Partick Thistle fought back from a goal down to earn a 1–1 draw against Livingston in the Premier Sports League Cup, with Alex Samuel’s late equaliser forcing a penalty shoot-out before the visitors claimed the bonus point with a 3–2 victory on spot-kicks.

Partick Thistle travelled to West Lothian to take on Livingston at the Home of the Set Fare Arena in the Premier Sports League Cup group stage. It was Livingston’s second and Partick Thistle’s third appearance in the competition at the start of the 2026/27 season, with both sides having made 100% winning starts to their campaigns.

Within the group, Livingston won their opener against Brechin City with a comfortable 2–0 victory, while Partick Thistle had been free-scoring in their opening two matches, recording 4–0 and 6–0 wins over Forfar Athletic and Brechin City respectively.

Both Glenn Whelan and Mark Wilson made changes to their line-ups, with Jordan Doherty, Sam Culbert and Cristian Montaño coming in for Cammy Kerr, Scott Pittman and Cammy Palmer.

For Partick Thistle, Lee Ashcroft returned as captain, while Gary Mackay-Stevens, Aidan Fitzpatrick and Tony Watt came in for Jamie Low, Matthew Falconer, Sebastian Drozd and Alex Samuel, who all dropped to the bench. Mark Wilson also switched the formation from 4-3-3 to 4-1-4-1 in preparation for a sterner test against Livingston.

Livingston started the brighter of the two sides in the early stages of the first half and created an early chance from a free kick on the edge of the box through Tyrese Sinclair, but it was comfortably saved by Thistle goalkeeper Lewis Budinauckas.

The opening exchanges were relatively even, with the game flowing from end to end but producing few clear-cut chances.

Livingston won a succession of corners midway through the first half but were unable to capitalise.

The first clear opportunity fell to Montaño after a mix-up at the back by Partick Thistle. The ball eventually found its way to the edge of the box, where Montaño’s effort was blocked by a Thistle defender before Budinauckas gathered the loose ball.

Robbie Crawford then had a half-chance after finding himself in space inside the Livingston penalty area, but his effort was well blocked.

Tony Watt received the first booking of the game after impeding a quickly taken free kick in the centre circle.

Fitzpatrick was then brought down by Jordan Docherty, who was shown a yellow card, resulting in a free kick just inside Livingston’s half. The resulting delivery eventually fell to Crawford, whose speculative half-volley was ballooned over the bar.

Stevie May came close for Livingston just before half-time with a sharp effort from the edge of the box, but Budinauckas made a comfortable save.

The sides went into the break level at 0–0.

Mark Wilson made one change at half-time, with captain Lee Ashcroft being replaced by Dan O’Reilly.

Livingston nearly broke the deadlock early in the second half when a Jordan Docherty cross found Sam Culbert, whose effort drifted narrowly passed the post.

Montaño then found himself one-on-one with Budinauckas but failed to make enough contact with the ball as he attempted to lob the Thistle goalkeeper, allowing Budinauckas to gather the looping effort with ease.

Moments later, a shove in the back by Muirhead earned Partick Thistle a free kick in their defensive third. Muirhead then kicked the ball away in frustration, earning himself a yellow card.

Livingston eventually took the lead just after the hour mark. Tyrese Sinclair led a quick break before finding Muirhead on the edge of the box, and his powerful strike flew into the top-right corner beyond Budinauckas to make it 1–0.

Mark Wilson responded by making three attacking substitutions, replacing Gary Mackay-Stevens, Tony Watt and Euan Henderson with Ts’oanelo Lets’osa, Alex Samuel and Sebastian Drozd.

Shortly after coming on, substitutes Lets’osa and Samuel combined well for Thistle, but Samuel’s shot drifted narrowly wide of the post.

Oisin Smyth then had a half-chance with 12 minutes remaining, but his curling effort from 25 yards was comfortably saved by Budinauckas.

With 10 minutes to play, Smyth tried his luck again from the edge of the area. This time, Jérôme Prior could only parry the effort into the path of Samuel, who reacted quickest to fire the rebound into the roof of the net and level the scores at 1–1.

Three minutes later, Culbert picked out Stevie May with a cross-field pass, but May’s curling effort was well saved by Budinauckas.

In the 86th minute, Samuel used his strength well inside the penalty area to shield the ball before laying it off to Lets’osa, whose resulting effort went well wide of the target.

With neither side able to find a winner, the match finished 1–1 after 90 minutes and went to a penalty shoot-out. Livingston won the toss and elected to take the first penalty.

The penalty shoot-out proved to be just as closely contested as the match itself. Despite Samuel’s late equaliser earning Thistle the chance to claim the bonus point, and held their nerve from 12 yards to secure a 3–2 shoot-out victory. The visitors therefore claimed the additional point, while both sides continued to occupy the top two places in the group heading into their remaining fixtures.

Match report: Alastair Hogg

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