Morton 1 Accies 1: Saturday, 15 December 2001

Scottish League Division 2, Cappielow Park, Greenock

Saturday, 15 December 2001

Accies came back strongly from losing a late goal at Cappielow, getting a deserved equaliser and missing a golden chance to take all 3 points seconds later.

It was a dreich December day down at the "Tale o' the Bank" as Accies tried to build on their excellent Cup win over Montrose by taking something from this basement battle. It says a lot for the (mis)management of both these clubs that after many battles in the 1st Division (and both teams having spent time in the Premier in the 80s) they find themselves filling 2 of the bottom 3 spots in the 2nd Division.

Accies made one change from the starting eleven against Montrose, Ally Graham replacing the suspended Callaghan. This gave the team rather a lopsided look, lacking a left-footed player in midfield or attack, and I would have thought that substitute Paul MacDonald would have been a more obvious replacement for Callaghan. This was emphasised at set pieces when Ally Graham was left to send in outswinging corners which posed little threat. Graham had a pretty solid game, however, and was worthy of his place.

The first half saw Accies mainly on the back foot although it took 15 minutes before Ian MacFarlane was tested, a strong header forcing a great one handed save away to his left. Later in the half, Faldo repeated the save, this time to his right. Accies were finding it difficult to make forward progress, other than a couple of pacy runs down the left by Michael Martin. On the right, McPhee was able to expose Dylan Kerr's shocking lack of pace and produced a couple of good low crosses that found no takers in the middle. Near the end of the half, good work by McNiven gave Moore a chance to shoot and his effort from the edge of the box flashed past the right hand post.

Comedy moment of the first half started off seriously as Morton's dangerous number 10 went down heavily after clashing with MacFarlane at the edge of the box. The Morton physio quickly called for a stretcher. Cue the slowest St Andrews ambulance men in Scotland as they slowly wandered across the pitch, stretcher in hand. Eventually they got the poor forward onto the stretcher and lifted him - only for the guy at the front-left to lose his balance and drop the stretcher again, losing his red hardhat in the process. Dangerous stuff this! Happily the forward soon recovered and rejoined the game. Second comedy moment came at half time with the Cappielow "tannoy". A hush descended as everyone strained to hear the halftime scores but most were unintelligble. Third comedy moment was also at half time when Accies sub Kris O'Neil was left to warm up on his own. Eventually a ballboy wandered on to help give him some passing practice.

Paul Gaughan took a knock in the first period and looked uncomfortable during the remainder of the half and it was no surprise when he failed to reappear for the second period. Alan Russell was the replacement, forcing a reshuffle to a back four. Accies restarted in fine fashion and should have taken the lead after only a minute when Moore cushioned a header into the path of Martin "Boner" Bonnar. Sadly Bonnar's finish couldn't match his fine run as he blasted a shot straight at the keeper from 12 yards out.

Accies' injury woes continued when Ian MacFarlane had to leave the field again to be replaced by Graham Potter. Accies played well throughout the second period and the revised formation seemed to stiffen up the midfield, giving Morton little opportunity to make progress. The game appeared to be heading for a frustrating goalless draw, as borderline offsides and inconsistent refereeing put paid to many chances. With 8 minutes remaining, however, Accies went behind. A cross from their left had Potter unsure of whether or not to come for it. He stayed on his line, Bannerman outjumped the only defender and his header went down and in off the post as Potter scrambled hard to get back to clear.

Things looked bleak for Accies at this point, only for substitute David McFarlane to pop up in the right place seconds later, taking advantage of a defensive mixup to round the keeper and slot home from a tightish angle. This seemed to inspire Accies and Brian McPhee had a golden chance to wrap up the points a minute later when set free with the keeper to beat. I for one expected him to score but his shot was too direct and cannoned out off the keeper's legs. McPhee then had another chance when given space inside the box again only for his angled drive to be well saved again. By now, the home defence was in tatters and McPhee nearly broke free again, only for the ball to get stuck under his feet and the chance was lost. All in all, Accies were probably glad to have gained a point after going behind late on, but those missed chances meant a loss of 2 points as far as I'm concerned.

Accies: MacFarlane (sub Potter); Renicks, Martin, Sweeney, Gaughan (sub Russell), Nelson, Graham, McNiven (sub McFarlane), Moore, McPhee, Bonnar.

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