Published: Monday, 22nd December, 2008 12:30pm
Praise for 11th-hour heroes
by Andrew GibsonMorton 2 Ross County 1
BRAVE BRIAN: Wakey nods in the winner.
Pic by: David Bell
TON boss Davie Irons watched his team come from behind to beat a stuffy County - then dedicated the match to his eleventh-hour heroes.
With parts of the stadium flooded, the fixture was in serious doubt of being called off.
But the dedication of club officials and volunteers ensured the game was given the green light.
Having already suffered a postponement against Partick Thistle a fortnight ago - the first at Cappielow since 2006 - the manager was desperate for his side to return to winning ways.
And this they did, making it six wins in the past eight league games.
He said: 'That victory was for all the people who worked so hard into the night until around 11pm.
'It"s because of them that we won. We"re absolutely indebted to them.
'All the credit goes to the chairman, backroom staff and the volunteers who worked so hard to get it on.
'The pitch was fine, but the interior of the club was flooded out.
'And there was damage to our electrics and the speaker system.
'The police were saying because of safety reasons we needed all these kinds of things in place.
'We were desperate to get the game on because wanted to start the festive period off with a positive result.
'It was really touch and go as we only got the go-ahead at nine in the morning.'
Brian Wake grabbed the all-important second goal to give Irons his best run of results since taking up the reins last February.
And the smiling gaffer heaped praise on both Wakey and free-kick specialist Stevie Masterton.
He said: 'Brian Wake took his goal really well and he"s another one who"s been in and out the side.
'I was delighted for him as all you ever get from him is total effort and commitment.
'He was a big player for us towards the end of last season and is a big reason why we stayed in this league.
'Steven Masterton has a wonderful ability and he just needs to believe in himself that bit more.
'I thought he showed that his set-pieces are just absolutely phenomenal.
'He"s had a bit of a tough time with getting a regular game but when he does play with that type of performance I think he should be in the team every week.'
After taking the lead, Morton were pegged back by a determined County team who could have levelled at the death.
But Irons felt his side merited the result, which sets the Ton up for the trip to basement boys Airdrie United on Saturday.
He added: 'It was important to get the first victory of the festive period of games.
'We"ve got three at home and one away so those four games could really have a big bearing on where we end up this year.
'I don"t think there was a lot in the game, but over the piece we had better chances than Ross County.
'We have a bad habit of losing goals late on in games and it was quite evident that we started to drop deeper as the game went on.
'We"ve had a real topsy-turvy season in which the lowest point was losing up there to Ross County in the Challenge Cup.
'Everybody was really down but since that day we"ve turned it round and we"re on a decent run at the moment and long may it continue.'
While Irons was buoyant at taking a key three points on Saturday, County boss Derek Adams left Cappielow fuming, refusing to talk to the gathered press.
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