Published: Monday, 26th January, 2009 12:30pm

Early lead then Livi comeback stuns the Ton

Morton 2 Livingston 2

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HEAD BOY: Ryan McGuffie rises to head home and put Morton into a two-goal lead.
Pic by: James McFadden/David Bell

For Morton boss Davie Irons this draw at Cappielow was a bitter-sweet experience.

Having seen his men sweep into an early 2-0 lead and dominate the first half, he had to suffer the despair of a second 45 minutes during which Livi clawed their way back into the game and grabbed a point that looked way out of their grasp at half-time.

Said Irons: 'We probably made more chances today than we"ve made in a long time.

'We"re obviously extremely disappointed that we"ve not seen the game out. All credit to Livingston; they"ve fought back and got a point out of a game that probably should have been out of sight before half-time.

'The third goal in any game when it"s a two-goal lead is going to have a big bearing on how the game goes. They got it and got a lift from that.

'We"ve suffered from a blow to confidence at that point in the game. They got the equaliser from an own goal. It"s very disappointing today, because I thought we deserved to win the game.

'On chances we had probably double figures.'

Asked on his side"s second half showing in which they seemed to play deeper and deeper, Irons said: 'Yeah, there"s that. There"s the thought of protecting your lead.

'Having played at the back and in midfield I know what the players are thinking. You see chance after chance going abegging and you start to think, let"s make sure we don"t lose a goal at this end.

'And when that happens you start to drop back slightly. Then the midfield drop back a wee bit deeper and the gaps start to open up a bit.

'But it"s this league isn"t it. It"s just an incredible division. Nobody"s going to run away with any championship in this league.

'Every team is capable of scoring; every team is capable of winning; every team"s capable of getting beaten. It"s just an incredible division. But I think for an hour is as good as we"ve played.

'Our passing, our desire, the attitude of the players was magnificent. For 45 minutes I thought we blew Livingston out the park.

'But all credit to Paul Hegarty. He"s kept his team in it and they"ve responded. But I don"t think anyone would have grudged us winning that game on chances today.

'There"s a lot of football to be played and I don"t think anyone can rest on their laurels in this division. I think both ends of the table won"t be decided until the last kick of the season.'

On the subject of transfer activity, Irons said: 'I think people need to be realistic about the situation in all aspects of life. There"s not a lot of money about.

'It"s a very difficult market and you"ve got to get it right. There"s very little margin for error. Everyone would like to have better players, experienced players, SPL players, but it"s not as easy as people think.

'I"ve got total confidence in the group of players. For an hour today they were magnificent. If they can play like that then whoever we brought in would have to be a very good player to push the boys out.'

On the subject of ex-Killie midfielder Rhian Dodds, who has been training with Morton, Irons was non-commital, merely confirming that they were having a look at the player.

Asked if he had considered bringing a midfielder on to try and close the game down, the Ton boss replied: 'I did. I thought, who do you take off at that point? Our front two had a real physical presence about them today and our back four were reasonably compact for the hour or 70 minutes.

'I thought Ryan McGuffie had one of his best games today for us - his energy, his workrate, he scored, he was up and down - Stevie Masterton is always a danger at set plays and with his passing. I thought he had a good game as well.

'Kevin Finlayson was man of the match and Jim McAlister is always liable to do something, so it was one of them - who do you take off?

'To take a striker off, does that mean they can get out easier at the back? Everything goes through your mind as a coach and manager.

'I know people will say we should have seen the game out, and we should have, but the biggest thing for me today was the chances we created.

'If we had got the third goal we would have won the game, not comfortably because I have respect for Livingston, but we would have won the game.'

Livi boss Paul Hegarty was delighted with his side"s comeback and said: 'It didn"t really surprise me. The only thing that did surprise me was our defensive side.

'That"s been our best department since I"ve come to Livingston - the goalkeeper and the back four. They way we lost two goals today was very unlike us.

'The second half was a real, Titanic strugggle. I"ve said it before, but this is a great bunch of boys to work with; absolutely magnificent.

'The spirit, application, attitude and desire was shown in abundance in the second half. It was nip and tuck. But this is the type of league it is.'