THIS was a match where the outcome was always going to be more significant than the performance and it went in Morton’s favour.
David Hopkin’s side welcomed Arbroath to Cappielow having lost their three previous matches. It wasn’t the most clinical of displays but by the end Morton had done enough to stop the rot.
“We knew the importance of the game so it was a much needed three points,” said Hopkin. “It was probably the best performance I’ve had as a team. We went one up early doors against a very good Arbroath side and in the second half I asked young players to grow up as we would be bombarded in the second half. That came true but we dealt with everything.”
Arbroath have surpassed expectations this season but would leave empty-handed on this occasion. Manager Dick Campbell was magnanimous enough to admit Morton deserved their victory but did wonder what might have been had his side been awarded at least one penalty, especially after defender Colin Hamilton had been cleared out by Billy King.
“I thought there were three contentious penalty decisions in the second half that we never got,” said Campbell. “The one on Hamilton was blatant. We never worked their goalie enough although if we had got those penalty kicks we might have had a chance. I spoke to the ref afterwards and he just never saw it the way I did.”
Campbell was also irked at the way his side conceded the only goal of the game after just three minutes. Jack Baird scooted forward out of defence before chipping a lofted ball into the penalty box. It found its way to Reece Lyon via the head of Jim McAlister and the 19-year-old forced the ball in at the post at the second attempt.
“I’m very angry that my players never started the game well,” added Campbell. “And we lost a very sloppy goal. You wouldn’t expect to see that down the bairns’ park on a Sunday morning.”
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