31/03/2009

Irons Banned From Dugout

Morton boss Davie Irons has been given a four match ban by the SFA after an altercation with Scott McLaughlin in the tunnel after the game against Airdrie at Cappielow on the 10th of March. - but is set to appeal the decision.

Irons (pictured, left) told the Greenock Telegraph's Roger Graham about the incident, he said: “I was shaking hands with the Airdrie players as they came down the tunnel when one of them barged into me and mouthed off at me. The linesman has made out that I adopted an aggressive attitude.”

Irons doesn't name McLaughlin directly but says “He was released from here last season. There’s a bit of history with him.” Which, as Graham points out in his article, means that the player must be McLaughlin.

According to the SFA website the ban is supposed to be effective from 24.03.2009. However, the date has an asterisk which means that the 'application of automatic suspension is being contested'. In his article Roger Graham suggests that the appeal will not be heard until the season is over.

Greenock Telegraph - Irons Appeal Against Ban Of Four Matches (31.03.2009)

SFA - List Of Club Officials' Suspensions Thursday March 26, 2009

27/03/2009

Ross County 1 - 1 Morton

Ross County 1 - Keddie (44)
Morton 1 - Russell (91)

Att: 2236


Match report to follow...









Morton (3-5-2):


1. Cuthbert - 6
2. McManus - 7
3. Walker - 6
4. Paartalu - 6 (14. Russell - 62 mins)
5. Greacen (c) - 7
6. Jenkins - 6
7. Finlayson - 6
8. Masterton - 6
9. Weatherson - 6 (15. McGuffie - 73 mins)
10. Grady - 6 (12. Wake - 53 mins)
11. McAlister - 6

Subs Not Used:

16. Smith
20. Cannon

Cuthbert
Greacen McManus Walker
Finlayson Masterton Paartalu Jenkins McAlister
Weatherson Grady


Ross County: Malin, Corrigan, Keddie, McCulloch, Boyd, Watt, Brittain (Strachan 80), Lawson, Craig, Daal (Scott 89), Gardyne (Hart 73).

Subs Not Used: Brewster, Soutar.


My man of the match: Iain Russell

Sponsor's man of the match:


Matchday Programme (Click to enlarge)












Greenock Telegraph match reaction

BBC match report

The Daily Record match report

The Scottish Sun match report

Morton 2 - 0 Clyde

Morton 2 - Jenkins (18), Masterton (68 pen)
Clyde 0 -

Att: 2168

Match report to follow...











Morton (3-5-2):

1. Cuthbert - 7
2. McManus - 8
3. Walker - 7
4. Masterton - 7
5. Greacen (c) - 8
6. Jenkins - 9
7. Finlayson - 6
8. McGuffie - 7 (15. Paartalu - 51 mins)
9. Weatherson - 7
10. Grady - 6 (12. Wake - 65 mins)
11. McAlister - 6

Subs Not Used:

14. Russell
16. Smith
20. Cannon

Booked: Paartalu.

Cuthbert
Greacen McManus Walker
Finlayson McGuffie Masterton Jenkins McAlister
Weatherson Grady


Clyde: Hutton, Stevenson, Waddell, Higgins, Gibson, Lithgow, Trouten (Tade 46), Marvyn Wilson, Gemmill (Cherrie 68) , Kettlewell (Ruari MacLennan 46), McLaren

Subs Not Used: Brown, O'Reilly.

Booked: Hutton.

Sent Off: Hutton (68)


My man of the match: Allan Jenkins

Sponsor's man of the match:


Matchday Programme (Click to enlarge)

Lost my programme on a night out.












Greenock Telegraph match report

Greenock Telegraph match reaction

BBC match report

The Daily Record match report

Tontastic pictures

18/03/2009

Lack Of Updates

Apologies for the lack of updates in the last couple of weeks. I will try to get a match report for the Clyde game as soon as possible and hopefully normal service will resume from Friday onwards.

11/03/2009

Morton 0 - 0 Airdrie United

Morton 0 -
Airdrie United 0 -

Att: 1865

Morton couldn't break down a stubborn Airdrie side who came to Cappielow with the one intention - to frustrate and contain the home team in the search for a point.

