REPORT: Morton 1 Clyde 0

With Kilmarnock taking their turn to sit out a matchday part of the five-team section, it left top spot wide open for the Ton if they could beat the Bully Wee.

They claimed the three points needed to leapfrog the Rugby Park outfit to the summit ahead of Saturday’s head to head thanks to a scrambled 77th minute goal from Thomas O’Ware.

The margin of victory, however, was not a realistic representation of the action that had unfolded at Cappielow over the preceding 90 minutes.
It is no exaggeration to say that Jim Duffy’s side controlled this encounter for the entirety of the cup tie.

All that separated the Ton from a more comprehensive scoreline was the absence of ruthless streak in front of goal, reinforcing the requirement for a quality penalty box predator.

In stark contrast to Saturday’s blunt attacking display at Albion Rovers, though, the Greenock men had no difficulty carving League Two Clyde open.

The mercury had topped 30 degrees in Inverclyde during the day, and the sun was still blazing in the early evening as Morton made a scorching start against Barry Ferguson’s side.

Michael Tidser looked in the mood from the get-go and exchanged a slick give and go with Gary Oliver to work a path through the Bully Wee midfield.
But he snatched at his shot and stabbed a harmless right-footed effort straight at goalkeeper John Gibson, who was able to drop to one knee to snatch the ball up.

That strike was a veritable howitzer when compared to Sean Higgins’ tame hooked effort, with which he barely connected, after drifting off the back of the Ton defence on six minutes.

It would be the last realistic threat Clyde would pose to Andy McNeil’s goal, with the likes of former Cappielow hitman Peter MacDonald kept on a short leash by O’Ware and Ricki Lamie.

Lamie’s inclusion at the expense of Lee Kilday, who was struggling with a niggling knee complaint, was one of three pre-planned selection changes made by Duffy.

The other two came on the flanks as both Caolan McAleer and academy graduate Scott Tiffoney were handed their first competitive starts for the club.

McAleer, a free agent most recently with juniors Kilbirnie Ladeside on loan from Airdrie who penned a Cappielow contract until January, was a focal point of the Ton attack in the first half especially.

On 10 minutes, he fed an angle pass into the feet of fellow new boy Jamie McDonagh and continued his run expecting the return round the corner, which came right on cue.

The former Partick kid scooped the ball out from under his feet and clipped a cute early shot inside John Gibson. It looked set to creep into the net until the keeper shot out an instinctive arm to block.

McAleer turned provider four minutes later, firing over a fantastic first-time cross that Gary Oliver met with a powerful header that crashed off the top of the crossbar and over.

Clyde were failing in their efforts to contain the Northern Irishman, and resorted to foul means on 23 minutes, presenting the hosts with a free-kick 25 yards from goal.

Midfielder Ross Forbes stood over the set-piece staring down the barrel of the Sinclair Street goal, his body language seeming to signal that he would have a pop himself.

But he caught the visitors cold, using the sole of his boot to roll the ball behind him into the path of Oliver, who flashed a low drive fractionally wide of the right-hand upright.

McAleer was soon back on the front foot taking the game to the Broadwood men and performing a Cristiano Ronaldo chop to skip inside a challenge before slipping a pass into the feet of Tidser.

The playmaker then dissected the backpedalling left-back and centre-half with a precise slide-rule pass to send his left midfielder scampering in behind.

It was the quintessential Tidser pass — but rather than David O’Brien racing onto it 2011-style, it was now jet-heeled teenager Tiffoney searing round the back.

The 17-year-old fastened onto the ball in a flash and picked out McDonagh’s dart to the near post; the Northern Irishman seemed to stumble as he pulled the trigger, though, and fired wide.

There was another textbook Tidser moment on 36 minutes when a Michael Doyle cross was cleared and dropped to him on the edge of the box.Feigning a first-time volley, he instead swept the ball inside on the bounce to create a yard of space in which to punch a right-footed shot at goal. The effort crept agonisingly crept wide, however.

It was at this stage that there might have been slight some doubts creeping in as to whether the goal would come.

Not that it seemed to be preying on the Ton players’ minds, though, as it was at this stage that they really began to ramp up the pressure, creating several chances in the space of a few minutes.

The best of those broke for McAleer, who saw a low, angled effort hacked off the line and straight into his keeper’s arms by Phil Johnston before then drilling a fierce drive directly at Gibson.

Despite being held by lower league opponents at home, the Cappielow crowd appreciated their side’s efforts and applauded them off the field at the break.

The second half would continue along a similar vein to the first, with Tiffoney and McAleer both firing early shots down Gibson’s throat as the Ton picked up where they left off.

The sight of Tidser beginning to strut, nonchalantly juggling the ball over a confused Clyde player’s heard before cushioning off a volley to Tiffoney was well-received by the home support.

On 58 minutes, he set a move in motion that went through Oliver, McDonagh and then Doyle before the rampaging right-back slipped McAleer in on goal with a pass down the outside.

Receiving the ball at acute angle to the goal, he attempted to clip inside the advancing Gibson, just as he had in the 10th minute.

But the Clyde custodian again upheld his end, flashing out his right arm to prevent the ball from passing him on the inside whilst in the process of sinking down to his knees.

Full-back Doyle was up and down the right flank all night, a more impressive feat that normal considering the stifling humidity, and he found himself up inside the box just after the hour.

The 24-year-old did well to stand his ground to hold off a challenge and then danced round the attentions of another Clyde defender.

It was then that the goal opened up in front of him, but he failed to hit the target, choking a shot across the face of goal and beyond the left-hand post.

Morton mixed up their method of attack for a period, with the centre-backs firing a series of raking diagonals out to the wingers in space on the touchline.

One such switch saw Clyde cut open when McAleer cushioned a first-time header back inside for Doyle storming through the centre.

But there would be no final reward for the defender’s strong third-man running as he lashed through his left-footed effort, sending the ball sailing into the Wee Dublin End.

Young Tiffoney has made a blistering start to the season between his friendly double against Livingston and his superbly-taken penalty in the shootout against Albion Rovers on Saturday. And he continued to shine on his home bow last night, not just for his attacking play but also his hard work off the ball.

One moment in which he darted back to rob a Clyde man of the ball from right under his nose and steal away on the counter before his opponent had noticed was like something out of a Tom and Jerry 
cartoon.

For all the encouraging signs, the key ingredient remained elusive and that was a goal — but the hosts finally got the reward their efforts merited on 77 minutes.

Substitute Jai Quitongo, who replaced McAleer 10 minutes earlier, did well to win a corner which Forbes delivered from the right.

Lamie rose at the near post and glanced towards goal. The ball was heading wide until O’Ware popped up around the back to divert the ball over the line with an outstretched left boot.

Ton’s longest serving player was skipper on the night, and as well as giving his side the lead at one end, he made sure there was no way through at the other, making two vital blocks at the death to ensure his goal would be the winner.