Morton 1 - 0 Ayr United

Morton 1 - Masterton (79)
Ayr United 0 -

Att: 1,289

Super Sub: Substitute Stevie Masterton scored the winning goal within five minutes of coming on to hand Morton a win in a crucial relegation 'six-pointer' versus Ayr United.

James Grady made four chances to the team that lost 3-0 at Airdrie at the weekend, three of which were forced and one was through choice. Kevin Cuthbert was suspended after his red card at the Excelsior Stadium, so Colin Stewart started in goal. Allan Jenkins and Dominic Shimmin both missed out through injury and their places were taken by Michale Tidser and Stewart Greacen. Peter Weatherson replaced Donovan Simmonds up front.

Much like the game at Somerset Park last month, Morton absolutely dominated the first period, creating chance after chance. But we failed to convert any of the numerous chances we created.

Full match report to follow...





Morton (4-4-2):

1. Colin Stewart - 8
2. Ryan McGuffie - 7
3. Kevin McKinlay - 6 (16. Stevie Masterton - 74 mins)
4. David MacGregor - 7
5. Stewart Greacen (c) - 7
6. Neil MacFarlane - 7
7. Kevin Finlayson - 5
8. Michael Tidser - 8 (15. Erik Paartalu - 83 mins)
9. Peter Weatherson - 6 (12. Donovan Simmonds - 67 mins)
10. David Witteveen - 7
11. Jim McAlister - 7

Unused Subs:

14. Brian Graham
20. Ryan McWilliams

Booked: Tidser, McAlister.

Stewart
McGuffie MacGregor Greacen McKinlay
Finlayson MacFarlane Tidser McAlister
Witteveen Weatherson

Ayr United: Craig Samson; Chris Mitchell, Martyn Campbell (Kevin James, 48), Andrew Aitken, Daniel Lafferty; Kenneth Connolly (Junior Mendes, 81), Ryan McGowan, Steve Bowey, Ryan Borris (Alistair Woodburn, 37); Tam McManus, Mark Roberts.

Unused Subs: Billy Gibson, Stephen Grindlay.

Booked: Woodburn.


My man of the match: Michael Tidser

Sponsor's man of the match:


Matchday Programme (Click to enlarge)

Greenock Telegraph - Match Report

Daily Record - Match Report

bbc sport - Match Report

Tontastic Photographs

Two Leave On Loan

Morton striker Iain Russell has been sent out on loan for the second time this season.

The 27-year-old has joined Second Division side Stirling Albion on loan until the end of the season. Previously, he had spent a couple of months on loan with Alloa Athletic.

Meanwhile, third choice goalkeeper Ryan McWilliams has also been farmed out for the remainder of the season. He joins junior side Largs Thistle, who currently play in the Stagecoach Super League Premier Division.

Fortunately, the terms Ryan's loan agreement mean that he can still feature for Morton, so he will be on the bench for tonight's match against Ayr United after Kevin Cuthbert was sent off on Saturday.

gmfc.net - Player News (26.03.2010)

Airdrie United 3 - 0 Morton

Airdrie United 3 - McGuffie o.g. (34), Lovering (56 pen, 65 pen)
Morton 0 -

Att: 1,017

Reffin' Hell: Referee Brian Colvin had a busy afternoon as he awarded Airdrie three penalties, sent off Morton goalkeeper Kevin Cuthbert and waved away two Ton penalty appeals. However, most of these decisions were correct - it was his general refereeing performance that was the problem.

James Grady made three changes to the side that drew 1-1 with Raith Rovers in midweek. After impressing as a substitute in that game, it was no surprise that Kevin Finlayson replaced Stevie Masterton at right-midfield. Loan signing David Witteveen made his debut in place of Peter Weatherson, who is rumoured to be carrying a hernia injury.The third change was a real surprise as Neil MacFarlane returned to the starting line-up for the first time since the televised match against Partick Thistle at the start of January.