The only change to the side that drew with Queen Of The South on Saturday was the return of Dominic Shimmin at Chris Smith's expense. Smith dropped out of the squad while Alex Walker retained his place on the bench. It's also interesting to note that Airdrie were without winger Joe Cardle - who was very impressive in their last trip to Cappielow - as he'd been released by Kenny Black after he was sent off for barging into his own captain, Marc Smyth, in their match against Livingston. This was on top of his decision to sign a pre-contract agreement with Dunfermline without telling his manager.



In all the games I've ever been to I can't remember a time when a team came to Cappielow and started time wasting from the first minute but that's exactly what Airdrie did. Every throw in or goal kick was stretched out as long as possible to such an extent that the referee actually started to tell the Diamonds players to get a move on - in the middle of the first half.


In spite of Airdrie's attempts to frustrate the home side Morton had a few decent efforts in the first half. Ryan McGuffie's well struck long range effort was tipped over by Stephen Robertson in the Airdrie goal. Peter Weatherson was the next to test the Airdrie number one with a wicked curling effort however Robertson got down quickly and used both arms to push the ball wide.

The only real 'chance' I can remember Airdrie having was when Kevin Cuthbert totally misjudged a high free-kick and the ball went right over his head and just as the ball looked to be rolling into an empty net Shimmin appeared from behind Cuthbert (from my seat I couldn't see the Dominator as he was right behind Cuthbert in my view) to clear the danger.


The second half was more of the same except Airdrie were sitting even deeper now and in our struggle to break down their stubborn resistance we often resorted to long balls. Over the season I've been very critical of our long ball approach (although the last three matches before this one have been a vast improvement) but last night I felt that it wasn't by design but almost by necessity as our opponents were so compact, and defended so deep, that it was almost impossible for us to get through them. This uber-defensive approach is particularly problematic for Morton due to the fact we lack any sort of guile or creative influence in midfield. Allan McManus, Stewart Greacen and Shimmin passed the ball along the back line looking for angles or for players from the midfield to drop off and pick the ball up but the midfield were reluctant to do so and there just wasn't the space to play through them; so, in reality, the defence had no other option but to punt the ball forward.



However, we still managed to create a few decent chances in the second period. Weatherson manufactured an excellent opening for himself when he dropped his shoulder and dragged the ball past the defender on the inside but Robertson rushed from his line and just blocked Peter's attempt to dink it over him. Weatherson is looking leaner and fitter than he has in a long time and his work rate has increased ten fold. In the past he'd amble about up front waiting on the ball to come to him but on Tuesday night he was harrying defenders and chasing down lost causes. One incident that springs to mind is when he closed down a defender who passed the ball back to a team mate closer to goal, instead of stopping Peter chased down the player now in possession of the ball and then attempted to get back again after he passed it on. Keep it up Spoonsy!



Our next chance saw Robertson pull off the save of the match. Stevie Masterton whipped over a free-kick which Greacen met with a powerful header that looked for all the world like it was destined for the back of the net but Robertson flung up a hand and somehow got the ball over the bar. I've always distinguished between outstanding saves and good saves that a keeper shouldn't be allowed to make that some other people claim as outstanding saves (eg Lee Robinson's save from Iain Russell I talked about in the match report for the Queen Of The South game) and at least two of Robertson's saves in this match were truly outstanding, the kind that you cannot believe he's saved. Robertson - a player we offered a contract to in the summer - was my man of the match in this one and I'd go as far as to say he's the best keeper in this division. Every time I've seen him he pulls off a number of excellent saves and without him Airdrie would probably be relegated already.



I'm currently reading a book by David Goldblatt called The Ball Is Round: A Global History Of Football. The chapter I'm reading at the moment is all about how AC Milan and Inter invented Catenaccio (literally 'door-bolt'). This defensive system focused on getting a clean sheet and anything else was seen as a bonus. I'm not going to give Airdrie credit and suggest that Kenny Black is a modern day Helenio Herrera but his side did come to Cappielow with a Catenaccio-like game plan. They were incredibly cautious and defensive and you could see, particularly in the second half, that they would be delighted to come away with a 0-0. Unfortunately,to the frustration of the Morton players, support and manager, they achieved their goal as we failed to score any of the limited number of chances we managed to create in the second half.

