Morton 2 - 0 Dundee

Morton 2 - Weatherson (26), McGuffie (59 pen)
Dundee 0 -

Att: 1741

Morton made it two wins in two home matches with a comfortable victory over a managerless, injury ravaged Dundee side.

Davie Irons went with the same team that beat Clyde 1-0 last week with only one change enforced upon him; Allan Jenkins came in for Stevie Masterton who missed out because of a back injury. Irons seems to keep his cards close to his chest with regard to injured players. It is often the case that you turn up on a Saturday having read in Friday's previews that we have no injury problems only to find that on a Saturday one or more players have dropped out of the squad completely to then find out on Monday that they had some sort of injury.

This match appeared to be under threat due to the torrential rain and swirling winds and this freakish weather almost had a crucial impact on the game. Peter Weatherson's 26th minute opener looked as if the wind might carry it right over the bar into the Wee Dublin End. The Geordie striker used his left foot to lift the ball over a stranded Rab Douglas after the big keeper rushed out to save from a one-on-one with James Grady. Weatherson later admitted that his team mates thought he had missed as well but he was always confident it was going in. As it was the finish was good and Morton were one goal to the good.


Grady has shown with last week's winner against Clyde and his contribution to Peter's goal today that one of his main strengths is playing on the shoulder of the last defender and timing his runs so that he beats the off-side trap when chasing down a through ball. This feature of his earned him the chance to make it 2-0 in the 32nd minute. He burst onto a Jim McAlister through ball but dragged his right foot shot horribly wide. This finish was in stark contrast to his clinical finish against Clyde a week ago.

However, the former Dundee man continued to terrorise his old club and his nippy style was causing havoc in the opposition box and eventually led to the second goal. He took possession on the outside right corner of the Dundee box and tried to lift the ball between Darren Williams and Craig McKeown to carve as quick a route to goal as possible. The ball struck Williams' hand and referee Craig Thomson - yes, that Craig Thomson - pointed to the spot. A harsh decision in my opinion - perhaps Thomson was subconsciously atoning for his decision to disallow Chirs Templeman's goal at Hamilton Accies last season. Whatever the reason Ryan McGuffie - who was having a poor match up until this point - used the inside of his right foot to expertly place his penalty into the top right hand corner of Douglas' net.

The match finished 2-0. So that's two wins in a row and two clean sheets in a row. This has been in no small part to the return from injury of both Stewart Greacen and David MacGregor. Both players were excellent on Saturday but one man stood head and shoulders above the rest, as usual: Dominic Shimmin. The Dominator was, quite simply, awesome. Calm, composed, strong, quick - the boy has it all. The big question has to be: how long can we keep a hold of him? Not long I'd suggest although the increasing attention he's receiving has led Davie Irons to, in a Tony Fitzpatrick-esque moment ( he claimed Ricky Gillies would walk into the AC Milan team), slap a £5 million price tag on Shimmin's head and claim he'd only sell to Real Madrid. In a tongue-in-cheek moment Irons said: “The chairman’s put a £5million price tag on him already. Dom knows what he’s got to do. He’s come up here to develop his career. He’s had a good schooling at Arsenal, you can see he’s played. He’s totally dedicated, he loves the club, his team-mates; he’s committed to us. Unless Real Madrid come in for him I don’t think he’ll want to leave.”

I think it's far to early to say we've turned the corner but a win at Livingston next week would be a big step in convincing me otherwise.


Morton (4-4-2):

1. Cuthbert - 7
2. MacGregor - 7
3. Smith - 7
4. Shimmin - 9
5. Greacen (c) - 8
6. Jenkins - 7
7. Finlayson - 6
8. McGuffie - 5 (14. Wake - 89 mins)
9. Weatherson - 7
10. Grady - 7
11. McAlister - 7

Subs Not Used:

12. Paartalu
15. Russell
16. McManus
20. Stewart

Booked:

Cuthbert
MacGregor Shimmin Greacen Smith
Finlayson McGuffie Jenkins McAlister
Weatherson Grady

Dundee: Douglas, Paton, Malone, Dodds, McKeown, Williams, Daquin (Gilhaney 70), Posniak, Davidson, Antoine-Curier, O'Brien (Mearns 86).

Subs Not Used: Roy, Deasley, Benedictus

Booked: McKeown.


My man of the match: Dominic Shimmin

Sponsor's man of the match: Dominic Shimmin


Matchday Programme (Click to enlarge)














Greenock Telegraph match report

Greenock Telegraph - match reaction

BBC match report

Daily Record match report

dundee.co.uk - match report

Tontastic pictures