Kilmarnock 3-0 Partick Thistle
- Published
Tope Obadeyi scored twice as Kilmarnock comfortably beat Partick Thistle to record their biggest win of the season.
The Englishman dived to head in Ross Barbour's cross before Thistle went close when Ryan Stevenson hit the crossbar from distance.
Captain Manuel Pascali doubled Kilmarnock's lead by heading in Alexei Eremenko's corner after the break.
And Obadeyi's brace was complete when his low shot squeezed in at the near post.
It was a very disappointing result for Alan Archibald's Partick Thistle, who went out with a bit of a whimper in the second half.
One major worry for them is the condition of playmaker Kallum Higginbotham, who was taken off at half-time and appeared in the stands shortly after with crutches by his side.
Kilmarnock's improved fortunes | |
|---|---|
Kilmarnock have 14 points after eight Premiership games this season | At the same stage last season, they had three points |
Allan Johnston's side have won four league games so far this term | In the previous campaign, their fourth league win came in late December |
For Thistle striker Kris Doolan, this match was something of a homecoming.
Having started out in Ayrshire junior football, the 27-year-old still lives in Kilmarnock and really should have made his fellow residents miserable in the 14th minute.
Steven Lawless's drive from the edge of the box was only parried by goalkeeper Craig Samson but Doolan's effort from six yards out was straight at the goalkeeper.
The Jags were to pay for such profligacy when Kilmarnock took the lead 10 minutes later.
Former England under-20 international Obadeyi met Barbour's deep delivery from the right to net his second goal of the season.
After being welcomed back into the starting line-up for this match, Thistle's Stevenson nearly produced a terrific equaliser.
The former Hearts and Ayr United man hit a 25-yard rasping drive that smacked the frame of the goal.
Soon after the break, though, the hosts set about snuffing out any hopes the Jags had of rescuing an away point.
A bullet header by Pascali put Kilmarnock two ahead, the Italian rising to convert Eremenko's corner kick.
The Russian-born Finn was sent off against St Johnstone in the midweek League Cup defeat but would play a crucial role in Kilmarnock's third goal, too.
Eremenko found an unmarked Obadeyi on the edge of the box and the former Bolton man drilled in at the near post to score his second of the game past Scott Fox.
Obadeyi stooped to head Killie in front
Pascali (far right) was a popular man on and off the pitch after heading Kilmarnock's second
- Published27 September 2014
- Published27 September 2014
