Ton's cup run is over
Jonathan Mitchell • Published 5 Sep 2011 12:02
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WINNING GOAL: Simon Mensing, far left, glances home the decisive goal for Hamilton.
THERE will be no Ramsdens Cup glory for Morton this season after they lost 2-1 in an entertaining quarter-final tie against Hamilton Accies at New Douglas Park yesterday.
The match presented the First Division pacesetters with the opportunity to size each other up before meeting in the league at Cappielow next month.
And although Ton ultimately exited the competition after Hamilton came from a goal down to run out victors, the 90 minutes did little to dispel the notion that Morton are on a par with any of the sides tipped as title challengers.
After fielding a 4-4-2 formation at Dundee last week, Allan Moore chose to return to the 4-5-1 utilised against St Mirren in the League Cup.
Andy Jackson made way for Darren McGeouch, while Stuart McCaffrey, whose wife had gone into labour on the morning of the match, was replaced by Andy Graham.
Hamilton were first to threaten when Stephen Hendrie crossed from the left and Simon Mensing darted in ahead of Grant Evans and headed just wide.
But it was Ton who stunned the New Douglas Park crowd into silence by taking a 10th-minute lead.
David O'Brien picked up the ball in midfield, drove forward and slipped Paul Di Giacomo in on goal with a perfectly weighted pass.
Ton's top scorer made no mistake, firing past a bewildered Tomas Cerny at his near post to open the scoring and spark a thunderous roar of celebration from the sizeable away support.
The goal seemed to focus the hosts, however, and Southend United loanee Matt Paterson forced Colin Stewart to tip his low drive wide.
But while the Ton keeper was to thank for keeping out Paterson, his decision to go with a two-man wall at a free-kick, given after McCann had fouled Imrie, looked to play a part in Accies' 17th-minute equaliser.
The positioning of the small defensive barrier left a sizeable gap for James Chambers to fire a low free-kick into the heart of the Ton box. Another Hamilton loan player, Celtic's Greig Spence, was first to react, flicking out a leg to divert the ball into the net and restore parity.
The match was now a real end-to-end affair, and Ton should have retaken the lead just three minutes later.
McCann sent Peter MacDonald in behind Mark McLaughlin, and when it looked for all the world that he would calmly slot across Cerny to score, he elected to smash the ball at the near post, blazing high and wide.
Moore was forced into a reshuffle in the 22nd minute when McCann failed to shake off a hamstring injury. Fouad Bachirou replaced the ex-Hibs man, with Marc Smyth dropping back to defence, and Graham moving to right-back.
The change seemed to knock Morton out of their stride, but while Hamilton were controlling possession, Ton were still looking the more threating side on the counter attack.
Di Giacomo and O'Brien both saw shots saved by Cerny, while Michael Tidser and then O'Brien failed to hit the target as the visitors peppered the Hamilton goal.
Ton survived a scare on 32 minutes when Dougie Imrie side-footed wide from 12 yards with the goal gaping.
But Hamilton would not be denied and scored their second less than 60 seconds later to turn the tie on its head.
Like their first, it also came after a poorly-defended set piece in which Mensing was afforded enough space to head home Ali Crawford's searching free-kick from wide on the left.
Morton almost levelled shortly before the break with a free-kick of their own, but Cerny made a fine double-handed save to push MacDonald's strike away.
The second half was a more open affair than the first, with both sides throwing caution to the wind in search of goals.
Former Czech under-21 internationalist Cerny pulled off another stunning stop in the 62nd minute, flying to his right to parry Di Giacomo's drive.
At the other end, Stewart would not be outdone and made a top-class reaction save to thwart Spence and keep his side in the tie.
The action was relentless and Imrie fired off the junction of bar and post while Tidser and Smyth both went close with long-range efforts which whistled narrowly wide.
Morton embarked on an all-out assault on the Hamilton goal in the closing stages, but a wild Archie Campbell finish and a succession of poorly-executed corners meant they would not find the goal needed for extra-time.
This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 05 Sep 11
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