A tortuous ninety minutes of football at Firhill was completed by a painful coup de grâce from Paul Keegan, whose simple finish in stoppage time ended the suffering of Stirling Albion and finally secured the Binos’ future in the Second Division.

Firhill was an apt venue for relegation as the pitch looked sad and battered having taken a pounding over the last nine months while the stands were sparsely sprinkled with hardy souls braving a wet, cold evening to watch what was always likely to be a drab encounter between two sides with little to play for.

The Binos, dishevelled and ravaged by a loss of confidence in much the same way the Firhill surface has been battered and cut-up by studs, bowed out of the First Division tamely. Colin Cramb started in attack alongside Jay Rodriguez but otherwise it was the same eleven that had held Queen of the South to a scoreless draw at Forthbank four days previously.

Thistle manager Ian McCall had promised wholesale changes to his side, hinting perhaps that a virtual youth team could be fielded as the Jags prepare for Sunday’s meeting with Rangers in the Scottish Cup. These proved false words as the promised alterations, for the most part, never materialised; the likes of Damon Gray (an Albion loan target earlier in the season), Simon Donnelly and Stirling-born Kevin McKinlay made up a starting eleven with names largely recognisable to a casual supporter of the First Division.

As Albion struggled to settle in the first half the Jags carved open the visiting defence on several occasions with one-twos and sharp movement off the ball. The main benefactor of this was striker Gray, however on-loan Hibs player’s finishing left much to be desired all evening. Murray, who had a lively first half before being subdued impressively by Nugent in the second, made the first real incursion into Albion territory, driving at the Binos defence before sliding through Gray, who managed to spoon the ball into the paltry visiting support.

Murphy and Nugent responded with shots from outside the Jags’ box but neither looked powerful enough to test Tuffey in the home goal. Indeed Stirling would largely be restricted to half chances all evening, Cramb turning on the eighteen yard line and firing a snapshot over as Albion continued to raid without real danger of scoring.

Meanwhile Partick continued to look lively in front of Scott Christies’ goal, the young custodian having to react superbly well to deny the luckless Gray, who saw a sharp finish from ten yards out superbly blocked.

Albion’s final effort of the half was a well-struck Aitken free-kick from close to thirty yards that Tuffey fielded comfortably.

Although the Binos’ efforts from long range were not always potent at least they were keeping Tuffey relatively busy. In the second period several times Albion found themselves in promising positions but the passing was slack, no pass came at all or the forwards, most notably Cramb and latterly McKenna, who arrived as a substitute, chose not to shoot at all.

Partick had no qualms about shooting when the opportunity arose however generally these were falling to Gray, who was simply having an off night. The diminutive striker, having smacked a great chance over and had a shot blocked by the goalkeeper in the first half, completed his hat-trick of bad misses with a shot skewed wide of Christie’s goal when he should surely have been aiming to score.

Although Rodriguez, who was bright throughout in attack, had an effort deflected at Tuffey’s goal, the better chances by far were still falling to the home side. Somehow McKenna contrived to shoot at Christie’s legs from close range; a miss that even the goalkeeper would likely attribute to profligate finishing rather than quality goalkeeping, however the scores remained level.

Although there can be no doubting he did not enjoy the finest of evenings, Chris Aitken was continually asking to be involved. Albion’s captain had arguably the Binos’ best chance when he linked with Bell at the edge of the box but was too close to Tuffey to poke the ball into the net before later drilling a free-kick comfortably over the home far.

Instead, as so often this season, it would be Partick who would take advantage of a moment of slack defending from Albion to carve open the rearguard decisively. Eaglesham, on as a substitute to make his debut, turned Lithgow far too easily and showed the big Hearts defender his studs as he sped away from the defence. Calmly the youngster slipped a square ball to Keegan, who took a touch before firing home.

Immediately Albion nearly fashioned a response as Muir’s fine delivery across the six yard box had no takers despite the presence of Rodriguez and McKenna in the box. This effort was to be the death rattle of Stirling’s First Division campaign as Allan Moore’s men face an intimidating trip to Dundee at the weekend with nothing but pride to play for.