MIFFED Morton manager Jim Duffy insisted there was no hangover from last week’s shock cup exit to Spartans and instead blamed poor decision making for Saturday’s shoddy 2-0 loss at Stranraer.

The Cappielow club conceded preventable goals either side of half-time as well as seeing both Sean Crighton and Conor Pepper unnecessarily sent off for two bookable offences.

Duffy, left, felt his players competed well in the first half but let themselves down with the way they reacted at crucial moments in the match.

By the time the full-time whistle sounded, nine-man Ton were fortunate to escape with just a two-goal defeat and Duffy conceded Stevie Aitken’s side were well worth their win.

He said: “I don’t think there was any hangover from last week.

“It was nothing to do with that. If there was a hangover we would have started poorly but we started well.

“I thought it was an even match in the first half, an evenly contested match. We had a couple of chances; they had a couple of chances.

“Their first goal is a fantastically executed free-kick, and [Craig] Malcolm, like most strikers, has reacted and stuck away the rebound.

“You find that at most levels of football: defenders tend to watch and strikers tend to gamble on a rebound.

“It was a fine line. Declan [McManus] had a chance, the keeper’s made a save, there’s been a couple of balls put across the face of goal.

“After quite an even first half, we lose a second goal very quickly at the start of the second half and that gave Stranraer a platform to go and control the game after that.

“We didn’t have too much of an opportunity to change things round once Sean [Crighton] got sent off.

“It’s very, very difficult then. You just want to make sure you keep competing in the match, and we did do that.

“But with 10 men and then nine men Stranraer of course controlled it. There’s no doubt they deserved to win at the end of the match.

“The attitude was fine; the commitment was fine, but we made too many basic errors. Our decision making was poor.

“We gave away a cheap free-kick in the lead up to the first goal and we made a poor decision not to shut off the space at the second goal.

“Sean’s then slipped – very similar to what happened with Jordan [Allan] last week in the cup game – and it gives the boy [Malcolm] plenty of time to pick his spot. We were going out for the second half with our sleeves rolled up ready to make it a real competitive match and to show the desire to try and get back in it.

“But before you know it you’ve conceded and had the stuffing knocked out of you within a couple of minutes.

“The red cards are both deserved. Well, I’m not so sure about the second yellow for Conor. I thought that looked a wee bit harsh from where I was, but it was over on the far side.

“It seemed mistimed by a fraction. It wasn’t rash, it wasn’y a dirty challenge. Is that really a yellow card? I don’t know.

“Sean obviously pulled the boy back even though he was already on a booking, and that’s just silly. I’m frustrated with that one, but I couldn’t argue with it.

“These things that players do can cost you. You can say until you’re blue in the face what they should do, but players make split-second reactions and then realise they shouldn’t have done it.

“They’re apologetic after it, but after the event is a bit too late I’m afraid. The referee has decided those were the decisions and there’s not a lot we can do about it. Until Sean was sent off I don’t think there was a huge gulf in it, but when he did go off, it created a gap and Stranraer showed they are a good team by passing the ball well and linking up their play. It’s sore but we have to accept that we made some basic errors and Stranraer were more creative in the second half.

“It makes it much more difficult when you’ve got nine men but the simple fact is we made mistakes and Stranraer capitalised on them.

“Sometimes you can feel a bit hard done by and harshly treated or that the result was unjustified but, no, today Stranraer deserved to win over the 90 minutes. Overall it’s a disappointing result.”