Moore: Decision was diabolical
Jonathan Mitchell • Published 15 Dec 2010 10:00
0 Comments
Allan Moore saw his Morton side concede a 95th-minute equaliser against Ross County - then branded the decision of referee Iain Brines to play the five extra minutes 'absolutely diabolical'.
Quick-fire goals from Brian Graham and Allan Jenkins had seen Ton battle back to lead 2-1 shortly after going behind to an Andrew Barrowman header.
But just when they thought they'd secured all three points, Scott Boyd popped up to head home a dramatic last-gasp equaliser.
Moore and his players were incensed by the length of injury-time and descended on the officials at the final whistle.
The Ton boss raged: "I'm absolutely disgusted. The referees ask for respect. How are my players supposed to respect that guy after that?
"He said to me there was one minute to go, but they scored one minute 30 seconds after that. And then he's added on another 30 seconds after that again.
"We should've defended the corner, there's no doubt about that, but I think everyone in the stadium knows he was wrong.
"He even knows because he hasn't booked the players for the way they were talking to him at full-time.
"I didn't go and chap his door because I'm not interested in any excuses from him as it's an absolutely diabolical decision.
"I'm quite happy to go up and speak about it to the SFA if they dig me up for this because it's our livelihoods the officials are playing with."
The match began at a break-neck speed and Graham and David O'Brien both tested County goalkeeper Michael McGovern in the opening stages.
Morton were in complete control, with Michael Tidser dictating play in the centre of the park, but it was an all-too-familiar tale when the opposition opened the scoring against the run of play in the 23rd minute.
A flowing County move ended with Martin Scott crossing from the right for the unmarked Barrowman to nod home from close range.
But the lead only lasted a couple of minutes as Ton demonstrated a new-found resilience by hitting back with an equaliser three minutes later.
Graham pounced on Richard Brittain's woeful back-pass and rifled a clinical angled drive beyond McGovern to make it 1-1.
And Graham turned provider in the 31st minute, turning Gary Miller inside out three times before whipping over a sensational cross which Jenkins met with a bullet header to put his side ahead.
Stewart Kean almost extended the lead in the first minute of first-half injury time with a glancing header, but the ball flew agonisingly wide of McGovern's left-hand post.
New County gaffer Willie McStay must have had some stern words for his side at the break, as they looked like a different team in the second 45.
Yet it was McGovern who was called into action first, racing from his line to block Graham's flicked effort as O'Brien manufactured the first chance of note in the second period.
It looked like it would be Morton's night when, in the 68th minute, Boyd met Scott Morrison's corner with a goal-bound header which was cleared off the line by team-mate Michael Gardyne.
County really began to pummel Colin Stewart's goal in a desperate search for an equaliser in the final 10 minutes but appeared to be struggling to find a way past Ton's stubborn resistance.
However, with 94 minutes and 47 seconds on the clock and the small band of away fans baying for the full-time whistle, Boyd rose unchallenged to power Gardyne's drilled corner beyond Stewart to deny Ton their first away win of the season and spark bedlam in the stands.
McStay, on the other hand, backed Brines, saying: "Morton time-wasted at every opportunity, and I think it was only fair the extra time was added on. It's a big point for us."
This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 15 Dec 10
Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our Sport archives.
