Partick 0 Hearts 0

New Partick Thistle manager Dick Campbell kicked off his reign with a creditable goalless draw against Hearts in the Tennent's Scottish Cup third round at Firhill.

The Bell's First Division outfit weathered a second-half storm to give themselves another chance of progressing to the fourth round when the two sides meet again a week on Wednesday at Tynecastle.

But Campbell was left rueing his own side's squandered chances, especially when Juan Ramon Escalas' strike cannoned off the post shortly before half-time.

Hearts started well and had an early chance to take the lead when Robbie Neilson met a corner and touched the ball on to Dennis Wyness at the near post, but his close-range effort ended up in the side-netting.

Even so, Partick were keen to show they could be equally dangerous and it was not long before they were threatening the Hearts' defence.

Andy Gibson tried his luck with an opportunistic drive from just inside the area and the shot appeared to catch Craig Gordon off-guard but, fortunately for the Hearts goalkeeper, the shot fell wide of the post.

However, the best chance fell to Hearts when Neil MacFarlane fired a cross into the box and Wyness' flick-on set up Kevin McKenna up for a volley, but his effort fell agonisingly wide of goal.

But only the woodwork prevented Partick from opening the scoring 10 minutes before the interval.

Jamie Mitchell played the ball to Escalas and he exchanged a cheeky one-two with Derek Fleming before seeing his point-blank effort smack off the post.

It was Hearts who started the second half the better team and emerged with far more determination than they had showed in the opening 45 minutes.

A Joe Hamill cross found Neilson and he managed to slice a shot through the Thistle defence but his long, low effort fell wide of the upright.

For all their possession, Hearts were struggling to create enough chances and, instead, it was Partick who were able to put them under pressure again.

Fleming flighted a long ball to Armand One in the box but he was surrounded by three defenders and, despite his best efforts, could not manage a shot on goal.

At the other end, Jambos' substitute Ramon Pereira could have had an immediate impact on the game when he burst through on goal only for his shot to be smothered by Partick goalkeeper Kenny Arthur.

As the tie headed towards the final 15 minutes, and with the game still deadlocked, Hearts increased the pressure.

McKenna must have thought his close-range strike was heading for the back of the net, but the effort took a deflection off Australian defender Adrian Madaschi and drifted wide instead.

McKenna was then causing problems for the home side again.

Neilson spotted the Canadian unmarked at the back post and picked him out for a header, but McKenna was left pounding the ground in frustration when he succeeded only in finding the side-netting.

Phil Stamp could have been the hero for Hearts, but his thunderous last-minute free-kick was tipped just over the crossbar by Arthur.

Teams

Partick Arthur, Anis, Madaschi, Murray, Milne, Andy Gibson (Billy Gibson 61), Fleming, Strachan (Fulton 45), Mitchell (Dowie 68), Ramon, One.

Subs Not Used: Pinkowski, Hinds.

Booked: Strachan.

Hearts Gordon, Neilson, Pressley, Webster, McAllister, Hamill (Simmons 83), Stamp, MacFarlane, Wyness (Kisnorbo 63), Weir (Pereira 64), McKenna.

Subs Not Used: Moilanen, Berra.

Booked: McAllister.

Att: 5,666

Ref: C MacKay (Scotland).

Taken from sportinglife.com