Published: Tuesday, 5th January, 2010 2:00pm

Grady regrets squandered opportunities

SO CLOSE: Erik Paartalu, left, hits the post with a header. Pictures: Alex Craig

By Alex Dowdalls

PARTICK THISTLE 1

MORTON 0

(Cairney 74)

MORTON crashed to a fourth successive league defeat in a game which the Cappielow side should have had won out of sight, having created and then scorned a series of chances.

They paid the ultimate penalty in the cruellest of circumstances when Thistle, who moved third top of the table, grabbed the winner 16 minutes from time.

Gutted Cappielow boss James Grady said afterwards: "We had 10 chances and five of them were clear cut chances.

"It's becoming like a broken record. We're away without any points from a game I felt we bossed for the majority and created more chances.

"We should be walking away with a 5-0 victory or something.

"It's getting galling. I said to the players in the dressing room afterwards I'm not disappointed with the performance, but it is the same things that are coming back to haunt us.

"We defended better, but it was all about decision making. One player dived in and we got punished for it.

chances the game is dead and buried.

"Teams are not having to work too hard to get three points off of us which is very, very disappointing. It's frustrating and there is not much you can do to coach to make sure you take one out of 10 chances."

Morton, having already suffered two previous defeats to the Jags in the league this season and still looking for their first goal against Ian McCall's side this term, might have scored twice in a minute, but for a piece of brilliance and a slice of luck.

The brilliance was provided in 15 minutes by Northern Ireland international goalkeeper Jonny Tuffey, who produced a breathtaking save from Peter Weatherson's thunderous drive after a clever lay-off by Erik Paartalu. The luck was provided a minute later by Jags defender Ian Maxwell who somehow managed to deflect Paartalu's net bound 18-yard shot over the bar.

Grady's side, who had been in cold storage for the past 16 days, were again out of luck in 19 minutes when Jim McAlister's corner from the left was headed against the near post by Paartalu.

Morton, having lost four of their last five league matches of their travels, and for all their early dominance, should have gone behind in 24 minutes when Jags midfielder Simon Donnelly swung over a superb cross from the right for Liam Buchanan, unmarked eight yards out in front of goal, but the striker header straight at goalkeeper Colin Stewart.

Then, in 38 minutes, Paul Cairney found Buchanan wide on the right and his deep cross to the back post should have been buried into the back of the net by Jamie Adams. Instead the on-loan Kimarnock midfielder side footed his angled 12-yard volley over the bar.

Morton, with ex-boss Davie Irons looking on behind the dug-outs from the main stand before taking over from Gerry Britton as Thistle's new assistant later today, must have skipped a heart-beat when Wake laid the ball back to the onrushing Alan Reid, but the defender shot just over from 20 yards.

If Buchanan's miss in the first half was of the glaring opportunity variety, his chance in 58 minutes was nothing short of woeful. Donnelly whipped over a corner from the left for the Jags striker to have the easiest of jobs of stooping to head into the net from six yards. Somehow he contrived instead to head wide, much to the relief of the Morton travelling support at freezing Firhill.

Morton were well up for the fight and, in 64 minutes, Tuffey raced from goal to block from Wake. The ball broke to the right for Weatherson to cut back to McAlister, but he volleyed wide from 12 yards.

Thistle got the winner in 74 minutes when Cairney nabbed his seventh goal of the season after he raced past two defenders to drill the ball low past Stewart into the bottom left hand corner of the net.

Grady added: "There is no point dwelling on it. I have belief in my players and we'll go on a run and beat teams, but it has got to come soon.

"The Celtic game is different, no one expects us to win, but at Firhill I expected us to win. We'll try and rectify the mistake that led to the goal. The Celtic game is a good game to look forward to, but it's a kind of side show. The bread and butter is the league."

Man of the match - Dominic Shimmin (Morton).

Partick Thistle: Tuffey, Paton, Archibald, Adams (Corcoran 46), Robertson, Maxwell, Cairney, Rowson, Buchanan (Erskine 67), Donnelly (Hodge 78), Lovell. Subs not used: Hinchcliffe (Gk), Boyle.

Morton: Stewart, Van Zanten Reid (McGregor 86), Shimmin, Greacen, Paartalu, Finlayson, MacFarlane (Jenkins 77), Weatherson, Wake, McAlister.

Subs not used: Graham, Monti, McWilliams.

Referee: Iain Brines.

Attendance: 2,190.

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