The thinking amongst Catenaccio devotees was that 0-0 was the perfect score of the perfect game - I think they'd change their mind if they were at Cappielow on Tuesday night.

Morton (3-5-2):

1. Cuthbert - 6
2. McManus - 8
3. Shimmin - 7 (16. Walker - 70 mins)
4. Paartalu - 7 (15. Masterton - 50 mins)
5. Greacen (c) - 8
6. Jenkins - 7
7. Finlayson - 6
8. McGuffie - 6
9. Weatherson - 7
10. Grady - 7 (14. Russell - 62 mins)
11. McAlister - 6

Subs Not Used:

12. Wake
20. Cannon

Booked: Greacen.

Cuthbert
Greacen McManus Shimmin
Paartalu
Finlayson McGuffie Jenkins McAlister
Weatherson Grady


Airdrie: Robertson, McLachlan, Nixon (Lovering 82), Smyth, Donnelly, McLaughlin, Darren Smith, McKenna, Di Giacomo, Baird, McDonald (Lynch 71).

Subs Not Used: McDougall, Mcguire, Hollis.

Booked: Donnelly.


My man of the match: Stephen Robertson (Airdrie United)

Sponsor's man of the match:


Matchday Programme (Click to enlarge)














Greenock Telegraph match report

BBC match report

The Scottish Sun match report

The Daily Record match report

Tontastic pictures

10/03/2009

Queen Of The South 1 - 1 Morton

Queen Of The South 1 - Lancaster (72)
Morton 1 - Grady (41)

Att: 2643

Morton made it three games unbeaten with this draw at Palmerston but might feel they should've won it.

There was only one change to the team that won the two previous matches against Dunfermline and Clyde which was Chris Smith's inclusion at Alex Walker's expense. Walker ruled himself out due to personal reasons and not, as Davie Irons was at pains to point out, because of the mistake he made in the Clyde match.



This performance wasn't quite up there with the previous two but we were probably still worth the three points over the piece. However, Queens probably made the better start as Kevin Cuthbert was called into action on a couple of occasions early on. He made a decent block to deny Tosh around about the 2oth minute and shortly after he had to be alert to gather Stewart Kean's effort after it had taken a deflection.



We weren't without our own chances and could'vetaken an early lead when Jim McAlister collected an Erik Paartalu pass. However, as is often the case Jim lacked composure at the crucial time and failed to hit the target with his left footed effort.

James Grady also had a header saved by former Morton goalkeeper Lee Robinson before he broke the deadlock four minutes before half-time. ARobinson pushed a powerful Weatherson free-kick round the post, Jim McAlister flighted over the corner from the right and an unmarked Grady headed home from about 4 yards out. Grady's height may have been an advatage in this situation as the Queens defence probably concentrated on marking Morton's taller players leaving Grady to slip in unnoticed and head past Robinson. The keeper - on loan from Rangers - appeared to flap at the corner - something Morton fans will idenitify with as it seemed to be a regular occurence at the start of his season at Cappielow.



So we went in at half-time 1-0 up and the consensus seemed to be that we were looking good for the win. Unfortunately we were wrong.

Iain Russell replaced Grady in the 61st minute and had a glorious chance to put the result beyond doubt. Finlayson's angled cross from the right was missed by the entire Queens' defence but Russell had cleverly anticipated what would happen and got in a position behind the last defender and this allowed him a clear goalscoring chance when the ball did fall him to him. The Dumfries born striker's side-footed effort with his left foot lacked conviction and Robinson flung himself low to make the block with his outstretched arms. Some people say this is a great save - and it was - but I've always been of the opinion that the striker shouldn't even give the goalkeeper a chance to make the save in a situation like this.





As it happened we would regret this miss when Queen Of The South equalised about 5 minutes later. Bob Harris collected a short corner on the edge of the box and flighted a cross to the back post where Martyn Lancaster somehow managed to squeeze a header between Cuthbert and the post. This was a very poor goal to concede. We went to sleep and didn't pick up Harris who was unmarked on the edge of the box and going by the third picture on the qosfc.com match report McManus wasn't close enough to Lancaster while Cuthbert and McAlister look like they really should've managed to keep the header out.



