Johnston: Positives despite late Partick leveller

KILMARNOCK manager Allan Johnston stomached the bitter pill of a late Partick Thistle equaliser on Saturday ­afternoon but insisted his players should take “a lot of positives” from their 2-2 home draw.
Craig Slater, left, holds off Particks James Craig in the hard-fought draw. Picture: SNSCraig Slater, left, holds off Particks James Craig in the hard-fought draw. Picture: SNS
Craig Slater, left, holds off Particks James Craig in the hard-fought draw. Picture: SNS

Kilmarnock 2-2 Partick Thistle

Scorers: Kilmarnock - Magennis (33), Pascali (79); Partick Thistle - Stevenson (2), Frans (84)

Former Hearts midfielder Ryan ­Stevenson opened the scoring at Rugby Park with a precise second-minute ­finish from outside the box, before Kilmarnock hit back to lead with goals from Josh Magennis and Manuel Pascali.

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Thistle defender Frederic Frans struck seven minutes from the end to give his side a share of the spoils after he reacted instinctively to Declan McDaid’s shot from the edge of the box.

The draw halted a run of three defeats for Kilmarnock, and Johnston said: “I thought the fans were brilliant. Even when we lost the early goal, you’re thinking ‘here we go – we’re going to be under pressure’, but a lot’s got to be said about the players as well, the way they stood up to that and the fans got right behind them.

“There were a lot of positives there.”

Rory McKenzie, who set up Magennis for Kilmarnock’s first goal, earned the sponsor’s man-of-the-match award and also took the plaudits from his manager.

“There were a lot of good individual performances. Rory McKenzie, I thought he was everywhere, caused them a lot of problems,” Johnston said.

“Josh Magennis was back to the striker that he was at the start of the ­season, and we’re going to need that kind of performance between now and the end of the season.”

The draw means Partick Thistle are still looking to win back-to-back games for the first time since coming up to the Premiership.

Thistle were optimistic they would be able to do it against Kilmarnock after their 5-0 win over Hamilton on Wednesday, but having trailed 2-1 ­approaching the final ten minutes of the match they returned home relieved.

Partick manager Alan Archibald said: “They’re a hard team to play against. I think Kilmarnock did really well in the second half.

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“We showed great character and desire to keep going and when young Declan McDaid came on I thought he gave us a real lift with his pace and his energy as well, and they couldn’t really cope.”

Archibald was quick to praise goalscorer Stevenson for his efforts over ­recent weeks.

He said: “It was a great goal from Ryan. He’s on fire at the moment and long may it continue.

“He’s been playing really well, linking up with Dools [Kris Doolan], so he’s been good.”