Partick Thistle 2 - 2 Falkirk: Erskine snatches draw for Jags

FORTY years after Partick’s famous League Cup win over a Lisbon Lion-packed Celtic, the modern day Jags failed to match those heroics, but they more than merited their last-gasp leveller to take a point from a game they offered most to.

The Firhill team have been Jekyll and Hyde so far this season with some impressive home performances and some awful ones on the road, and this was again apparent as they spent the opening half besieging the Falkirk goal to no avail, even if Stephen O’Donnell, Kris Doolan and Paul Cairney all knocked on the door.

Jags manager, Jackie McNamara, would have had a case for feeling aggrieved going in at the interval all-square, so he must have been astonished to head for the changing room a goal behind following a simple finish from visiting dangerman Farid El Alagui at the end of their only serious foray forward.

Three minutes after the restart Thistle were level, courtesy of a thumping drive from David Rowson, but only after they had survived Falkirk’s Stewart Murdoch crashing a 25-yard strike off the underside of the bar.

With parity restored, both teams went looking for the winner, which made for some good end-to-end entertainment. Falkirk’s Murray Wallace curled a dipping effort narrowly wide of the far post and Thistle sub Tommy Stewart wildly battered his finish over the bar.

Falkirk looked to have snatched the points five minutes from time when Kallum Higginbotham rattled home a free kick, but on the anniversary weekend of their greatest hour, Thistle dug deep and forced a share of the points through a late strike from sub Chris Erskine, who forced home a loose ball inside the area.