Queen Of The South 2 - 3 Morton

Queen of the South 2 - Wilson (86), Kean (90)
Morton 3 - Graham (13), Weatherson (39), Jenkins (60)

Att: 2630 (Morton support: 268)




Morton survived a late scare at Palmerston and in doing so made it two wins out of two for caretaker managers James Grady and Allan McManus.

Grady - who seems to be the more managerially dominant of the two caretakers - favours the 4-4-2 formation stating that if it is good enough for the top teams it was good enough for him. Two wins out of two means he might be onto something. The only changes were in personnel as David MacGregor replaced the injured Alex Walker and Carlo Monti came in for Erik Paartalu. The second change meant that Grady could continue with the team who finished strongly against Airdrie: Jim McAlister on the right, Monti on the left and Allan Jenkins back in a central position.



Morton always seem to do well at Palmerston and we got off to a great start when Brian Graham opened the scoring in the 13th minute. Peter Weatherson fed a ball in from the right and Graham took a touch before turning his man and sweeping a well placed left foot shot into David Hutton's bottom left hand corner. Graham was to go on to have an outstanding match. His hold up play was excellent, particularly when you consider that he doesn't have the physique of a guy like Weatherson, and so much rely on an excellent first touch to knock the ball away from the defender rather than using his strength to back into the defender.

Peter Weatherson seems to relish playing against his old side - "I've got fond memories of my time here and I just seem to come alive when I'm back." - and added his customary Palmerston strike when he rose above his marker to head home Monti's inswinging corner.



Another man who enjoys his trips to Dumfries is Allan Jenkins. Jenkins hails from Stranraer and played for his home town team and Gretna - both of whom are (or in Gretna's case, were) Queen of the South's nearest and dearest rivals. He's always given a hot reception by the home fans but managed to shut them up, just like he did in the same fixture last season, by scoring in the 60th minute. Jenks headed home powerfully after McAlister had headed MacGregor's cross back across goal (pictured, above left).

It looked to be game, set and match as the Ton continued to trouble the Queens rearguard but a worrying collapse in the last four minutes let the home side right back into the game. First Barry Wilson side footed home from Stewart Kean's cross and then Kean scored himself when he burst into the box and smashed a shot past colin Stewart. For a moment it looked like Stewart had saved the shot but he only succeeded in palming it into the net.



The come back came just too late as Morton managed to hold on for an excellent win against the team who up until this match were top of the league. These are three points that will do no harm to James Grady's chances of getting the managers job on a permanent basis.


Morton (4-4-2):

1. Stewart - 7
2. MacGregor - 7
3. Monti - 8
4. McManus - 7
5. Greacen - 7
6. MacFarlane - 7
7. Finlayson - 7
8. Jenkins - 8
9. Graham - 8 (15. McGuffie - 88 mins)
10. Weatherson - 7
11. McAlister - 7

Unused Subs:

12. Paartalu
14. Harding
16. Gordon
20. McWilliams

Stewart
Finlayson Greacen McManus MacGregor
McAlister Jenkins MacFarlane Monti
Graham Weatherson

Queen of the South: Hutton, Reid, Harris, Lilley, McAusland, McKenna, Burns, Wilson, McLaren (McQuilken 56), Holmes, Wyness (Kean 77).

Subs Not Used: McLaughlan, Thomson, Roy.

Booked: Harris.

My man of the match: Brian Graham

Sponsor's man of the match: Stewart Kean (QotS)


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