Then when Marist went 4-2 up, Thistle hit back one and a half minutes later, in the 83rd, to set up a highly charged finale.
First, Sam Patterson was sent off for being shown the yellow card a second time.
A few minutes later, Andre Riley — who had been substituted and was sitting on the reserves bench — was sent off for what was called “violent conduct” but which Blair said was an attempt to pull a Marist player off Thistle striker Leo Maisey. Marist player Mustafa Can was also sent off following the same incident.
Thistle had a chance to salvage a point right up to the last kick. Goalkeeper Mitchell Stewart-Hill hoisted a clearance from open play to the edge of the Marist penalty area, where Nick Land contested the falling ball and tumbled to the ground.
Thistle man of the match and striker Cullen Spawforth took the resulting free-kick. His effort beat the defensive wall but whistled by the keeper’s left upright, and the referee called time.
Thistle had their game against Massey University, set down for the previous Saturday, deferred because of the effect of Covid-19 on their squad.
Blair said that five of the seven squad members who had Covid the previous week were in the starting 11 against Marist.
“That definitely took its toll on the boys,” Blair said.
“And (captain and centreback) Ryan Anderson pulled up really sick this morning (yesterday). It was suspected food poisoning.
“About halfway to Napier, he started vomiting. He was unable to play, so we dropped Nick Land into centreback alongside Ander Batarrita and Daniel Venema, and started Ash McMillan in the centre of midfield, alongside Matt McVey.
“Kieran Venema was the holding midfielder, with Andre Riley on the right and Alex Davies on the left as wingbacks.”
Jarom Brouwer and Spawforth were up front.
At halftime, Maisey came on for McMillan (struggling from Covid after-effects), Brouwer dropped back to the midfield and Maisey played striker.
In the 70th minute, Patterson came on for Riley on the right flank.
Ten minutes into the game, Marist striker Can opened the scoring. In the 24th, Liam Percy-Fysh scored the first goal of what would become his hat-trick.
Thistle got one back five minutes before halftime, Land getting his head to Spawforth’s driven left-wing corner at the near post and directing it into the far corner.
Just before the break, Marist half-cleared a corner to Thistle’s left flank. The ball was played across the park to Matt McVey, lurking in space just to the right of centre, midway between the halfway line and the penalty area.
McVey took one touch and belted a left-footed shot (he’s right-footed) high into the net from 30 metres.
In the 63rd minute, Percy-Fysh received the ball on the edge of the Thistle penalty area, turned and squeezed it into the corner of the goal, to the keeper’s right.
Tempers were becoming frayed and challenges more robust.
Kieran Venema was shown the yellow card in the 67th minute.
In the 82nd, Percy-Fysh completed his hat-trick, running on to a ball from midfield, wrong-footing a defender and finishing clinically.
Then came the Jags’ finishing flourish and the display of yellow and red cards.
Both goalkeepers — Thistle’s Stewart-Hill and Marist’s Ryan Todd — made several sharp reflex saves, which kept the teams within touching distance on the scoresheet.
Blair said some players had been feeling the after-effects of the virus.
“That’s our Covid game,” he said.
“It’s good to get it out of our system.”
Apart from Spawforth, Blair was also pleased with the contributions from Land, playing out of position, Brouwer and McVey.
