‘UNEASY lies the head that wears a crown’ is a line from William Shakespeare’s play Henry IV that could arguably help account for the sudden turn in Morton’s fortunes.

It is not a perfect fit, admittedly, but the Ton seem to have suffered from the weight of the expectation that comes from looking down from the League One summit.

On the only other occasion they have been in first place this season, their spell there lasted three weeks as a cup loss to Spartans saw them go four matches without a win and slip to fourth.

After embarking on an eight-game unbeaten run to fight their way back to the top of the pile after a three-month absence, the Greenock men have now suffered two successive losses.

Since beating Stirling Albion 4-0 to leapfrog Stranraer, Jim Duffy’s men have lost at home to Forfar Athletic and then on Saturday at in-form Airdrie.

It could well be coincidence but recent results seem to suggest that having a target on their back has not sat easy with a young team who were architects of their own downfall at the Excelsior Stadium.

Duffy rang the changes after last week’s loss to the Loons, making four personnel switches and two positional adjustments.

Out went Sean Crighton, Conor Pepper, Jamie McCluskey and Ross Caldwell and in came Ricki Lamie, Michael Miller, Ross Forbes, and skipper Peter MacDonald.

As part of the adjustments, Thomas O’Ware moved back to central defence, while Lamie was installed at left-back and Russell moved forward one ahead of him on the left of midfield.

Yet, despite the alterations, Ton made a very similar start to how they had against Dick Campbell’s men seven days earlier, taking the game to their opponents but without managing to find the net.

MacDonald forced a fine save from Airdrie goalkeeper Andy McNeil inside the first minute when he got on the end of Forbes’ low cross from the left and diverted the ball towards goal with his knee.

The pair combined again on four minutes when MacDonald headed a flighted Forbes free-kick over the crossbar after failing to get over the ball.

Airdrie managed a brief 10-minute spell on top but without ever threatening Derek Gaston in the Ton goal, which was in part due to a fine Stefan Milojevic sliding block.

Overall, Ton were shading proceedings but struggling to build up a head of steam in the face of referee Stephen Finnie’s frustrating tendency to blow for fouls at the slightest infringement.

On 24 minutes, Russell was cautioned for a challenge that appeared firm but fair from the press box, which is, however, on the opposite side of the stadium.

There was another delay shortly afterwards when Diamonds midfielder Bryan Gilfillan went down injured and was eventually forced off to be replaced by Nathan Blockley.

Although the Northern Irish Under-21 cap wasn’t exactly having a poor game, it was an enforced change that would actually come to benefit the hosts.

Before then, the play continued to be fragmented by whistler Finnie, although his decision to book Airdrie skipper Paddy Boyle for a lunge on Stefan McCluskey was fully justified.

The left-back had goalkeeper McNeil to thank for preventing his afternoon from rapidly turning into a personal nightmare.

For it was from the resultant free-kick from Forbes, which he whipped menacingly towards the near post from the right touchline, that Boyle clumsily diverted towards his own goal.

But former Hibs and Livingston shot-stopper McNeil sailed to his left and somehow managed to push the ball up and over the crossbar.

It was the closest the visitors would come to scoring in a first 45 minutes which they had managed to get into promising positions in and around the box without quite managing to make it count.

The Ton came out for the second half with a sense of purpose and a spring in their step and could well have taken the lead on 50 minutes.

Russell did superbly well to shimmy past a challenge with a trademark drop of the shoulder to manufacture space for a low, angled cross.

The fizzed centre found Stefan McCluskey making a late play at the far post, but the striker skewed wide, perhaps off the outside of the post although it was hard to say definitively, on the stretch.

It was a decent chance and one that was magnified when the visitors took the lead against the run of play six minutes later thanks to a Ton mistake.

Right-back Lee Kilday was robbed of possession by Jordan Morton as he unadvisedly attempted to cut inside the wideman on 56 minutes.

The coincidentally-named Morton clipped inside for experienced striker Bryan Prunty, who controlled before carefully lofting the ball over the advancing Derek Gaston to break the deadlock.

Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the afternoon was the way the Ton players reacted to the setback.

Rather than have the swagger of team sat at the top of the table who were confident they would fight back, they appeared shellshocked and rather froze in the face of adversity.

They were, in fact, fortunate not to fall further behind just two minutes on and came within the width of the woodwork of doing so.

Impressive Airdrie loan star Scott Fraser was the architect, sending over a searching free-kick that found fellow loanee Liam Lindsay at the far post.

The tall, talented Partick Thistle centre-half attacked the cross with force and crashed a thumping header against the outside of Gaston’s left-hand post.

However, the second goal wasn’t long in coming, arriving as it did just 10 minutes after Prunty’s opener and as a result of another gift presented by the visitors.

Forbes was short with an attempted downwards header and midfield dynamo Blockley pounced on the slip.

He reacted quicker than Milojevic, beating him to the ball before shifting round the outside of Lamie and lashing a fierce drive into the net from the edge of the box.

Duffy made a double change on 76 minutes, replacing Lamie and Declan McManus with Jamie McCluskey and Ross Caldwell.

It was much to the chagrin of a travelling support which had been calling for the Ton boss to make changes from the moment their side had fallen behind.

There was also a feeling that experienced striker MacDonald might have been the man to make way after a disappointing display, although McManus too had had one of his poorer days in a Ton shirt.

Ton finally offered a response in the final five minutes, and Michael Miller managed their first notable shot on target in the second half on 86 minutes.

It sparked them into life, and Stefan McCluskey just failed to connect with another teasing Russell centre from the left.

Less than 60 seconds later, sub Caldwell crashed a fine curled effort against the face of the crossbar from 22 yards, while Kilday headed over at the far post.

Jamie McCluskey halved the deficit in the first minute of stoppage time when he latched onto a clever MacDonald through ball and poked past McNeil.

It was too little, too late for the Ton, whose only consolation was the fact that results elsewhere meant they remained top of the table on goal difference.

However they must now ensure they do not allow back-to-back defeats to weigh too heavy on their minds and develop into a dreaded slump or they won’t find themselves there much longer.