Thistle man of the match Ash McMillan, playing a holding midfield role alongside redeployed frontrunner Jarom Brouwer, clipped the ball in to striker Cullen Spawforth.
He turned the defender marking him and from 10 metres slotted a right-foot shot into the bottom left corner.
Five minutes further in, Thistle went ahead when Spawforth played the ball in to Leo Maisey — who turned out to be available after all — and he smashed it into the top right corner of the goal.
Thistle kept creating scoring chances but good saves by the Linton goalkeeper, coupled with shooting that needed to be more clinical, kept the Jags from scoring again until five minutes before halftime.
The ball was played in to Maisey, who gave himself room to open his shoulders and guide the ball into the bottom right corner.
Thistle had plenty of opportunities to extend their lead but did not score again until just before the end.
The ball was played in from the right and the Linton keeper came for it but misjudged the flight. Brouwer, shifted forward in a positional shuffle brought about by a substitution, controlled the ball, beat a man and — from about the penalty spot — stroked the ball into the right corner . . . 4-1.
Blair said the whole team played well, but some stood out.
McMillan featured in a lot of the play from his defensive midfield base.
Lately Thistle had changed from having one holding midfielder to having two. An injury to skipper and centreback Ryan Anderson prompted Blair to shift Kieran Venema from his holding midfield spot to the centre of defence.
“We wanted someone to anchor the back three, and Kieran did that well,” Blair said.
He also drafted Raydon Semmens from the Reserves into the first-team back three. The combination of Venema, Semmens and regular centreback Ander Batarrita proved rock-solid, and keeper Mitchell Stewart-Hill had little to do.
The wing backs were Alex Davies on the right and Daniel Venema on the left.
Davies troubled the Linton rearguard with his pace and skill, while Venema ranged up and down the left flank relentlessly. Venema has also equipped himself with an accurate mid-range pass — the 30-to-40-metre ball that at once clears the lines and sets up attacks.
Matt McVey had an attacking midfield role feeding and supporting frontrunners Spawforth and Maisey.
When Maisey became available for the trip, Blair pushed Brouwer back to the holding midfield gap left by Kieran Venema's shift to centreback. Maisey took Brouwer's place up front.
Blair said Linton struggled to deal with Maisey's pace and skill. On top of that, Spawforth was dropping into the space between the frontline and midfielders, and defenders were caught in two minds about whether to follow him.
Blair used all three of the Jags' subs in the second half. Maisey, having scored two goals, came off for Reece Brew, who took on a holding midfield role that allowed Brouwer to move up front.
Spawforth came off, Davies was pushed forward and Reserve team centreback Brad Hill came on at right wingback.
Man of the match McMillan came off, replaced in the engine-room by Reserves player Levi Julies.
Blair said all of the substitutes did well. It spoke volumes for the depth of talent at the club that the first team could be without eight squad members and still put on three subs and not miss a beat.
