GREENOCK Morton Hockey Club picked up three points from their double header weekend, first losing out 4-2 away to Stepps in controversial circumstances before bouncing back with a superb 2-1 win at home to fourth-placed Granite City Wanderers.

On Saturday Greenock travelled to fifth-placed Stepps, who were looking to bounce back from last weekend’s crushing 20-0 defeat to league leaders Grove Menziehill. Greenock began the match reasonably well, forcing the home side’s young goalkeeper into several strong saves. As the first half went on, the home side began to sit back which made it very difficult for Greenock’s forward line to break down.

They did however manage to counterattack quickly which led to their opening goal midway through the half. A quick break down the right-hand side led to a penalty corner being won for a foot in the ‘D’, which the home side converted with a flick high into the net from close range.

Greenock thought they should have had a penalty stroke 10 minutes later when Ben Peterson’s drag-flicked penalty corner looked to have struck a defender’s foot on the line, but the umpire failed to spot the foul and play was waved on.

This decision came back to haunt Greenock when Stepps doubled their lead on the stroke of half-time when a breakdown at the back allowed a striker to penetrate the ‘D’ from the right-hand side, before slotting low into the goal.

Greenock were looking to make a positive start to the second half, however, a quick counterattacking move led to Stepps’ third goal after five minutes.

Only at this point did Greenock begin to play the hockey they have shown they are capable of over the course of the season, and they deservedly pulled a goal back when Mati Komarek made it 3-1 with a thumping strike into the bottom left corner from the edge of ‘D’.

Midway through the half came a moment of controversy when a Stepps striker fired the ball low into the Greenock goal from a clear foot-and-a-half outside the ‘D’. To Greenock’s disbelief, the umpire gave a goal, with Greenock’s protests falling on deaf ears. Greenock kept their heads up, and made it 4-2 almost immediately through Peterson. The Greenock man saw a reverse stick strike from the edge of the ‘D’ superbly tipped onto the crossbar by the Stepps keeper, who then proceeded to push the loose ball into his own goal whilst trying to clear.

There was time in the match for one more controversial umpiring decision with 10 minutes to go, when Peterson was taken out by a wild tackle whilst driving down the line. The umpire failed to determine which of the home players had made the challenge, and so, although Greenock were awarded a free hit, the tackle went largely unpunished. As the game drew to a close, frustrations got the better of one or two of the Greenock players, with Michael O’Hara in particular lucky to not to have been sent off for deliberately hitting the ball away after having already been just been yellowed for a poor challenge in the opposition’s half.

On Sunday Greenock took on fourth-placed Granite City Wanderers at Largs, in what was a must-win game due to Saturday’s result. Greenock were without forwards Mati Komarek — due to his suspension for accumulating four yellow cards in the first half of the season — and youngster Fraser Calder due to his Scotland under-16 commitments. They also had to contend with the late call-off of first choice right-back Jack McNelis, with young David Bushfield going in the starting line-up at short notice to cover. Greenock made a positive start to the match, and took the lead 10 minutes in when Peterson’s reverse stick strike from the top of the ‘D’ went straight into the centre of the goal, with the away keeper perhaps positioned too close to his right post.

At the other end of the pitch Scott Jones made a good diving save to keep the home side’s lead intact, before he uncharacteristically allowed a tame reverse stick effort to squeeze through his kickers, though fortunately a nearby attacker couldn’t put the loose ball in.

Greenock continued to create chances, and almost made it 2-0 20 minutes in when Peterson’s drag-flick from a penalty corner was superbly deflected over the crossbar by a defender on the line. The home side continued to persevere, and deservedly doubled their lead with the last action of the first half when James Wood found Jonny Roy with a superb first time pass across the ‘D’, with Greenock’s newest signing managing to slide the ball in despite the efforts of the onrushing goalkeeper.

Granite reduced the deficit five minutes into the second half when a miscued clearance fell kindly to an attacker at the edge of the ‘D’ for him to fire a fine half-volleyed effort into the bottom corner.

As the half went on Granite piled on the pressure, but Greenock’s back four of Neilson, Brown, O’Hara and Bushfield were in superb form, looking both composed and assured whilst in possession of the ball, and making a series of excellent tackles and interceptions whilst on the back foot. At the other end Greenock were creating more chances of their own, and had numerous opportunities to extend their lead, with Peterson going closest after being played in one-on-one with the ‘keeper by the impressive Wood, only to see his effort go agonisingly wide of the post.

In the end Greenock held on for an excellent win which sees them move up to seventh place in the table, a testament of their progress over the second half of the campaign after having been languishing in 11th place at the halfway point in the season.

Greenock Morton Hockey Club would like to thank Go Coco and Texas Instruments for their continued support, and would also like to show their appreciation to the vocal support who came to cheer the team on over the weekend, both at Millerston and at Largs.