Partick 1-0 Ross County: Match Report

Andrew Davies own goal helps Partick Thistle to fourth successive home victoryPartick ended a wait of almost 40 years for four consecutive top-flight wins after securing a narrow 1-0 victory over Ross County in the Ladbrokes Premiership.The last time the Glasgow outfit achieved such a feat in Scotland's top division was 1977 - but they matched the record on Saturday thanks to an own goal by Ross County skipper Andrew Davies.The first half at Firhill was a largely dull affair but it was the visitors who looked most likely to seize the initiative.The visitors carved out the first real chance of the game when Michael Gardyne won a free-kick 25 yards out after 14 minutes. Martin Woods curled an inviting ball into the box for Davies but he was denied by a superb reaction save from Tomas Cerny.Jonathan Franks then took advantage of slackness in the Thistle defence to whip the ball across the face of goal but there were no takers and Liam Lindsay eventually cleared the danger.It was all County in the opening exchanges and they were threatening again when Jamie Reckord squared for Gardyne 10 yards out, whose shot deflected off Lindsay for a corner.Gardyne then had another chance to break the deadlock on the stroke of half-time when he collected from Craig Curran and hooked the ball just over from six yards.However, Partick hit their visitors with a sucker punch in the second half when they surged into the lead in the 52nd minute.Stuart Bannigan sent a decent cross into the box and, in his attempts to clear, Davies succeeded only in stabbing the ball into his own net.Thistle were certainly encouraged by the goal and immediately set about trying to add to their tally - with Kris Doolan incredibly missing three consecutive attempts to nod home.His first header cracked off the crossbar and the rebound also hit the woodwork, before the forward nodded his final effort across the face of goal and wide of target.At the other end, Liam Boyce fired a teasing ball into the box that was missed by both Curran and Jackson Irvine - with the latter claiming his heels were clipped by Abdul Osman.But there was no penalty award from referee Andrew Dallas and Thistle held on to claim the three points.

Source: PA