| Morton 1 Queen's Park 1 ( Williams ) ( Moffat pen ) |
| You never quite get what you expect from Queen's Park. Given Morton's success in enticing John McCormack away from Hampden to fill their vacant manager's position over two weeks ago, they may have had reason to believe that in doing so, they would be greatly reducing the chances of their side being outplayed by an amateur team, hovering near the foot of the table. This was what happened last month in Glasgow, and remarkably history was to repeat itself at Cappielow this afternoon in another brilliantly passionate, aggressive performance from Queen's. The things that were missing in fact, from last week's game against Stirling Albion. Buoyed by the prospect of drawing swords with McCormack's new team the Spiders clearly were. And disappointed not to have won they will undoubtedly be. Steven Moffat was fit to take his place in the starting eleven, and Richard Sinclair deputised for Danny Ferry in place of Ross Clark, anonymous in last Saturday's match. Willie Martin came in for the less than 100% fit Allan Dunning. Queen's started like a train, forcing a corner almost immediately on the far side from their supporters, housed in the main stand. Although only resulting in a mishit Johnny Whelan overhead kick, it was to be the first of many Queen's attacks during the first 45 minutes. Another corner was won after 3 minutes, and from Allan's cross, Sinclair headed the ball back across goal for Willie Martin to have the easiest of tap-ins in front of goal. Sadly but predictably, he hit his effort wide. And we braced ourselves for an afternoon of agony and frustration. The Morton fans must have been feeling something similar in fact throughout the first half as their side struggled to get to grips with the game at all, surrendering possession all too easily and finding it hard to cope with the Queen's midfield and wide players. If John McCormack really has stiffened the resolve of this team and made them more cohesive, there was all but no evidence of it for a very long time. Queen's kept pressing in the early stages, with Whelan having a low volley deflected into the arms of Coyle, and Willie Martin, attempting to redeem himself, making Coyle block his powerful shot with his diving body. The aggression and fight was obvious in Queen's play, as Martin had charged past a defender with great determination before shooting, and this was one of many signs of commitment from the forward in a performance where he covered every blade of grass. Not to be outdone, the jinking Allan, playing on the right hand side, made a solo run through the middle in the 17th minute, causing havoc in the home defence. His pass to the oncoming Martin on the left allowed Willie another shot at goal, but the tight angle meant a goal was never likely. Again, Coyle was there to save. From the consequent corner, Canning's delivery was impressive and Steven Moffat's flicked header fell just wide of goal. Close to the half-hour mark, Queen's again came close to snatching a deserved lead. Allan was again the instigator, showing lovely footwork before passing to Whelan. Sheer adrenaline allowed the no. 8 to fly between two Morton defenders but his shot from inside the box lacked composure and flew wide of the near post. There was little doubt that Queen's should have been in front by this stage, and their frailties in front of goal were cruelly exposed once more after 31 minutes. Gemmell's header found Allan unmarked a few yards out, astonishing given his status as a genuine danger man to Morton, but the winger took far too long to make his mind up as to how to score, instead of just doing it. His dithering was costly, as Coyle was allowed time to anticipate his actions and finally smothered a weak effort. A very skilful player, James Allan can be let down by a lack of cutting edge to his play and it was never more obvious than here. Just following this, Morton had their first serious effort at goal of a dismal first half for them, but Marco Maisano's shot was saved by Stewart. Allan then infuriatingly managed to get himself booked, a trip on Derek Collins being the reason, but the Morton full-back was fortunate not to receive a similar punishment for his form of retaliation on the little winger. John Maisano would become the first Mortonian to collect a yellow card for his foul on Steven Canning. The pattern of play remained the same, with Morton hemmed back in their own half. A Canning low shot was deflected wide by Tony Quinn as he attempted to redirect the ball on target, but his chances of doing so were limited by the use of his, weaker, left foot. Gemmell, finding it hard to keep his footing on occasion and not really fitting his bill as apex of the Queen's attack, blasted a free-kick high and wide shortly after. Morton only seriously showed themselves as an attacking threat in the final minutes of the half. Williams brought a high ball under control inside the penalty area but was immediately shepherded by two Queen's defenders, and his shot at goal was straight at Stewart. Tony Quinn subsequently picked up a booking for persistent fouling. One final effort to break the deadlock from the visitors ended in Johnny Whelan shooting way off target after Martin's original attempt had been charged down. As the first half ended, a curious state of melancholia seemed present among the travelling one hundred-odd visiting fans, who were only too aware that their team could have been a couple of goals in front. Instead, there was virtually a belief that Morton would be the ones to score first. Lo and behold, that's exactly what happened. The first ten minutes of the second half saw little in the way of strong attacking play or neat moves, but the game sprang to life after 57 minutes. John Gemmell chased a long ball towards the Morton area, and appeared to have the upper hand on Bottiglieri, before the defender pulled him back. A red card could have spawned few legitimate complaints from the home side, but referee Frickleton chose only to book the player, despite a clear goalscoring opportunity being prevented illegally. In a cruel twist of fate the resulting free kick led to Morton taking the lead. Despite Moffat's presence up from defence, Gemmell elected to take the kick himself. It came back off the wall, and Moffat, attempting to collect, was robbed by a Morton defender. The defence was left exposed, and the ball was quickly ferried to the right wing and on to the penalty area for the man Queen's fans feared most, Alex Williams, to pick up. A one-two, and Williams tucked the ball under Stewart for the opener. A breakaway move of real quality, and the visitors left simply stunned. What chance now of Queen's equalising? It had happened before against this very team in similar circumstances, and it could surely happen again. Yet there were few signs of a goal from Queen's for the next 25 minutes. Allan Dunning, on for the ineffective Gemmell, took time to settle, as Morton held their advantage. John Maisano could have added to it but shot just over from 25 yards, before Williams, avoiding being offside, volleyed in from the right and forced Stewart into a stop. With the game entering the last 10 minutes, Queen's demonstrated their commendable levels of fitness ( against full-time opposition too ) and took the game to Morton once more. Moffat found himself crowded out inside the area and was unable to get a substantial hit of the ball, but Steven Canning certainly did in cracking a dipping shot off the bar from 35 yards out. Luck was again not on Queen's side. Yet within the space of two minutes, it was. Whelan pursued a ball into the box, but appeared to have little chance of creating an opportunity. Morton keeper Craig Coyle thought otherwise though, as he ran from his line, tried to gather the ball from Whelan, and only succeeded in sending him crashing to the ground near the left edge of the area. Click here for the rest of this report |
| Joe Mullaney at Cappielow |