We almost got off to a great start when, in the 5th minute, Donovan Simmonds skipped past two players out on the right and forced his way into a threatening position in the box, but in the end he hit a tame foot effort that Airdrie goalkeeper Stephen Robertson saved with ease.

The bright start counted for nothing as disaster struck in the 12th minute. Ton goalie Kevin Cuthbert was given his marching orders for pulling back Scott Gemmill inside the box after the Airdrie striker profited from a mix up between Cuthbert and Dominic Shimmin on the edge of the box. This was a huge error by the Morton goalkeeper as there was no need for him to race to the side of his box and even when Gemmill did get past him he should have let him go on and score (or miss) rather than give away a penalty and leave his team facing 78 minutes with ten men.



The Ton custodian, who was only recently restored to the starting eleven, looked crushed as he trudged from the field while being treated to a volley of abuse by the away support.
And he wasn't afforded any sympathy by his manager, who summed up the incident in today's News of the World: "It was a stupid mistake by Kevin Cuthbert and the ref got the decision correct." However, Grady was also treated to a torrent of criticism when he decide to replace new signing Witteveen with sub goalie Colin Stewart. It's a criticism that I don't share as I thought that his only option was to bring off a striker and it was really a toss up between the two.

Amazingly, after all the commotion died down, Stewart saved former Ton youngster Alan Trouten's penalty. The 6' 3" stopper used his long reach to get down to his right and tip the ball round the pot for a corner. I felt that Stewart was harshly dropped a couple of weeks ago, so it was great to see the big man come in and show what he could do.

Unfortunately, this was just delaying the inevitable as Airdrie used their extra man to good effect. It was in the 31st minute that they took the lead. The Diamonds switched the ball quickly from right to left, where Ricky Waddell and found enough space to get a shot away. His strike hit Ryan McGuffie, who got over to close the shot down, and looped over the helpless Stewart and into the back of the net.

The home side should've went in at the interval 2-0 up, but Ryan McCann volleyed into the ground and wide from 8 yards after Diarmuid O'Carroll had nodded the ball down to him.

Grady tried to change things at half-time by bringing off the ineffectual and unfit Allan Jenkins and replacing him with Stevie Masterton, probably with the thinking that our only real chance of nicking a goal was through one of his set-pieces, but it didn't really make much difference.

The league's bottom club almost scored a second just one minute into the second half when O'Carroll met Trouten's cross from out on the right but the Irishman headed over.

The referee was having a nightmare. Every decision was going in Airdrie's favour, and to such an extent that the Airdrie players were laughing about it. There was a particulary bad decision that had Airdrie keeper Robertson running to the subs behind the goal laughing and pointing.

Strangely, I did think that he got it right when he awarded the Diamonds their second penalty of the match in the 56th minute. Kevin McKinlay did brilliant to get across to the right to make an amazing covering slide tackle, but when he got up he appeared to barge into Gemmill with excessive force. Gemmill may well have gone down easy, as other Ton fans have claimed, but I still thought the contact was strong enough to knock him over. Left-back Paul Lovering showed Trouten how it should be done by tucking his penalty into the bottom left hand corner as Stewart dived the other way.

Ten minutes later, referee Colvin pointed to the spot for the third time, and I thought this was the one he got wrong. From where I was sitting, which admittedly was a long way away, it looked like McGuffie and Gemmill tangled legs and both fell to the ground. Lovering didn't care as he stepped up and smashed the penalty to the same side to make it 3-0. Stewart went the right way this time but was beaten by the power.

After this Donovan Simmonds had two penalty appeals turned down - neither of which I thought were penalties - and had a decent effort at goal saved by Robertson in the 68th minute after some neat link up play involving McGuffie, Jim McAlister and Peter Weatherson, who'd come on as a substitute in the second half.

Paul Keegan missed a glorious chance to make it four right at the end when he side-footed wide from inside the six yard box.

