Match Report

Match Report from BBC Sport

Partick Thistle took another step towards securing their status in the SPL with a victory over Motherwell who find themselves still in deep relegation trouble.

Thistle had the better of the game throughout and deservedly took the lead through Alex Burns.

Francois Dubourdeau in the visitors’ goal did his best to keep his team in the match but when Gerry Britton added a second midway through the second half, the game was won.

Britton added a third just before full time to complete Motherwell’s misery.

Motherwell started the game in a positive manner but the first chance fell to Thistle after five minutes when David Lilley met Stephen Craigan’s long throw-in only to nod over the crossbar from six yards out.

A few minutes later, Burns called goalkeeper Francois Dubourdeau into action with a shot from the edge of the 18-yard box that the Motherwell keeper did well to hold.

Thistle squandered another opportunity when Hardie squared the ball into the path of Britton in front of goal but he mis-kicked the effort under pressure from the Motherwell defence.

Burns almost opened the scoring when he curled a free kick past the Motherwell wall only to be denied by a great save from Dubourdeau who dived low to block at the post.

The breakthrough came after 28 minutes when Ian Ross supplied the pass for Burns to embark on a run down the left flank before slotting home from a tight angle.

Thistle were clearly boosted by the opener and they almost grabbed a second goal just before half-time when Burns fired a free-kick into the box from 40 yards out but Ross just failed to connect at the far post.

At the beginning of the second period, Britton shot weakly from close range before Steven Craig did likewise at the other end.

Martin Hardie twice missed chances to put Thistle further ahead, but they did double their lead in the 68th minute when Burns’ ball into the box was blocked by Dubourdeau only to fall to the feet of Mitchell.

Both he and Britton saw shots cleared off the line before the latter eventually rammed the ball home.

Britton could have grabbed his second goal of the day when he produced a well-struck shot from the edge of the penalty area but Dubourdeau saved impressively.

The Motherwell goalkeeper was called into action again when he blocked a Stephen Craigan header and then scrambled the ball clear to prevent Britton from tapping the ball over the line.

But Dubourdeau was helpless to prevent Britton’s thunderous last-minute volley from hitting the back of the net.

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