Thistle win battles of Britton

Partick Thistle 3 Motherwell

Relegation is the kind of backdrop that lends an ugliness to any occasion. Firhill made Beirut seem attractive by comparison yesterday as Partick Thistle took a step towards survival in the Scottish Premier League.

A "six-pointer" is how both managers, John Lambie and Terry Butcher, billed the contest but it was strictly nul points for style and artistic content in what was a war of attrition.

Two second-half goals by Gerry Britton compounded the earlier damage inflicted by Alex Burns and ensured that Motherwell remain nailed to the bottom, with only four games left.

Just seven days earlier, Butcher's side had given a veneer of quality to a seven-goal Scottish Cup semi-final with Rangers, but here they were never allowed the freedom and even James McFadden, their talented playmaker who will probably play for Scotland against Austria in midweek, was finally consumed by the snarling dogfight in midfield.

Partick, having come from the first division only 11 months ago, are in no mood to return, though it took them 25 minutes before they made an impact, with Burns curling a free kick around the wall to draw a fine save out of Francois Dubourdeau.

However, five minutes later there was nothing the Motherwell keeper could do to deny the little striker, whose pace exposed David Cowan after he had been released by a fine pass down the left by Ian Ross. Burns burst into the box and threaded an angled shot underneath Dubourdeau.

Thistle could have doubled their lead just seconds before the interval when Britton seized on Martin Hardie's flick and lifted his shrewd hook shot on to the roof of the net.

Had Motherwell struck back in the early stages of the second half, then they might have turned the tide. But Steven Craig, who had shown great composure to score at Hampden against Rangers, fluffed a 56th minute chance to restore parity and Butcher's side would never get that close again.

Britton deepened their gloom in the 68th minute when he made it 2-0. Dubourdeau failed to cut out a cross and the diligent Burns worked hard to keep the ball in play, then feinted past Steven Hamell but thrashed a shot that the keeper beat out. Hardie's follow-up was blocked on the line by Cowan, but Britton finally found the net at the fourth time of asking.

Britton came close on two more occasions, before he struck again in stoppage time, after Jamie Mitchell's cross had been flicked on by Hardie and he rifled a volley into the roof of the net. Thistle now hold a six-point gap over their visitors but Lambie insisted later: "We are not mathematically safe yet."

Partick Thistle 3 Motherwell 0
Burns 29, Britton 68, 90

Half-time 1-0 Attendance: 4,870