The only real effort on goal after the equaliser came when Stephen Dobbie made space for himself and fired a shot away but Cuthbert was equal to it.

So we had to be content with a point but I just felt that on the balance of play we deserved the win however a draw at Palmerston can't be considered a bad result, especially on the back of two wins.

Morton (3-5-2):

1. Cuthbert - 7
2. McManus - 6
3. Smith - 6
4. Paartalu - 7 (15. Masterton - 79 mins)
5. Greacen (c) - 8
6. Jenkins - 8
7. Finlayson - 6
8. McGuffie - 6
9. Weatherson - 7 (12. Wake - 82 mins)
10. Grady - 7 (14. Russell - 61 mins)
11. McAlister - 7

Subs Not Used:

16. Walker
20. Cannon

Booked: McManus, Weatherson.

Cuthbert
Greacen McManus Smith
Paartalu
Finlayson McGuffie Jenkins McAlister
Weatherson Grady


QotS: Robinson, Lancaster, Aitken, Thompson, McCann (Wilson 67), Harris, Robertson (McQuilken 76), Tosh, Burns (MacFarlane 9), Kean, Dobbie.

Subs Not Used: Halliwell, Weatherston.

Booked: Robertson, Lancaster.


My man of the match: Allan Jenkins

Sponsor's man of the match:


Matchday Programme (Click to enlarge)














Greenock Telegraph match report

Greenock Telegraph - match reaction

BBC match report

The Scottish Sun match report

The Daily Record match report

qosfc.com - match report

Tontastic pictures

06/03/2009

Only 5 Places Left In Fans' Charity Match

On the 16th of May 2009 the Greenock Morton Supporters' Trust will be running the 3rd annual fans' charity match - titled 'Morton Aid - The Cappielow Challenge Cup 2009' - but if you want to be part of it you'll have to get your bid for a place in soon as only 5 jerseys remain unsold.

The event gives Morton fans the chance to bid for a place in one of the two fans' teams. Bidding for a shirt starts at £100 while £200 will secure your place (£250 for the captain's armband) and gives you the chance to play a full XI a-side match on the pitch at Cappielow under the guidance of either Davie Irons or Derek Collins. You will be kitted out in a full Morton strip (home or away depending on your team) which you will be able to keep as a souvenir of the day. You also bid in the knowledge that the money you have spent will be put straight back into the club by aiding youth development - so it's win win for Ton fans.

To secure a place check how the bidding is going by clicking here and then email fansgame2009@gmst.org.uk to make your bid.

Cappielow will be open to spectators in the day.

Details: http://gmst.org.uk/fansgame/

Pictures from the first game (2007): http://www.tontastic.com/index.cgi?dir=2007-04-29-Supporters-Game&med=i&pag=1

Pictures from lasy years game (2008): http://www.tontastic.com/index.cgi?dir=2008-05-17-Social-H-Supporters-Game

Bidding and Line-Ups: http://gmst.org.uk/fansgame/bids.htm

Greenock Telegraph - Your Chance To Play At Cappielow (25.02.2009)

05/03/2009

Mark McLaughlin: Morton Made Me Hate Football

Greenock-born Hamilton Accies defender Mark McLaughlin has revealed that his time as a youth at Morton made him quit the game.

In the preview for the Hamilton v Hibs SPL encounter McLaughlin (pictured, above left: marking Ryan McGuffie last season) told the Sunday Mail's Scott mcdermott of his spell at Cappielow:

When I was at Morton only one person, Derek McInnes, encouraged me. I'd been at Cappielow from age 11 and left at 17. I could have gone full-time but as a YTS on £30 a week. So I got a job and was earning a few hundred a week. I had bills to pay and had bought a car. Morton still wanted me to come in and train but I'd have missed out on an hour's overtime. I wanted the club to cover that but they said no. Surely if they rated me that highly they could have paid £15 a night? I ended up telling them to release me. I stopped playing football for a year and a half - I was fed up and hated it.

Then an Under-21 team, Port Glasgow Rangers, asked me to join. A lot of my pals played with them, persuaded me it was just a kick about and I'd enjoy it. They were right - I started to love football again. Then I got a move to Arthurlie.



