Ton slip further off the pace
Jonathan Mitchell • Published 31 Oct 2011 11:00
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LAST GOAL: The second goal creeps over the line.
Morton 0 Ross County 2
LEAGUE leaders Ross County consigned Morton to their second consecutive 2-0 home defeat on Saturday as they moved seven points clear of the Cappielow club.
Stuart Kettlewell gave the Highland side the lead just after the half-hour before a miserable afternoon was rounded off in stoppage time when Colin Stewart scored a bizarre own goal.
And despite having led the league before the defeat against Hamilton two weeks ago, Ton are now closer to the foot of the table than the top, as they sit just four points ahead of bottom side Dundee.
After last week's promising 1-1 draw with Livingston, Allan Moore stuck with the 4-5-1 formation which proved so effective, but made two personnel changes. Peter MacDonald replaced Peter Weatherson as lone striker, and Stewart was preferred to rookie goalkeeper Matthew McGinley.
Meanwhile, there was still no place for Derek Young, who was able to serve an outstanding one-match suspension from his time at Aberdeen after his international clearance was finally received.
Moore also kept faith with the tactical alteration which saw David O'Brien start on the right of midfield and Paul Di Giacomo the left.
And Di Giacomo almost emulated O'Brien's stunning goal against Livi when, with barely 20 seconds gone, he sent a left-footed volley narrowly wide of Michael Fraser's right-hand post.
While this effort proved to be Ton's only real shot on goal all afternoon, they did go close to breaking the deadlock again in the 26th minute thanks to a little help from the County defence.
Marc Smyth clipped a free-kick into the area and towering centre-back Scott Boyd mistimed his leap and sent an awkward header skidding inches wide of his own goal.
Despite Ton's reasonable start, it was the Staggies who opened the scoring in the 34th minute when Colin McMenamin, who rejected a contract offer from Ton in the summer, sprung the offside trap and raced down the left wing before squaring for Kettlewell to sweep home from eight yards.
The goal stunned the hosts, who struggled to find any sort of coherence in their play in the remainder of the half as MacDonald's attempts to hold the ball up proved completely fruitless in the face of dominant displays by Boyd and Grant Munro.
Moore decided to make a minor alteration at the break, switching Di Giacomo and O'Brien back to their natural sides.
And this had an immediate effect as Di Giacomo fired over two dangerous crosses, but there were no takers.
The Ton boss made a more significant change just after the hour by replacing Andy Graham with Weatherson and moving Kevin McCann to right back as he switched to a 4-4-2 formation.
But the move failed to have the desired effect and it was County who finished the match the more threatening side as they upped the ante in in the final 30 minutes.
Returning custodian Stewart had to plunge to parry Iain Vigurs side-footed effort from 15 yards before smothering Richard Brittian's powerful drive.
His goal then survived a couple of scares when Michael Gardyne's curling effort flashed wide and sub Marc Corcoran's goal-bound strike was blocked by the leg of Grant Evans.
But he was back to his best in the 86th minute, springing to his left to make a smart save to thwart Kettlewell, before producing a truly top-class save in the third minute of stoppage time.
After a Sean Fitzharris free-kick was caught by Fraser, the County keeper sparked a lightning counter which ended with Corcoran cutting back for fellow substitute Kurtis Byrne.
The Irishman's placed effort from close range seemed destined for the back of the net until Stewart shot out an arm and miraculously managed to tip the ball up onto the crossbar.
But, in a moment which succinctly summed up the current fortunes of the keeper and his team, he followed up his stunning save by scrambling to his feet and fumbling the ball into his own net to put the seal on a miserable day.
This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 31 Oct 11
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