By Sean Saranczuk
May 18 2003

John Lambie's last home game in charge of Partick ended in disappointment as Thistle slumped to defeat to Dundee United, who seal their Bank of Scotland SPL future with a 1-0 win. Lambie bade farewell to the Jags faithful for the last time before retirement but his team could not get the result to make it a happy send-off.

In a dour first 45 minutes, both sides descended into a war of attrition which had little in terms of clear-cut opportunities for either side.

However, things improved after the break and in the 58th minute Jim Paterson pounced on the loose ball after Thistle keeper Kevin Budinauckas had parried a Charlie Miller shot - and the United wide-man slammed the ball into the net from close range to grab the points.

Just before the break, Jags keeper Budinauckas was lucky not to be shown a red card after he handled outside the box following a defensive mix-up.

Referee Dougie McDonald settled for a yellow card and from the free-kick United striker Jim McIntyre squandered the opportunity, chipping the ball lazily over the bar.

The home side almost took the lead after only a minute of the second half when United defender Gary Bollan misjudged a long clearance inside his own box and the ball fell kindly to veteran striker Gerry Britton, who blasted his shot off the bar from a tight angle before the ball bounced to safety.

The deadlock was broken in the 58th minute - and to the delight of the travelling support it was the visitors who got the goal.

Yet another Miller shot from the edge of the box was parried out by Budinauckas but this time Paterson was first on the spot to slam the ball into the net from close range, for his first goal of the season.

In the 73rd minute McIntyre had the ball in the Jags net but the assistant referee correctly flagged it offside. In the end, despite the home side's late rally which saw Alex Burns come within inches of equalising with an angled shot, United held on.