Ayr United 2-0 Greenock Morton

Sunday, 07 March 2010 17:41

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Morton dragged into relegation dogfight by resolute Ayr

By Matthew Harold

Greenock Morton got dragged into the relegation dogfight after failing to make their chances pay against Ayr United and ultimately losing by two goals.

The victory sees the Honest Men only two points behind their rivals with a vital game at home to Patrick Thistle, which could see Brian Reid’s men go above their Greenock rivals and leave James Grady’s side in the playoff place.

The Greenock side started the game tremendously well, with both Peter Weatherson and Donovan Simmonds looking a lively forward line early on. Both strikers had tested home keeper Craig Samson out early on, with Weatherson hitting the post, when just inside the area, but they could not find a way by the Ayr number one.

Morton had been pounding upon the home defence relentlessly, until halfway through the half, when Ayr broke home with one of their first attacks of the half, ending with a superb volley from just over 20 yards out, from Mark Roberts, finding the back of the Morton net.

Roberts then found himself on the floor, just minutes later, When the Ayr striker was caught in the back by Morton defender Dominic Shimmin. The injury left the frontman needing treatment, off the field, which lasted nearly ten minutes. When he returned to the field Roberts found he could not continue on and as a result had to be replaced by Danny McKay.

For the rest of the half, the visitors continued to press in search of the equaliser. But they continued to find Samson in great form, as they’re shots came from further and further out. This resulted in rather than their strikers taking shots, it was their midfielders, with both Alan Jenkins and Steven Masterton hitting shots from over 25 yards out.

The second half started completely different from the first, with the home side going forward in search of a second goal in order to kill the game. That second goal was to come when a ball from Ryan Borris was latched on by Steve Bowey, he powered his way into the box and was brought down by Shimmin. This left referee Steven Nicholls no choice but to point to the spot and give Ayr the chance to extend their lead.

That was duly done, when Tam McManus expertly powered the penalty home to put his side into a comfortable lead. But that did not stop Morton from going forward in search of getting back into the game, with Donovan Simmonds being the main culprit in front of goal as he missed several chances to help James Grady’s team to find a way back.

In the middle of the pressure coming from the visitors, Ayr pushed forward and were unlucky not to extend their lead when the ball broke to Bowey, with Morton keeper Colin Stewart stranded on the edge of his area. The Englishman proceeded to lob the ball towards the Morton goal, but was left in anguish as he watched his shot go wide of the goal.

Both sides then continued to go back and forward, each looking for a way to either get back in the game or kill it off effectively as a contest. The visiting fans almost exploded when on-loan Hearts midfielder Ryan McGowan clattered into Morton defender Alan Reid with a two foot challenge, which earned the Australian a yellow card, but had those in the stands wanting more.

Only minutes later the visiting fans were once again left fuming, when Simmonds was brought to the ground by Ayr defender Martyn Campbell, but the striker was left shaking his head after see referee Nicholls wave away his claims for a spot kick.

With just over five minutes left in the game, Morton captain Stewart Greacen put his side out of the game by receiving his second yellow card of the game, for persistence fouling. Getting himself sent off for a challenge halfway inside the home side’s half, leaving Grady having to change his side to adapt to the situation.

But they could not find a way through and ultimately fell to a defeat which they could look upon as pivotal at the end of the season and could ultimately cost them a place in the first division for next season.  

Afterwards Morton gaffer James Grady scratching his head wondering how his side went in a goal down at the break, he said: “One shot they had, alright it’s a good one but the amount of chances we created, we should have had the game dead and buried, probably, but it wasn’t to be and you just hope that we can see it out the other end.”

On his sides coming battle against the drop the Cappielow gaffer said: “I’m looking for a wee bit of character now, a wee bit of desire, I think when the second goal goes in it tells me a lot about the team I’ve got. I just think there’s too many, who their body language just went and gave up the ghost just a wee bit, which is very hard to take, especially a team I’m managing, because there’s one thing that you always got from myself was everything and when that doesn’t happen you’ve got problems.”

Grady was left fuming after the game, with the indiscipline shown by his captain Stewart Greacen, who received a red card near the end of the game, the Morton manager said of the incident: “It’s about being experienced, he’s on a yellow card, he had been for a long part of the game and the guy’s 55 yards from goal facing the wrong way, is there any need to put a challenge in. He’s let himself down today, because now he’ll be out for a number of games.”

Ayr United manager Brian Reid was pleased by how his side coped under pressure in order to pull off the win and afterwards he explained: “I didn’t think we played well at all first half, we never strung two passes together. We were far better second half and created a few chances and they didn’t give us as much to do in the second half. Our main aim is to catch the teams above us and we’re certainly doing it the right way.”

On his recent signings that have helped the Honest Men in their attempts to climb out of the relegation playoff place the Somerset Park gaffer said: “Well the teams kind of changed during the January transfer window, there’s a lot of boys left and a lot come in, the only worry about that is the players gelling. But the experience we’ve brought in has meant they’ve settled in quickly.”

Finally on the backlog of home fixtures his side have coming up, Reid is confident, saying: “We’ve got a lot of home games coming, eight left out of the last 14 and we’re strong at home, hopefully that will continue. With the game in hand it gives us a chance, we’ve got 14 cup ties left and we’ll take it game by game and see what’s left. 

Player Ratings

Ayr United                             Greenock Morton
1.Craig Samson  7                    Colin Stewart  6
2.Chris Mitchell  7                  Ryan McGuffie  5
3.Danny Lafferty  6               Alan Reid  5
4.Andy Aitken  6                   Dominik Shimmin 6
5.Martyn Campbell 7            Stewart Greacen 4
6.Ryan McGowan  6             Michael Tidser  7
7.Dean Keenan  7                  Alan Jenkins  5
8.Steve Bowey  8                  Steven Masterton 6
9.Tam McManus  7              Peter Weatherson 6
10.Mark Roberts  5              Donovan Simmonds 7
11.Ryan Borris  6                 Jim McAllister  7

Subs
Junior Mendes  1                  Bryan Graham  2
Kenny Connolly   2              Kevin Finlayson  3
Danny McKay  6                 David McGregor  1
      
 

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