Sunday Mail - SPL Preview: Hamilton v Hibs (01.03.2009)

2nd Division Winners' Medal For Sale

A winners' medal from Morton's 2006/07 Scottish Second Division title winning season has been put up for auction on ebay.

The medal (pictured, left and below) - which has 'SECOND DIVISION WINNERS 2006/07' inscribed on the reverse - was put up for sale by a user called sport12gif who has claimed, in an email to greenockmorton.org user pedro.mcghee, that he is: "selling on behalf of a friend as they don't have an ebay account, they bought at a charity auction to which the medal was donated from someone at the club".



The auction ends on Sunday the 8th of March at 21:45:38 GMT. After 13 bids the current top bid sits at £510.01.



The auction has sparked a lot of speculation as to whose medal it actually is. Point 34.1 in the SFL's constitution and rules states:

34.1 The League shall present to each of the Championship clubs of the First, Second and Third Divisions a flag and 20 gold medals, the value whereof to be fixed by the Management Committee.

On the basis that Morton received 20 medals the following players and staff would have probably been those who would have been given a medal: Jim McInally, Martin Clark, Paul Mathers, David McGurn, Alex Walker, David MacGregor, Stewart Greacen, Ryan Harding, Kevin Finlayson, Dean Keenan, Jim McAlister, Scott McLaughlin, Chris Millar, Jamie Stevenson, Paul McGowan, Peter Weatherson, Chris Templeman, Bobby Linn, Derek Lilley and Ryan Russell - take your pick.




ebay.co.uk - Greenock Morton League Div. 2 winners medal 2006/07 (item number: 320345976228)

04/03/2009

Clyde 2 - 4 Morton

Clyde 2 - MacLennan (44), Gemmill (45)
Morton 4 - Paartalu (32), Russell (70), Wake (86, 90)

Att: 1165

Morton's super subs Iain Russell and Brian Wake won us a crucial three points at Broadwood last night after Billy Gibson's red card rocked Clyde.

In an adventurous move Davie Irons went with the same team that beat Dunfermline 2-1 on Saturday. This also meant sticking with a 3-5-2 formation - something I didn't think he would do away from home.



Morton made the brighter start and could've taken the lead early on however Jim McAlister passed up two decent chances. On both occasions he arrived at the back post to get on the end of crosses from the right but failed to properly connect with either of them and they both ended up going straight at David Hutton in the Clyde goal who collected with ease.



We took the lead our play merited in the 32nd minute. Erik Paartalu - back in the team for the last two matches after a fairly lengthy spell on the bench - strode on to Kevin Finlayson's pass inside and curled a sublime effort into Hutton's top right-hand corner with the inside of his left foot. An absolutely stunning finishing that seemed to energise Paartalu and give him much needed confidence for the rest of the match.



We weren't exactly playing a scintillating brand of football but it was pleasing to see that we weren't just resorting to long aimless punts all the time. A real indicator of this new style of play was evident when Alex Walker pushed down the left, looked up and was about to clip a long ball down the line when he suddenly paused, had a think (maybe about his manager's instructions or Dougie Rae's programme notes) and pushed on with the ball down the line. We were mixing it up by sometimes getting the ball forward quickly but also slowing the play down and trying to build up some momentum by passing the ball around probing for gaps. The team really deserves credit for this because the weather was so bad and the pitch so drenched (see picture below) that, for once, they could've been forgiven for resorting to long balls.



However, for all our positive play and domination we went in 2-1 down at half-time after some crazy defending saw us concede two goals in the last minute of the half. For the first Walker skinned one Clyde attacker but was dispossessed by a second, Ruari MacLennan, who drove on and slotted past Cuthbert to equalise. This really was calamitous defending by Walker who stood with his head in his hands as Clyde celebrated. About 40 seconds later it was two. The shell-shocked Ton defence allowed Gregory Tade to get down the left and the former Stranraer man whipped over a near post cross which an unmarked Scott Gemill arrived right on time to head past Cuthbert with ease.



Brian Wake replaced Grady at half-time. Grady appeared to be knackered after about 20 mins and it looks to me as if he has been rushed back to first team action too soon.

