Alan Archibald hails fitting tribute to late Partick Thistle boss John Lambie

Alan Archibald says relegation-threatened Partick Thistle’s comeback win over Hamilton was a “fitting tribute” to the late John Lambie.

Thistle produced a stirring second-half performance to come from 1-0 down to win 2-1 at the Energy Check Stadium at Firhill in their first match since former manager Lambie died last week.

Before the game there were tributes paid to the former Jags boss – who also took charge of Accies for a spell – and the home fans helped create a raucous atmosphere in the second half that helped inspire Archibald’s side to an important victory that sees them climb off the bottom of the table.

After going behind to a David Templeton strike, Kris Doolan and Ryan Edwards scored within eight minutes of each other to put Thistle ahead, and the current Jags manager was pleased they were able to say goodbye to Lambie in a fitting manner.

“He would have loved it,” said Archibald, who played under Lambie at the club. “I think that’s what John was about: the spirit and creating a really good dressing room and you saw that today.

“The players were playing for each other and for the crowd, and I thought we got a really good reaction for it and paid a fitting tribute to a good man.”

Thistle went a goal down after Templeton’s solo effort despite dominating possession in the first period, but were the better side throughout to claim a first win since the end of January.

“The crowd was up for it and the players started really brightly,” he said.

“We went behind against the run of play. Hamilton were coming into the game to be fair and they had that spell, but we showed fantastic spirit to come back.”

On Doolan, who scored his 100th league goal for the club with a well-placed header, he added: “It was brilliant from him and he was a real captain today.”

The result sees Thistle climb above Ross County to 11th place in the table but draws Hamilton back into the relegation fight after starting the day five points clear of their opponents.

Although they were on the back foot for much of the match, they should have had a first-half penalty when Marios Ogkmpoe was taken out by Tomas Cerny, and their inability to see the game out left manager Martin Canning frustrated.

He said: “At half-time, we were ahead and should have had a penalty as well.

“Whether it’s a red card or not I don’t know on the exact laws, but it’s a poor decision. He said our player’s reaction made him think it wasn’t a penalty, which has nothing to do with it because a player shouldn’t need to react to get a penalty.

“That went against us but we put ourselves 1-0 up and were in a good position in the second half.”