In reality, these incidents didn't mean anything as the match was basically over as soon as Cuthbert was sent off in the 12th minute. The team need to put this match firmly behind them and concentrate on getting three points against Ayr United on Tuesday - nothing less will do.


Morton (4-4-2):

1. Kevin Cuthbert - 1
2. Ryan McGuffie - 6
3. Kevin McKinlay - 6
4. Dominic Shimmin - 6
5. David MacGregor - 6
6. Neil MacFarlane - 6 (12. Peter Weatherson - 58 mins)
7. Kevin Finlayson - 6
8. Allan Jenkins - 4 (14. Stevie Masterton - 46 mins - 6)
9. David Witteveen - 3 (20. Colin Stewart - 12 mins - 6)
10. Donovan Simmonds - 6
11. Jim McAlister (c) - 6

Unused Subs:

14. Erik Paartalu
16. Stewart Greacen

Booked: McKinlay.

Sent Off: Kevin Cuthbert (12)

Cuthbert (Stewart)
McGuffie MacGregor Shimmin McKinlay
Finlayson Jenkins (Masterton) MacFarlane McAlister
Witteveen Simmonds

Airdrie United: Stephen Robertson; Simon Storey, Marc Smyth, Bobby Donnelly, Paul Lovering; Alan Trouten, Ryan McCann, Scott McLaughlin, Ricky Waddell; Diarmuid O'Carroll (Kevin Watt, 72), Scott Gemmill (Paul Keegan, 72).

Unused Subs: Tom Parratt, David Nixon, Lee Hollis.


My man of the match: Colin Stewart

Sponsor's man of the match: Scott Gemmill (Airdrie)


Matchday Programme (Click to enlarge)

Greenock Telegraph - Match Report

Scottish Sun - Match Report

bbc sport - Match Report

airdrieunitedfc.com - Match Report

Tontastic Photgraphs

Morton Sign Hearts Striker Witteveen On Loan

Morton have today signed Hearts' Austrian striker David Witteveen on an emergency loan until the end of the season.

The 24-year-old has struggled to make an impact at Tynecastle this season after signing in the summer and has been sent to Cappielow to get some first team football under his belt.

"David was not in the plans much before I came here and I haven't had a chance to see much of him since arriving," Jim Jefferies told Hearts' official website. "He has signed until the end of the season and that gives him the opportunity of some matches. With a number of midweek games coming up, it will also give us a chance to have a look at him and then we will make a judgement."

heartsfc.co.uk - David's Morton Deal (26.03.2010)

BBC Interview - Witteveen: 'SPL A Big Step Up For Me' (21.07.2009)

Douglas Rae: We May Have To Go Part-Time

Morton chairman Douglas Rae (pictured) has stated that the club cannot continue to function as a full-time outfit on the attendances we are getting at the moment.

The Ton have suffered from crippling drops in revenue in recent months with a number of home matches postponed and worryingly decreasing gates for the fixtures that have gone ahead. There were only 1,266 at their match with Airdrie United last Wednesday - a figure that we were regularly topping in the Third Division seven years ago.

"We had our lowest attendance on Wednesday night that we have had for many a day," Rae wrote in his column for the Partick Thistle / Raith Rovers programme. "Only 1,300 or so supporters in the ground. How can we maintain a full-time team based on attendances of less than 1,500? We require 3,500 fans through the turnstiles to be able to operate without incurring losses."



However, it's not just income from gates that is down, there are a whole host of areas in which revenue has dropped. "I know it has been a roller coaster season and that a lot of people have not been happy. Think of how I feel. Reduced attendances, lower sales of programmes, poorer levels of sponsorship, all on top of the worry about confirming our First Division status for next season," he added.

And greenockmortonfc.blogspot.com understands that the club has, like other local businesses encountering financial hardship, applied for financial assistance from Inverclyde Council.

He finished by thanking the fans who continue to come to games, "I would like to thank the hard core of Morton fans who have stuck with us this season despite our indifferent form. Had they responded as some supporters have by staying away, then the club's future would have been put in jeopardy once again."