In the second half we took the game to Clyde from the off but I really couldn't see us scoring (in fact I could see us getting caught out on the counter, which we almost did on three occasions but on each occasion the Clyde through ball, past a static Ton defence, was overweighted) that was until Billy Gibson was sent-off for a second bookable offence when he tripped Allan Jenkins - who was a real driving force and immense all night - to end another of his marauding runs. The red card proved to be the games turning point as Irons went for the kill by putting Iain Russell on for Ryan McGuffie and going to a 3-4-3 formation.



The Clyde defence were all over the place as Russell and Jenkins drove at them time and again and it was through these two that we equalised in the 70th minute. Jenkins chased down a lost cause, harried a couple of defenders and disposessed former Morton target Stuart Kettlewell. He then squared the ball to Russell who side footed past Hutton from around the penalty spot, 2-2.

The goal that put us in the lead was similar. Russell came in from the right, headered past a defender to Masterton whose low strike deflected off of Wake and flew into the net past a wrong footed Hutton.



Wake wrapped up the win when he collected a Russell pass inside the box, took a touch to compose himself and swivelled to hook a shot across Hutton into the far corner. The sort of finish that makes you wonder which player the real Wakey is. Is he the slow, ponderous, leaden footed striker or the deadly penalty box predator who saved us from relegation last season and who, despite lots of criticism, is still our top scorer with 10 goals in all competitions this season.

This was a well deserved win in horrendous conditions. Credit to the manager for his substitutions, the players for their effort, desire and attempts to play decent football - and to Billy Gibson for throwing us an all important life line.

Morton (3-5-2):

1. Cuthbert - 7
2. McManus - 7
3. Walker - 6
4. Paartalu - 8
5. Greacen (c) - 8
6. Jenkins - 9 (16. Masterton - 79 mins)
7. Finlayson - 7
8. McGuffie - 6 (14. Russell - 65 mins)
9. Weatherson - 8
10. Grady - 6 (12. Wake - 46 mins)
11. McAlister - 6

Subs Not Used:

15. Smith
20. Cannon

Booked: Jenkins, Weatherson



Cuthbert
McManus Greacen Walker
Paartalu
Finlayson McGuffie Jenkins McAlister
Weatherson Grady

70 mins onwards

Cuthbert
Greacen McManus Walker
Finlayson Paartalu Jenkins McAlister
Russell Weatherson Wake



Clyde: Hutton, Brown, Ruari MacLennan, Higgins, Gibson, Lithgow, Kettlewell (Trouten 86), Tade, Gemmill (Wilson 86), Stevenson (O'Reilly 88), McLaren.

Subs Not Used: McSwegan, Cherrie.

Booked: Gibson
Sent-Off: Gibson (61)


My man of the match: Allan Jenkins

Sponsor's man of the match:


Matchday Programme (Click to enlarge)










BBC match report

The Greenock Telegraph - match report

The Scottish Sun - match report

The Daily Record - match report

clydefc.co.uk - match report

Tontastic pictures

03/03/2009

Morton 2 - 1 Dunfermline Athletic

Morton 2 - Weatherson (28), Greacen (48)
Dunfermline Athletic 1 - Kirk (83 pen)

Att: 2092

Match highlights from dafc.premiumtv.co.uk

Davie Irons and his fired up Morton side were inspired to victory by Dougie Rae's stinging criticism in the official matchday programme.

After the appalling showing at Partick Thistle Irons made some changes in an attempt to freshen up his side. He went with a 3-5-2 with Chris Smith dropping to the bench and Allan McManus replacing the injured Dominic Shimmin at the back. In midfield Allan Jenkins came in for Stevie Masterton while Erik Paartalu took Smith's place and played in a holding role in front of the defence. James Grady replaced Brian Wake up front.



Rae's comments must have got through to Irons because we played decent football right from the start. I was sitting in the seats at the front of the Cowshed with my 4-year-old son(who, incidentally, loves Cappie the Cat) so I got a perfect view of a silky move down Morton's right hand side - just the kind of football the 'Ton faithful are crying out for, especially as we know the team are capable of it. Kevin Finlayson collected a pass from Greacen, he drew in his marker and passed the ball to McGuffie with the outside of his right boot and surged forward. McGuffie let the ball run through his legs and at the last moment flicked the ball with his instep round his marker and right into Finners' path. The move came to nothing in the end but had all those around me were on their feet clapping in appreciation. Good football goes a long way with football fans and Irons would do well to remember that.



