially forming a partnership with the already existing Paisley City LFC side before eventually taking their place in the Scottish Women’s First Division and adopting the name Rangers Ladies Football Club. The Scottish Women’s First Division title was won in their first season as well as becoming the first side from outside the top flight of the Scottish game to reach the Scottish Cup Final where they were defeated 5-0 by Glasgow City. Since reaching the SWPL it was to begin with a story of steady progress for Rangers. They did finish runners-up in 2014 albeit some distance behind champions Glasgow City but it wasn’t until 2019, by then known as Rangers WFC, that they truly emerged as a force to be reckoned with in the women’s game in Scotland. Significant investment was made in a transition towards a full professional set-up with the ambition of toppling Glasgow City from their long held perch at the top of SWPL. When Glasgow City were comprehensively defeated 5-0 before the mid-season break last season it looked as if Rangers had a genuine chance of being crowned league champions. However, their challenge rather faded away in the second half of the season and they eventually had to settle for third place, not only missing out on the title but also qualification for a First Round berth in the Champions League as well. With the first round of fixtures in the 2021-2022 season now completed there is every reason for Rangers, under the astute tutelage of Head Coach Malky Thomson, to think that they will miss out on neither this season. An impressive 1-0 win away to Celtic, a week after losing to the same opposition in the quarter-final of the SWPL Cup, saw Rangers establish a three point lead at the top of the SWPL1 league table. Of the 9 league games played so far Rangers have won 8 and drawn just one, away to Glasgow City. It is hard not to be impressed by the goals for tally in the current league table. The 39 league goals, plus a further 22 in the SWPL Cup, underlines the undoubted goal threat that this exciting Rangers side possess. Equally as impressive though is a goals against tally that shows that they have conceded just three league goals so far this season. Clearly this Rangers side are as adept at preventing goals as they are scoring them.
RESULTS
OUR VISITORS RANGERS
Date
Competition
Opposition
Score
08.08.21
SWPL Cup
H v Queen’s Park
W 8-0
15.08.21
SWPL Cup
A v Motherwell
W 5-1
25.08.21
SWPL Cup
H v Aberdeen
W 5-2
29.08.21
SWPL Cup
A v Boroughmuir Thistle
W 4-0
12.09.21
SWPL1
A v Hamilton
W 7-0
26.09.21
SWPL1
A v Hearts
W 3-0
29.09.21
SWPL1
H v Spartans
W 6-1
03.10.21
SWPL1
A v Hibs
W 1-0
06.10.21
SWPL1
H v Partick Thistle
W 7-1
10.10.21
SWPL1
H v Aberdeen
W 8-0
17.10.21
SWPL1
A v Glasgow City
D 1-1
31.10.21
SWPL Cup
H v Celtic
L 0-1
03.11.21
SWPL1
H v Motherwell
W 5-0
07.11.21
SWPL1
A v Celtic
W 1-0
TOP SCORERS Player
Goals
Elizabeth Arnot
13
Jane Ross
13
Brogan Hay
8
Kayla McCoy
5
Zoe Ness
4
Kirsten Reilly
3
PAST MEETINGS VS RANGERS
This afternoon’s meeting with the current league leaders, Rangers represents the third time that the two teams have played each other although we did face the Rangers Development side on a number of occasions on our journey through the leagues. The first meeting between Thistle and Rangers was a Scottish Women’s Premier League Cup First Round tie on February 24th 2019 and resulted in a 4-0 win for Rangers. Holly Napier, currently with Motherwell, opened the scoring for Rangers as early as the 5th minute with Carla Boyce adding a second in the 18th minute. Chelsie Watson, another current Motherwell player, made it 3-0 after 24 minutes to all but secure Rangers’ passage into the next round and it was 4-0 four minutes before the break when Carla Boyce netted her second goal of the afternoon just a minute after Mhairi Hawksworth has to replace Nicole Andrews in the Thistle goal. Thistle: Andrews (Hawksworth), Addie, Murray (Boyce), Lawton, Bisland, McGlashan, MacTaggart (Lyle), McLeod (Christie), Hughes (Paterson), Gillan, Mallon. Rangers: Baillie, Dalgleish, Donnelly (L Gallon), Watson, Inglis, Gemmell, O’Hara (Coakley), Muir, Napier (Brown), McCartney (J Gallon), Boyce (Pullar). Taylor McGlashan may be the only survivor of that Thistle team from over 4 years ago but there are some interesting names contained within that Rangers line-up. Keeping a clean sheet that afternoon was future Thistle goalkeeper Jade Baillie and Terri Donnelly too would later pull on a red and yellow jersey. Also appearing as a second half substitute for Rangers was current Thistle midfielder, and sadly just one of many players on our lengthy injury list, Jade Gallon. The most recent meeting between this afternoon’s two sides game just last month in the current SWPL1 campaign. At the end of an incredibly demanding schedule of matches it was a night best forgotten by Thistle as Rangers, despite being given a wee fright in the second half, ran out emphatic 7-1 winners. The game marked Danica Dalziel’s debut in goal for Thistle and although beaten seven times the Thistle stand-in keeper could hold her head up high with a fine display between the posts. She was beaten as early as the 4th minute when Kirsten Reilly opened the scoring with Lizzie Arnot scoring the first of hat-trick from the penalty spot after 34 minutes. A spectacular London Pollard goal just after the hour mark offered the briefest prospect of a Thistle comeback but the Rangers two goal lead was re-established when Arnot scored her second of the evening after 67 minutes. Brogan Hay made it 4-1 after 72 minutes and Kayla McCoy 5-1 just two minutes later. Lizzie Arnot completed her hat-trick with 11 minutes remaining with Reilly scoring her second goal of the game with just a minute remaining. Rangers: Cunningham, Docherty, Vance, Middag (McLeary), Reilly, Ness (McCoy), McLauchlan, Ross (Watson), Arnot (MacLean), Cornet (Hay), Swaby, Thistle: Dalziel, Murphy (McGlashan), McCulloch, Falconer, McCann, Docherty, McBrearty (Smith), McGowan (Christie), MacDonald, Pollard, Bulloch.
TEAM LISTS PARTICK THISTLE 1. Lauren McGregor 2. Rosie Slater 3. Kim Murphy 4. Cheryl McCulloch 5. Demi Falconer 6. Colette Fleming 7. Teigan McCann 8. Clare Docherty 9. Taylor McGlashan 10. Emma Craig 11. Cara McBrearty 13. Ellie Vernal 14. Sophie Gallaher 15. Jade Gallon 16. Rebecca McGowan 17. Sophie Payne 18. Danica Dalziel 19. Cheryl Rigden 20. Freya Macdonald 21. Lauren Grant 22. Eleanor Smith 24. Amy Bulloch 25. Summer Christie 26. Eva Payne 27. Jade Greenshields
RANGERS 1. Jenna Fife 2. Nicola Docherty 3. Demi Vance 4. Emma Brownlie 5. Janni Arnth 6. Tessel Middag 7. Brogan Hay 8. Kirsten Reilly 9. Zoe Ness 10. Kayla McCoy 11. Megan Bell 12. Rachel McLauchlan 13. Jane Ross 15. Lizzie Arnot 18. Chelsea Cornet 19. Laura McCartney 21. Kirsty Howat 23. Kirsty MacLean 24. Sam Kerr 25. Megan Cunningham 26. Jodi McLeary 27. Brianna Westrup 31. Chantelle Swaby 32. Hannah Jordan