Moore impressed by Ton comeback

Jonathan Mitchell • Published 19 Jul 2010 14:00 0 Comments

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English League One side Bristol Rovers blew Morton away with a 30-minute three-goal salvo at Cappielow on Saturday.

Rovers were a class apart as they totally dominated the first half, but Morton looked a new side after the break and restored some pride when Peter Weatherson converted a late penalty.

The Cappielow men got off to the worst possible start when referee Alan Muir pointed to the spot after Allan Jenkins' flailing arm connected with a Stuart Campbell corner.

Northern Ireland internationalist Jeff Hughes made no mistake with the resultant spot-kick into Colin Stewart's bottom left-hand corner.

The home side hardly had time to settle before Rovers doubled their lead in the 11th minute.

Campbell, whose mother hails from Greenock, dissected the Ton defence with a precise angled pass.

Overlapping right-back Carl Regan raced onto the pass before cutting the ball back to the penalty spot where Jo Kuffour swept the ball beyond Stewart.

And it was no surprise when Kuffour made it three just before the half hour.

The speedy frontman sent a delightful lob over the helplessly exposed Stewart after ghosting around Ton trialist central-defender Alan Lithgow to get on the end of Hughes' sublime dink over the top.

The Bristol goal survived its only real scare of the first half in the 37th minute when Kevin Kelbie headed Graeme Holmes' volleyed cross off the base of Mike Green's right-hand post.

Moore's troops came out after the break with a renewed sense of purpose, thanks to the introductions of Weatherson, new loan signing Grant Evans and French trialists Fouad Bachirou and Tarik Bengelloun.

Rovers' goalkeeper Mike Green was pressed into action in the 75th minute when he got down to his right to push David O'Brien's low strike around the post.

Green pulled off another save just one minute later when he flew across his goal to make a strong catch and deny Weatherson from scoring with a back post header.

But the Geordie striker would not be denied and scored in the 85th minute when he slotted home a late spot-kick with consummate ease after Graeme Holmes was tripped by Gary Sawyer.

Moore said: "We're not going to be up against that standard of opposition in the First Division every week - but no matter what team you're playing against, you can't give them a three-goal start.

"But we were pleased with the performance in the second-half, so we'll take the positives from that."

Rovers' gaffer Paul Trollope was pleased with the test Morton provided in the second half.

He said: "We produced some very good play in the first half and scored a couple of well-worked goals.

"They put on some fresh legs at the break and put us under some pressure defensively in the second half.

"It was a good test and another fantastic workout for us."

This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 19 Jul 10

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