We were dominating the match and creating plenty of chances. McGuffie, Peter Weatherson and Jim McAlister all went close before we took the lead in the 27th minute. Unfortunately I missed this goal as I had my boy at the toilet and then in the queue for a packet of crisps. There's nothing more annoying than sitting watching the match intently 'praying' for a goal for 25 minutes then as soon as you go to the toilet or the pie stall you hear the murmur of the crowd turn to shouts of 'go on, go on, cooooome onnnn... YESSSSSSSS!!!' and a massive roar as you stand helpless waiting on a bag of cheese and onion Walkers. As I didn't see the goal I'll leave the Greenock Telegraph's Roger Graham to describe it for you:

McGuffie’s pass between a Fifer’s legs found McAlister running free down the left wing and his early, whipped cross arrived perfectly for Weatherson to jacknife a header in at the back post.




Morton legend Jim Holmes made the half-time draw but was really at the game to watch his son Graeme play for Dunfermline. Unfortunately Graeme was strecthered from the field and replaced by Rory Loy in the 35th minute.

We finished the half strongly and almost doubled our lead but Gallacher held McGuffie's shot. We also had a pretty strong penalty claim turned down by referee Mike Tumilty. Jenkins burst into the left side of the Dunfermline box and appeared to be tripped / pushed to the ground by Greg Shields but the ref waved play on and so it was still 1-0 Morton as we went into the half time break.



We picked up exactly were we left off in the first half and scored within 3 minutes of the re-start. A Finlayson corner(which are surprisingly good) was flicked on by McManus at the near post. The ball fell perfectly for Greacen at the back post. The 'Ton captain missed the first chance but made no mistake at the second time of asking.

Following his goal Greacen seemed to turn into a magnet in the opposition box. A series of corners and crosses all presented him with chances to extend our lead but on each occasion he came close but just not close enough.

In a desperate attempt to take something from a game that was rapidly slipping away from him Jim McIntyre went to a back three with three up front and made a couple of substitutions: Jamie Mole replaced Scott Thomson after 57 minutes and Calum Woods replaced Stephen Glass 10 minutes later - and it almost worked for him. Irons countered the Pars'3 up front by putting Chris Smith on for Paartalu and reverting to a back four. You can understand Irons logic but the changes gave Dunfermline the attacking impetus. They pulled one back when Jim McAlister was adjudged to have tripped Steven Bell right on the corner of the 'Ton box. I didn't think it was a foul but crucially Tumilty did and Northern Ireland international Andy Kirk sent Kevin Cuthbert the wrong way with the spot kick.

We managed to hold on for the three points but not before Jamie Mole missed a glorious chance to equalise when he fired straight at Cuthbert with only the keeper to beat. Mole was under pressure from a couple of Morton defenders but he really should've scored.

This was a decent win and a very encouraging performance considering the previous match at Firhill. More of the same please Morton.

Morton (3-5-2):

1. Cuthbert - 7
2. McManus - 8
3. Walker - 7
4. Paartalu - 6 (15. Smith - 69 mins)
5. Greacen (c) - 8
6. Jenkins - 8
7. Finlayson - 7
8. McGuffie - 7
9. Weatherson - 8 (12. Russell - 91 mins)
10. Grady - 7 (14. Wake - 82 mins)
11. McAlister - 7

Subs Not Used:

16. McGeough
20. Cannon

Booked: Greacen



Cuthbert
McManus Greacen Walker
Paartalu
Finlayson Jenkins McGuffie McAlister
Weatherson Grady


Dunfermline Athletic: Gallacher, Scott Thomson (Mole 57), Wilson, Phinn, Shields, McCann, Bell, Glass (Woods 68), Bayne, Kirk, Holmes (Loy 36).

Subs Not Used: Burke, Reidford.


My man of the match: Stewart Greacen

Sponsor's man of the match:


Matchday Programme (Click to enlarge)










BBC match report

The Greenock Telegraph - match report

The Greenock Telegraph - match reaction

The Scottish Sun - match report

The Daily Record - match report

dafc.premiumtv.co.uk - match report

Tontastic pictures