EXASPERATED Morton manager Jim Duffy insisted his side were denied two stonewall penalties against Queen of the South and claimed John McKendrick’s decisions cost his side a point.

Referee McKendrick booked Stefan McCluskey for simulation on 24 minutes for going down under a Lewis Kidd challenge and also ignored a pull on Denny Johnstone shortly afterwards.

Duffy, who was warned by the whistler during the game for his furious reaction, was adamant both should have resulted in spot-kicks, leaving him cursing the calls after the match.

He told the Tele: “I think it was a definite penalty [for the foul] on Stef McCluskey, and that can be the difference in a very tight match, between taking something and not taking something.

“Do I believe that cost us today? Of course. If you get a penalty then, okay, you’ve got to score it, but if you do then you’re back to 1-1, you’ve got the momentum and Queens have to change.

“They could sit in in the second half at 1-0, which they did do and defended very well. They packed the middle of the box and I’m not questioning that, that’s their right to do.

“I think the player, the boy Lewis Kidd, thought it was a penalty. He was sheepish, and their coaching staff were shouting at him because they thought the ref had given a penalty.

“I think everybody thought it was a penalty - except for the referee. It was a big call and in my opinion he got it wrong.

“Stef’s cut inside him and he [Kidd] has got two hands on his jersey and pulls him down, then when Denny [Johnstone] gets pulled just after, he doesn’t go down [and doesn’t get a penalty either].

“The boy pulls him but because Stef has been booked for diving just before it he’s thinking he better not go down, but then doesn’t get the penalty.

“I said to the referee: ‘What you’re saying to players is that you’ll only get a penalty if you go down and to exaggerate falls in the box’, which we don’t want.

“But if the referee doesn’t give fouls [unless a player goes down] then players will then be likely to exaggerate falls. For me, a player shouldn’t have to go down and that’s the bottom line.

“I don’t think we have been too fortunate with the decisions but people always tell you it evens out over a season so we’ll wait and see.” Taking the spot-kick decisions aside, the Ton boss felt his side had not been clinical enough in open play and struggled to break through the hosts dogged defensive wall in the second half.

He added: “In the second half in particular we were the team on the front foot and the team pressing the game, but we lacked a little bit of composure in the final third, in the final pass.

“Ultimately Queens’ goalkeeper [Robbie Thompson] wasn’t tested too often, so that was the only disappointing thing for me today, because we played well and the work ethic and attitude was there.

“But you’ve got to test the goalkeeper when you get those opportunities and have a wee bit more conviction in the final third, and that was lacking.

“We hit a brick wall about 25 yards out all the time, and you can’t just throw aimless balls into the box and hope something comes off. You’ve got to put it with pace and purpose.

“The ball didn’t seem to land for us today. I’m not usually one to cry about a bit of misfortune but I don’t think we got too many opportunities landed favourably for us today.

“We made one error in the game really, that was it. I think it was the only error the defenders made and they actually played very well.

“There was a wee 10- or 15-minute spell in the first half that Queens controlled the game and passed the ball well but other than that I felt we were very much in the game.

“So we’ll not feel sorry for ourselves. We’ve come down to a good side in Queens and matched them for pretty much the whole game.

“We’ve played three matches: we’ve won one each and drawn one and I think that shows we’re in this league to compete and hopefully we can continue to do that.”