This was as one-sided a contest as you are ever likely to see. The only surprise at the end of 90 minutes was that there was only one goal in it. Kilmarnock pummelled Thistle from the first whistle and penned the visitors inside their own box.
Thistle manager John Lambie was flailing his arms and stamping his feet in the technical area as he tried to persuade his troops forward, but wave after wave of blue saw his side retreat time after time. It looked as though the Thistle goal would remain untouched and they could find the safety of the dressing room, but the defence was finally undone in the 41st minute by a masterstroke from Peter Canero.
Barry McLaughlin's flighted ball from deep, floated over the heads of Chris Boyd and Scott Patterson, but Canero controlled the drop ball beautifully and calmly clipped it over the advancing Kenny Arthur into the far corner for a deserved strike.
Kilmarnock were not quite the same force in the second half after Andy McLaren hobbled off in the 49th minute but they still squandered several chances to make the game safe.
McLaren's replacedment Jame Fowler had two chances soon after coming on first being released by Boyd's precision pass but Arthur smuggled his shot well and three minutes later Fowler's long range shot flew narrowly over.
Thistle had their first shot on target in the 73rd minute but Martin Hardie headed tamely into Gordon Marshall's arms. As Partick tried to press forward Kilmarnock introduced the trickery of Hose Quitongo and the little Angolan twice went close to tying up the points. Firstly he headed Gregg Shield's corner just past the upright before chipping over the corner of post and bar when it looked easier to score.
Partick almost snatched an undeserved draw in the dying seconds but Jamie Buchan's 30 yard drive flew just wide.
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