Skip Navigation,Sitemap

Greenock Telegraph

Morton in a bairn stormer

Jonathan Mitchell • Published 26 Sep 2011 12:00 Mobiles Print Comments 6 Comments

Jump to first paragraph.

Share this Facebook Twitter Google Buzz Delicious DIGG Reddit Stumbleupon Email RSS

click to enlarge
SPIRIT LEVELLER: MacDonald was pumped up after equalising with penalty.

MORTON bounced back from last week's debacle in Dumfries by edging third-placed Falkirk 3-2 in a thrilling encounter at Cappielow.

Allan Moore's men came into the match off the back of a 4-1 hiding at Queen of the South, while the Bairns were fresh from an impressive and morale-boosting League Cup victory over Rangers.

With Steven Pressley's Bairns sitting in third, two points behind Ton, this game promised to be a revealing one in terms of discovering whether or not last week's defeat was a one-off.

It was a test the hosts passed with flying colours as they demonstrated tremendous resilience to come back from a 2-1 half-time deficit to take all three points with a spirited second-half display.

The eventual outcome is more impressive when it is considered that it was achieved in the absence of influential playmaker Michael Tidser and seven-goal wideman Paul Di Giacomo.

Fouad Bachirou and Sean Fitzharris were the men charged with filling their rather sizeable boots.

Fitzharris was making his first start of the season after a picking up a hamstring strain in pre-season, and he seemed determined to make up for lost time, firing in a series of dangerous early set-pieces to put Falkirk on the back foot.

In the fourth minute, the 19-year-old whipped over a free-kick - using a technique reminiscent of the way Kevin Twaddle used to wrap his foot around the ball in Billy Stark's side of the late 1990s - which Andy Graham met with a thunderous header, forcing an acrobatic save from the Bairns' goalkeeper Michael McGovern.

And it was no surprise that, when Ton did take the lead two minutes later, it was courtesy of an unerringly accurate Fitzharris corner which found Peter MacDonald, who angled a controlled header past McGovern to give his side an early advantage.

But, while the hosts were impressing in the final third, their defending was leaving a lot to be desired, and some slack marking gifted Falkirk a 17th minute equaliser.

Kallum Higginbotham hooked a hopeful ball over the top with his back to goal. The unexpected move caught the Ton defence napping, and David Weatherston took full advantage, leaving Grant Evans and Andy Graham trailing as he nipped in to roll the ball past Colin Stewart. The Ton keeper was beaten for a second time seven minutes later when Blair Alston worked a one-two with Weatherston to slice through the defence with alarming ease before firing off a powerful drive from an acute angle.

The shot appeared to be straight at Stewart, and although Alston had put his foot through it, the keeper ought to have saved rather than parry the ball into his own net.

The goal knocked the hosts' confidence, and while they struggled to regain a foothold in the game, their cause was not helped by some strange officiating by referee Crawford Allan.

The man in the middle failed to blow for a blatant trip on Bachirou but allowed play to go on before booking MacDonald for a less severe foul seconds later.

Yet the whistler would, thereafter, come down on Morton's side in three key decisions. Right on the stroke of half-time he disallowed a Darren Dods headed goal for a foul.

Then, in the 53rd minute, he adjudged Bairns substitute Rhys Bennett to have tripped Andy Jackson as he burst into the box, handing MacDonald the chance to restore parity.

The 30-year-old made no mistake, thrashing a penalty into McGovern's top left-hand corner with supreme confidence.

Ton completed their comeback five minutes later when Fitzharris fizzed another lethal free-kick into the danger area from a position wide on the left, and Jackson did the rest, sending a diving header past McGovern to make it 3-2.

Both teams had further chances to add to the scoring. In a move reminiscent of his goal against St Mirren, Jackson received a pass inside the box, swivelled instantly and fired off an angled drive which crept inches wide of the upright.

Back at the other end, Stewart made a strong two-handed save to push Port Glasgow-born midfielder Mark Millar's long-range strike wide.

The third and final of referee Allan's controversial game-changing decisions arrived in the 78th minute. Millar's cross from the right was flicked on by Dods and finished off at the far post by the unmarked Farid El Allagui.

The goal was disallowed for offside, but photographic evidence seemed to suggest that the Bairns' impressive Moroccan striker was, in fact, behind Graham when the ball was headed down.

The perceived injustice spurred the visitors on in the closing stages, but they could not find the goal needed to snatch a draw, ensuring that Ton would hold out for a win which maintains their 100 per cent home record while keeping them clear of Hamilton at the top of the table.

This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 26 Sep 11

Have your say. Post a comment on this article.

Post a comment

Registered users log in here

You must be logged in to post. If you have not registered with us, please do so now.

Registration only takes a few minutes. Registered users do not have to complete word verification once logged in and can also take part in competitions and other registered user only features of the site.


Enter the text as shown.

Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our Sport archives.

Talk of the Towns

Intimations

powered by Legacy.comŽ, where life stories live onŽ

Search Death Notices, Acknowledgements and Memoriams.

or view today's notices

Find your ideal job

The Job Section - online, email, press

Advanced Job Search

Hot Jobs

Your social, local Business Directory - It's in Inverclyde • It's in The Directory • Directory Network

Copyright ©2012 Greenock Telegraph, 2 Crawfurd Street Greenock PA15 1LH • Tel: 01475 726511 • Fax: 01475 783734

FacebooK Twitter RSS Feeds