Morton 1 - 1 Raith Rovers

Morton 1 - Simmonds (88)
Raith Rovers 1 - Murray (73)

Att: 1,415

Quick on the draw: It was a game of firsts as Donovan Simmonds' first goal for Morton earned his club their first draw of the season. Unfortunately, we didn't more up to first in the league, but the good news is that the point moves us up to eighth, ahead of Ayr United.

Full match report to follow...





Morton (4-4-2):

1. Kevin Cuthbert - 6
2. Ryan McGuffie - 6
3. Kevin McKinlay - 6
4. Dominic Shimmin - 7
5. David MacGregor - 6
6. Michael Tidser - 6 (14. Erik Paartalu - 69 mins)
7. Allan Jenkins - 6
8. Stevie Masterton - 6 (15. Kevin Finlayson - 62 mins)
9. Peter Weatherson - 6
10. Donovan Simmonds - 6
11. Jim McAlister (c) - 7

Unused Subs:

12. Brian Graham
16. Stewart Greacen
20. Colin Stewart

Booked: McKinlay, Weatherson.

Cuthbert
McGuffie MacGregor Shimmin McKinlay
Masterton Jenkins Tidser McAlister
Weatherson Simmonds

Raith Rovers: David McGurn; Thierry Gathuessi (Dene Shields, 81), Grant Murray, Laurie Ellis, Darren Hill (David Armstrong, 68); Allan Walker, Robert Sloan, Ferry, Iain Williamson; Kevin Smith (Iain Davidson, 70), Grégory Tadé.

Unused Subs: Javier Amaya, Gary O'Connor.

Booked: Armstrong, Gathuessi.


My man of the match: Dominic Shimmin

Sponsor's man of the match:


Matchday Programme (Click to enlarge)

Greenock Telegraph - Match Report

bbc sport - Match Report

raithroversfc.com - Match Report

Tontastic photographs

Was It Really Ten Years Ago?

It's unbelievable to think that it is almost ten years ago that Morton were the subject of Scottish Parliamentary debate as a result of concerns at the way Hugh Scott (pictured) was running the club.

During the proceedings Inverclyde MSP Duncan McNeil said of Scott: “He brings embarrassment and disgrace to this community”.

I was reminded of the debate after reading the When Saturday Comes website and coming across an article by Frank Plowright.

In the piece, Plowright writes about Scott's time as Morton chairman - and any fan who wasn't around back then should take the time to read the article.


And even if you were around at the time, there might be some revelations that you weren't aware of. I had no idea that Scott was alleged to have tried to sell Morton to Huntly so they could take over our league membership:

Then, following Huntly’s failed application to join the Scottish League, Scott apparently tried to sell Morton to them lock, stock and league membership.

You can read the full article here: WSC 162 (August 2000) - Small Town Blues

Morton 1 - 0 Partick Thistle

Morton 1 - McAlister (90)
Partick Thistle 0 -

Att: 2,163

Just Bute-iful: Cometh hour, cometh the men from across the water. Rothesay's Jim McAlister scored a 90th minute winner at home to Partick Thistle to follow up the heroics of Dunoon's Davie MacGregor, who scored the winner against Airdrie United in midweek.

James Grady made one change to the side that beat Airdrie United in midweek: Iain Russell, who had a poor game against the Diamonds, was replaced by Donovan Simmonds.

And it was Simmonds who almost made an immediate impact, but he fired wide after being put through on goal by strike partner Peter Weatherson in the third minute.

Then, four minutes later, Stevie Masterton smashed a shot inches over the junction of bar and post.


Morton also failed to convert two headed chances before Partick Thistle managed to manufacture their first chance of the half. Jim McAlister nodded a Simmonds cross over the bar in the 28th minute and there was a similar outcome when Ryan McGuffie met a Masterton corner three minutes afterwards.

