Diamond display is effective football

William Dick - William Dick • Published 26 Nov 2008 12:30

MORTON 2 AIRDRIE UTD 0

MORTON boss Davie Irons watched his rejuvenated side rack up their fifth win in six matches and claimed it was a triumph for "effective football."

Goals from Brian Wake and Allan Jenkins were enough to hoist the Ton five points clear of Airdrie.

However, while Irons" men enjoyed the better of the chances, they could not be certain of the points until Jenkins settled a typically dour First Division tussle in injury time.

The Cappielow manager declared: 'It was a hard-fought victory and it wasn"t pretty, but the most important thing is that we have taken the three points.

'We are playing to our strengths and producing what I call effective football at the right times.

'We"ve worked hard and I"m delighted for the boys because they are starting to realise what it takes in this league.'

Despite opening up some breathing space over the rock-bottom Diamonds, Irons added: 'Things can change very quickly. Six weeks ago we were struggling and all of a sudden you get a wee break and things change.

'There is a lot of football still to be played and we"re not going to get carried away with these results or despondent with defeats.'

Airdrie set the tone for a rugged encounter with some robust tackles and Irons found himself earning a ticking off from ref Crawford Allan for objecting to a series of decisions.

Morton were on the back foot in the early exchanges and David MacGregor produced a superbly timed tackle on Paul Di Giacomo on the edge of the box before Dom Shimmin"s crucial interception from a wickedly swerving Joe Cardle effort kept the visitors out.

The Ton gradually came into it and might have broken the deadlock when Jim McAlister"s free kick was glanced goalward by Peter Weatherson.

Stephen Robertson was well placed to make the save on this occasion, but the Diamonds keeper was culpable as Ton took the lead in 34 minutes.

He raced from his box to deal with a harmless through ball, but succeeded only in hitting his clearance against Wake.

The big striker could hardly believe his luck as he ran the ball home in spite of Bobby Donnelly"s despairing lunge on the line.

Moments later, Jenkins embarked on a probing run from his own half before feeding McAlister on the overlap.

The winger"s shot was firmly struck, but found the side-netting.

Wake was then twice denied his second goal of the night when Robertson brilliantly clawed his netbound shot off the line.

The striker soon had the ball in the net again, but was penalised for handball.

Airdrie enjoyed a double let-off on the restart when Weatherson pounced on some dozy defending to set up McAlister.

His shot was brilliantly blocked by Robertson before Erik Paartalu sent the rebound crashing off the outside of a post when he should have hit the target.

The Diamonds almost cashed in on their reprieve when Cardle"s reverse pass released Simon Lynch in the opposite box. However, Cuthbert raced from his line to block the striker"s shot.

Airdrie continued to push and they caused further anxiety in the home ranks when Cardle"s cross-cum-shot flashed narrowly wide. Robertson pulled off another spectacular diving save to claw Weatherson"s netbound effort just over the bar.

But the keeper was beaten again when substitute Kevin Finlayson sent Jenkins running through and the midfielder calmly rounded Robertson before drilling home.

There was still time for tempers to flare on and off the field after a crude Cardle tackle left McAlister writhing in agony. The Morton winger was eventually helped off the field, but not before Irons and Airdrie counterpart Kenny Black were involved in a heated touchline exchange.

The rival bosses had to be kept apart after Irons reacted angrily to Cardle"s X-rated lunge, but the bosses did shake hands post match.

Irons said: 'You get these things in football. I was upset because it looked a bad one. The boy was very late and has come right down the back of Jim"s leg.

'I was really worried when the stretcher went on, but Jim is walking and we"ll assess the injury tomorrow. It"s maybe not as bad as I feared.'

Black shrugged off the exchange declaring: 'Joe Cardle has never made a tackle in his life. It was just a little spat.'

Morton can now enjoy the Scottish Cup trip to Peterhead, knowing their First Division survival prospects are looking a lot brighter.

Morton: Cuthbert, MacGregor, Smith, Shimmin, Greacen, McGuffie (Finlayson 82), Jenkins, Paartalu, Weatherson, Wake, McAlister (Masterton 89). Subs: McManus, Russell, McWilliams (GK).

Airdrie: Robertson, Smyth, Hazley, McDonald, Donnelly, Nixon, Cardle, McKenna, Di Giacomo, Lynch (Noble 80), McLaughlin. Subs: Smith, Brown, McDougall, Hollis (GK).

Attendance: 1,642

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This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 26 Nov 08

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