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Brian Graham's 19th and 20th goals of the season helped put Partick Thistle in a commanding positonPartick Thistle will take a three-goal lead to Ayr United after a commanding first-leg display in their Scottish Premiership play-off semi-final.
Jack McMillan squeezed in a near-post finish to put Kris Doolan's side one up at the break at a joyous Firhill.
Brian Graham then made up for an earlier miss by tucking in to double the advantage before the striker's cushioned finish added a third.
The second leg takes place at Somerset Park next Friday.
Ayr, without 24-goal forward Dipo Akinyemi due to illness, failed to create enough in attack with their star striker missing, but Lee Bullen's men came close to pulling one back in the dying seconds when Paul Smith crashed a free-kick off the bar.
The visitors, playing their first game for a fortnight, looked sluggish throughout and struggled to deal with the intensity of the home side, who have now lost just once in 16 games under Doolan's stewardship.
Partick Thistle manager Kris Doolan: "We got what we deserved, it could have been five or six if we took our chances.
"Going forward, we're creative and we showed we're clinical as well. But we won't treat the tie as being over. We won't sit in and observe pressure. We'll go to Somerset looking to win."
Ayr Utd manager Lee Bullen: "I'm really disappointed with the goals we conceded. We're all unhappy at the moment, but that's credit to Thistle.
"It's down to mindset now. We've got the ability [to turn it around]. We created one or two chances ourselves which gives us optimism."
Line-ups
Partick Thistle
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 31Mitchell
- 2McMillanBooked at 64mins
- 22Muirhead
- 5Brownlie
- 4Holt
- 6Turner
- 23Docherty
- 11LawlessSubstituted forMcKinnonat 83'minutes
- 7TiffoneySubstituted forDowdsat 79'minutes
- 21FitzpatrickSubstituted forMackenzieat 73'minutes
- 9GrahamSubstituted forMullenat 79'minutes
Substitutes
- 1Sneddon
- 10Dowds
- 15McKinnon
- 19Mullen
- 25Owens
- 29Mackenzie
- 30Stevenson
Ayr
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 21Albinson
- 20HewittSubstituted forMcAllisterat 55'minutes
- 4Musonda
- 5McGinty
- 3Reading
- 8DempseyBooked at 63mins
- 6Murdoch
- 10O'ConnorSubstituted forAshfordat 73'minutes
- 77MaguireSubstituted forSmithat 73'minutes
- 14MullinBooked at 21minsSubstituted forMitchell-Lawsonat 55'minutes
- 22McKenzieSubstituted forBrydenat 84'minutes
Substitutes
- 1McAdams
- 11Mitchell-Lawson
- 15Kirk
- 17McAllister
- 18McAlear
- 23Ashford
- 30Bryden
- 31Smith
- 33Jenkins
Referee:Greg Aitken
Attendance:7,012
Live Text
Match ends, Partick Thistle 3, Ayr United 0.
Second Half ends, Partick Thistle 3, Ayr United 0.
Corner, Partick Thistle. Conceded by Charlie Albinson.
Attempt saved. Danny Mullen (Partick Thistle) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Anton Dowds.
Paul Smith (Ayr United) hits the bar with a right footed shot from outside the box from a direct free kick.
Paul Smith (Ayr United) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Darren Brownlie (Partick Thistle).
Corner, Ayr United. Conceded by Zander Mackenzie.
Attempt saved. Ben Dempsey (Ayr United) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Jayden Mitchell-Lawson with a cross.
Attempt saved. Sam Ashford (Ayr United) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Paul Smith.
Jayden Mitchell-Lawson (Ayr United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Kevin Holt (Partick Thistle).
Substitution, Ayr United. Fraser Bryden replaces Mark McKenzie.
Substitution, Partick Thistle. Cole McKinnon replaces Steven Lawless.
Foul by Nick McAllister (Ayr United).
Zander Mackenzie (Partick Thistle) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Corner, Ayr United. Conceded by Aaron Muirhead.
Substitution, Partick Thistle. Anton Dowds replaces Scott Tiffoney.
Substitution, Partick Thistle. Danny Mullen replaces Brian Graham.
Offside, Partick Thistle. Kyle Turner tries a through ball, but Steven Lawless is caught offside.
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