MORTON signed off at Cappielow with a commendable goalless draw against Championship big hitters Hibs in their final home match of the 2015-16 campaign on Saturday.

Despite the size of the club and strength of their squad, Alan Stubbs’ side had been stuttering in the second tier since suffering a seismic 3-0 loss to the Ton at Easter Road back at the end of February.

But they seemed to have hit their stride again in recent weeks having booked their place in the Scottish Cup final with a spot-kick success over Dundee United before beating Rangers in midweek.

They could not maintain that momentum in Greenock at the weekend, though, as they once again came a cropper at the hands of Jim Duffy’s well-drilled side.

On one hand you had an Edinburgh outfit coming into the match in desperate need of maximum points in their bid to overhaul Falkirk in second place and avoid two extra play-off matches.

On the other, you had a Ton side with little to play for but pride and the target of holding onto fifth position in the table ahead of rivals St Mirren and Queen of the South.

There was also the small matter of this fixture coming hot on the heels of a stinging derby defeat and offering them an opportunity to redeem themselves somewhat in eyes of their supporters.

In years gone by there have been Ton teams for which those factors would not have been enough of a motivating factor to produce such a hard-working display without a more tangible reward on offer.

And that dogged determination to make it as difficult for a talented Hibs team as possible was in evidence from the first whistle.

It took until the 12th minute for the visitors to register a shot at goal when Celtic loanee Liam Henderson wandered in off the left and dragged a weak left-footed shot wide of the right-hand post.

The Ton, in fact, were the first to really threaten to bother the scoresheet when, quarter of an hour in, Thomas O’Ware teed up the advancing Mark Russell 30 yards out.

Marauding left-back Russell pushed the ball out from under his feet and unleashed a fierce swerving drive which forced goalkeeper Mark Oxley to propel his sizeable frame to the left to push clear.

Hibs were still enjoying the lion’s share of the ball but struggling to find a way through a disciplined home defence.

When Fraser Fyvie did manage to unlock the hosts by dropping a clever clipped pass behind the back four, Henderson hooked the bouncing ball over the crossbar when faced with Derek Gaston.

It was all hands on deck for a tireless Ton team, with even Denny Johnstone tracking back deep into his own half to help out as Paul Hanlon, a centre-half in a 3-5-2 formation, stepped out with the ball.

The Birmingham marksman’s game is about more than finding the back of the net — but his goal grabbing has been invaluable too.

Of the 17 scored in all competitions, just one has come via a header, in a 2-0 win over Queen of the South at Cappielow back on November 14.

That this is an aspect of his finishing in need of further fine tuning was reinforced on 21 minutes when he miscued his connection with Joe McKee’s inswinging free-kick and skewed high and wide.

At the other end, the Edinburgh outfit were still unconvincing in their attempts to make the breakthrough.

The likes of Lee Kilday and Luca Gasparotto were doing a fine job of nullifying the threat provided by Jason Cummings and Anthony Stokes.
And in team-mate O’Ware they had a midfield screen sitting in front and acting as a no-nonsense gatekeeper.

The 23-year-old physically dominated the middle of the park, bullying feted engine-room operators Fyvie and Henderson and combining it with an ever-improving level of composure.

That said, this was, however, a real team performance that required all 11 components working in unison.

And it is testament to those combined efforts that a weak Stokes volley, one that Gaston could have thrown his cap on instead of kneeling to scoop up, was their best effort of the first half. It took until seven minutes into the second half for the purple-clad Hibees to test the underworked Ton custodian.

It was becoming increasingly clear that it was going to take a moment of magic to make the difference, and Stokes almost provided it with a wicked dipping volley that Gaston pushed over.

When mercurial forward Cummings did finally find the net by confidently whipping the ball into the top-left corner on 65 minutes, he had already been flagged offside.

Hibs gaffer Stubbs later bemoaned the decision in his post-match press conference, stating that he had seen the replay and that it was ‘very close’.

But reading between the lines, that wording would suggest that he was indeed offside; for if he was onside, Stubbs would have surely said that specifically rather than describe the call as close.

Speaking of fine margins, the Ton came within the width of the upright of taking the lead just two minutes after Cummings’ effort was chopped off.

Ross Forbes was the architect, sending Bobby Barr clear with a pitching wedge pass that caught out flat-footed Norwegian defender Niklas Gunnarsson on the right of the Hibs back three.

Barr scampered clear and slowed before placing in a low finish under Oxley only to see his shot kiss the face of the post after taking a slight clip off the shot-stopper’s heel.

If there has been a chink in the winger’s game over what will amount to his only campaign in Ton colours it is has been the lack of a killer touch in front of goal.

It was an excellent opening and one a forward on the opposition would have given their right arm to have fallen their way.

Hibs were growing increasingly frustrated as the seconds and minutes steadily ticked away, as demonstrated by Stokes picking up a petulant booking for a tussle with Declan McManus.

They were flat, unimaginative and unconvincing in the face of two solid banks of blue and white covering miles of ground to provide an impenetrable 
barrier.

So Stubbs sent on further forwards in subs Martin Boyle and James Keatings, as well as midfield heartbeat John McGinn, who last month picked up the man of the match on his full Scotland debut.

Yet still they struggled to really threaten Gaston’s goal and were restricted to a handful of wayward efforts from distance — two of which sailed into Sinclair Street, not the terracing but the road.

Proceedings were succinctly summed up when, in the 93rd minute, ex-St Mirren defender Darren McGregor shelled an aimless long ball straight out for a goal-kick from just inside his own half.

The outcome, it must be stressed, was as much about Morton’s exertions as it was Hibs’ inability to circumnavigate their tactical approach.

It was a resilient, industrious and assiduous Ton display — a real team effort; their season in microcosm you might say.

Their fifth 0-0 of the campaign was that rare example of an entertaining scoreless draw as well as a satisfying way to bring down the curtain at Cappielow.

And as one mainstand wag pointed out when he taunted: “See you next year, Stubbs!” it wouldn’t come as a major surprise to be welcoming Hibs back to Greenock next term.