When Hugh MacDiarmid wrote about ‘a drunk man looks at the Thistle’, the Borders bard certainly didn’t have affairs at Firhill in mind. Then again, you probably needed a decent gargle inside you to look at Partick Thistle on Saturday.
This 4-1 trouncing at the hands of those other Jags from Inverness didn’t conjure up the flooery phraseology of MacDiarmid although the language being hissed through clenched teeth by those in the home stands was certainly colourful.
“It is tough to put into words what happened,” admitted Danny Seaborne, the Partick Thistle defender as he raked over the debris of a fairly rotten reversal.
While Alan Archibald’s men are still six points clear of second-bottom Kilmarnock with three games to play, that gap could be reduced even further when the two sides meet in a significant showdown at Rugby Park this weekend.
Not so long ago, Thistle were looking at the possibility of a top-six finish but after Saturday’s shambles, they are now looking over their shoulders as they try to avoid being sucked into the relegation play-off.
They went to pieces in the second half on Saturday as they allowed their guests to amble forward at will and prise them open as easily as a poke of crisps. Even the Firhill stewards were being accused of not picking up a man when they allowed a joyous Caley Thistle fan to skip on to the pitch to celebrate after Jordan Roberts had thumped in a fourth goal in the last knockings.
“We capitulated in the second half,” added Seaborne. “We have got to recover from that. We are a better team than that. It felt like we were all over the place. People were doing things they are not accustomed to doing. Kilmarnock have won comfortably which makes it a massive game this Saturday.
“It has been in our hands all season and now we have been dragged down again. We still have a cushion but if we don't turn up again we will make it really difficult for ourselves. It is down to us as players to take responsibility. I am the most experienced out of everyone so I will happily take the buck for what happened.”
Thistle had started brightly but Carl Tremarco’s opener on the breakaway after 14 minutes changed the complexion of the game and the visitors took charge.
Miles Storey, Josh Meekings and Roberts added to the tally in the second half but it could have been even more as Roberts hit the post and Thistle keeper Ryan Scully had to make a series of fine saves to keep the Highlanders at bay.
“Coming off the back of a poor start to the season and then having a chance to reach the top six was a big thing for us,” added Seaborne. “It would have been the first time in the club's history. But, we lost the game against Ross County after doing so well in the months before. We need to realise before next week we are in a different position now. It will be tough but I'm looking forward to it. We need to get our chins up.
“We need to clear our minds but we have to talk about what happened today and realise we were not at it.
“We can’t go home deluded thinking we did alright. It is now about points rather than performances and we might need to change the way we play.”
There was nothing wrong with the way Inverness played as John Hughes’ men moved up to seventh and bolstered their bid to finish the best of the rest.
“I think the second half was the best 45 minutes of the season and if we had won that game by more than six, I don’t think anyone would have been surprised,” said Storey.
The 22-year-old will return to his parent club, Swindon Town, in the summer but he is out of contract there and certainly wouldn’t mind another crack at the Scottish game. With loan spells taking in wide and varied ports of call such as Salisbury City, Portsmouth, Newport Country and Inverness, Storey very much lives up to the old cliché of ‘have boots will travel’.
“I have to try to do as much as I can in the last three games and hopefully someone will take a punt and I will be playing at a decent standard next season,” he said. “I would be happy to come back to Scotland. I have really enjoyed it. I like the league, it’s physical. I got elbowed in the face a few times. I have enjoyed playing for Inverness. It’s one of the best teams I have played for. I can’t talk highly enough of the players.”
That's not how the Partick Thistle fans were talking on Saturday.
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