Then Thistle came to life and missed three chances in three minutes towards the end of the half. In the 36th minute Marc Corcoran sent a dipping volley over the bar, then a couple of minutes later Kevin McKinlay, who had a solid game at left-back, got back to make a superb goal line clearance to deny Simon Donnelly. Ad it was just minute after that that the grounded Kevin Cuthbert managed to stick out a leg to deny Corcoran when the former St. Mirren winger looked certain to score.

The last chance of the half fell to the home side but Simmonds curled his effort over the bar after the ball fell kindly for him. Simmonds' pace and movement had the Thistle rearguard at panic stations throughout the match; it is just unfortunate that the Englishman seems to lack composure in front of goal.

It was the 21-year-old former Coventry striker who had the first opportunity of the second period when he got on the end of a Masterton cross in the 51st minute, but his header was tipped over the bar by Northern Ireland internationalist Jonny Tuffey.

From the resultant corner a flashing header sent the ball crashing off the post but, frustratingly for the Ton, the ball rebounded to safety. I thought that the ball was directed onto the post by a Partick Thistle head, possibly David Rowson's, but Craig Stewart, who was reporting for the Greenock Telegraph, suggests that it was actually the head of Dom Shimmin who knocked the ball towards goal.

The Jags passed up one of two glorious chances to take the lead, the first of which came in the 59th minute. Liam Buchanan, so often a thorn in Morton's side this season, burst past several Ton players down the left before cutting back for Paul Cariney, who scuffed the ball wide with the goal at his mercy.



With 15 minutes to go, Allan Jenkins, who looks as if he might be carrying an injury or struggling to recover fitness after missing three months of the season between October and January, burst forward before firing a left foot shoot wide of the upright.

Then, in the 81st minute, it was Buchanan's turn to miss a sitter. The ball found him unmarked at the back post but the 12 goal striker smashed the ball high into the side netting when it looked easier to score. Had he elected to place the ball back across goal rather than try to fire it into the top corner then he'd probably have scored.

Just as everyone seemed to be heading for the exits thinking that Morton had secured their first draw of the league season, Jim McAlister broke down the left and his a pretty hopeful left foot effort at goal and to everyone's amazement the ball zipped under Tuffey's leg and into the net to score his first goal since September 2008 and secure a crucial three points.


They say things always come in threes, so Raith Rovers better hope that Dunoon-born Neil MacFarlane isn't in the starting eleven tonight as he must be a cert to score the winner.


Morton (4-4-2):

1. Kevin Cuthbert - 7
2. Ryan McGuffie - 7
3. Kevin McKinlay - 8
4. Dominic Shimmin - 7
5. David MacGregor - 7
6. Michael Tidser - 7 (14. Erik Paartalu - 69 mins)
7. Allan Jenkins - 6
8. Stevie Masterton - 7 (15. Kevin Finlayson - 69 mins)
9. Peter Weatherson - 7 (12. Brian Graham - 87 mins)
10. Donovan Simmonds - 8
11. Jim McAlister (c) - 7

Unused Subs:

16. Stewart Greacen
20. Colin Stewart

Booked: Weatherson, Masterton.

Cuthbert
McGuffie MacGregor Shimmin McKinlay
Masterton Jenkins Tidser McAlister
Weatherson Simmonds

Partick Thistle: Jonny Tuffey; Eric Paton, Ian Maxwell, John Robertson, Alan Archibald; Paul Cairney, Stephen McKeown (Steve Lovell, 78), David Rowson, Marc Corcoran (Chris Erskine, 74); Simon Donnelly (Martin Grehan, 71), Liam Buchanan.

Unused Subs: Ryan Conroy, Bryn Halliwell.

Booked: Cairney.


My man of the match: Donovan Simmonds

Sponsor's man of the match:


Matchday Programme (Click to enlarge)

bbc sport - Match Report

ptfc.co.uk - Match Report

Tommy Taylor's ptfc.co.uk photographs