MORTON youngster Sam Murdoch has been hailed as a ‘breath of fresh air’ by Port Glasgow Juniors boss Tam Jamieson after the goalkeeper joined the Parklea side this week on a season-long loan.
The 17-year-old linked up with the team on Monday and has already impressed the Undertakers gaffer with his performances in training.
Jamieson told the Tele he was pleased to have brought the talented shot stopper to the club and confirmed that Murdoch was in contention for a starting berth in this Saturday’s clash with Saltcoats Victoria.
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He said: “It’s really good to have him on board.
“He’s a good boy and first and foremost he’s a good goalie.
“I’ve known him for a long time and watched him as he’s grown up, because he played at the same age group as my boy.
“I went and watched him when we were looking for a goalie and the wee man will fit in well here with us.
“When the deal was getting done, we spoke to Morton and it’s about getting him game time as well.”
Murdoch has been a highly rated Morton academy prospect for a number of years, having featured for the Cappielow outfit’s reserve side back in 2022 at the age of just 14.
Jamieson is keen to involve the teenage talent as much as he can and has praised the player’s maturity despite his young age.
He added: “His distribution is great; he plays high, and as the game moves forward, he moves forward with the game.
“He’s quite vocal for a young lad, and he’s pretty loud as well.
“That was one of the biggest standouts. Having a goalie that talks to his back three, back four or back five, whatever it is – that’s massive.
“That’s a skill on its own, we’ve seen him at training this week and his fitness is great, his handling is great and his footwork is great.
“We always knew he was a good kicker of the ball, he had good hands and he was fit, but seeing him be vocal and stuff as well was impressive. He’s really mature.”
Jamieson believes that Murdoch already has a bright future ahead of him and hopes to see him continue to develop throughout the season.
He said: “Right now Morton are probably blessed with goalies from the first team right through to the youth ranks.
“But you don’t get brought to a professional full-time club if you don’t have qualities, and Sam’s got a good future ahead of him.
“Right now, what he needs is games. Being part of the first team squad, he hadn’t played for maybe six or seven months, but he’d trained every day.
“He’s really stood out at training. The first night we did a wee bit of running, but for him not knowing anyone, he was actually the fittest one out the lot.
“That was before he had even handled or kicked a ball, that alone was good.
“As soon as you see him going in the ball sticks to his gloves and he’s been a breath of fresh air since he came in, the coaches have spoken highly of him and the other goalies have too.
“He’ll push the other goalies we’ve got, and it’s up to him to get himself in that starting eleven.”
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