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GOAL hero Rory McAllister has praised team-mate Blair Yule for the important part he played in our dramatic 1-0 League One victory over Partick Thistle at Balmoral Stadium.

Striker Rory pounced three minutes into injury-time to give us a victory that maintained our perfect start in League One – and our proud record of never dropping a point at home since stepping up into the SPFL.

But Rory, who came off the bench in the second half, admitted the quality of the through pass from midfielder Blair meant it was easy for him to claim his first league goal of the campaign

“It was a touch of class from Blair,” he said.

“When the ball fell to him, Blair did a clever shuffle with his feet to make sure he could get the pass through to me. All I had to do then was make sure I skipped the ball over the goalie.”

“It went over the line in slow motion, that probably had something to do with the strong wind, but it was good to see it eventually go in. It meant a great result for the club, beating a full-time club like Partick Thistle is a decent achievement.”

“It was also a good day for me. I was really happy to make such an important contribution because it’s been frustrating not to be playing as much as I would like.”

“All you can do is keep working hard in training to make sure you are ready to do as best as you can when called upon, so it’s really pleasing I managed to do that.”

“It’s what I’ve done my whole career, give me chances and I’m always confident I can score. Hopefully I will be able to get a good few more goals and help to keep us at the top end of the league table.”

Rory admitted it was tough going in a match blighted by the howling wind that swept along the length of Balmoral Stadium.

He said: “It meant it was 50-50 football, the game could have gone either way. We got the big break at the end, but I feel we earned it because of the effort everyone put in.”

“Stuart McKenzie also made an unbelievable save from a free-kick. From where I was you could see it was going in, I don’t know how Stuart managed to flick it over.”

“He kept us in the game and ensured we could go on and eventually win it. It also helped us maintain our perfect record at Balmoral, which we are very proud of.”

“The mindset in the dressing room is always ‘nobody comes here and wins.’

“We want to keep that run going for as long as we can and beating a side of Partick’s quality will certainly help on that front.”

Manager Paul Hartley said: “I would have been delighted with a draw when you consider the conditions the players had to contend with.”

“Rory then comes up with a brilliant finish to keep up our home record, which is phenomenal.”

“That’s 16 wins on the bounce, the last of them against a really strong Partick Thistle team. I have to praise the players for the fitness levels they showed against opponents who are full-time.”

“That played a huge part in us winning. We also managed the difficult conditions well. Our defending was solid and our organisation was magnificent.”

“I also have to say Blair Yule was incredible. He has been outstanding in all three league games played so far.”

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