In this week's A View From the Shed, Russell Gordon previews Saturday's trip to Dunfermline as Morton look to get back to winning ways following back-to-back defeats against Falkirk and Livingston.
MORTON'S long unbeaten run is already beginning to feel like a distant memory, only a week after it was finally ended by Falkirk.
Having followed that defeat up with a loss on Tuesday night at Livingston, focus now turns to a Dunfermline team who are really in the mire after a horrific midweek in Hamilton.
There’s no hiding from it: Morton are under real threat of seeing what was building towards a promising climax to the season falling flat.
Morton's unbeaten run feels like a distant memory now (Image: ALEX CRAIG) While it’s perhaps no surprise that Ton’s unbeaten run came to an end with successive defeats to the league’s top two, the manner of those defeats was certainly disappointing, despite an encouraging start for Dougie Imrie’s injury-ravaged side at Almondvale.
Despite a dearth of attacking options, with the losses of Filip Stuparevic and Tomi Adeloye sorely felt, Ton took the lead with a terrific counter-attack which was finished with aplomb by Arron Lyall, a real shining light in these testing times.
Arron Lyall celebrates his goal (Image: Gary Bradley)
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Within a minute though, the defensive frailties that showed up against Falkirk again came to the fore as Tete Yengi was allowed to dance through the Morton backline unchallenged to equalise a minute later.
I suspect that had Iain Wilson been protecting the defence, that would’ve been unlikely to happen.
After Danny Wilson nodded Livi ahead from a corner and Andrew Shinnie dispatched a free header at the back post from six yards, a mere nine minutes after Lyall’s opener, the game was realistically over as a contest.
Like Friday, Morton produced a decent second half performance without really looking like getting back into the game, and had Ryan Mullen to thank for some excellent stops that kept the scoreline respectable before substitute Niall McGinn reduced the arrears in stoppage time.
Niall McGinn's goal was too little too late (Image: Gary Bradley)
Lyall's withdrawal may be pivotal (Image: Gary Bradley)
McGinn of course, replaced the excellent Lyall, who limped off 12 minutes from time, and I have to admit to being on tenterhooks waiting for 2pm tomorrow afternoon when Dougie Imrie's team is announced.
The potential loss of the midfielder doesn’t bear thinking about, but such is Morton’s luck at the moment, if it wasn’t for bad luck, we’d have no luck at all.
That said, other results weren’t terribly damaging, with the Airdrie renaissance continuing against big-spending Raith Rovers while, as previously mentioned, Dunfermline endured a torrid night in Hamilton.
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While I don’t expect either to catch Morton, such are the problems at Accies that I don’t expect their win to be the beginning of anything special.
The visit to Dunfermline will of course see a meeting of old friends, with former Ton captain Michael Tidser having taken the reins at East End Park.
He replaced ex-Dundee defender James McPake, who was sacked after the Fifers' 2-0 reverse at Cappielow just before Christmas.
It’s fair to say that Tidser’s impact hasn’t quite been what the Pars faithful had been hoping for. The obvious highlight was a derby victory over Raith at East End Park.
However, Tidser’s side have since exited the Scottish Cup at the expense of Aberdeen and following Tuesday’s defeat, sit three points adrift of eighth placed Accies, with Airdrie beginning to motor up behind them.
Perhaps more alarmingly for Tidser, I make it 464 minutes (excluding injury time) since the Pars found the net.
Only eight games into his tenure since arriving from Kelty Hearts, Tidser already looks to be feeling the heat, with his post-match comments scathing about his under-achieving charges.
Imrie is looking for a reaction this weekend (Image: alex craig)Listening to our own boss’s comments, it was notable that he pointed out that he expects three points from the weekend. If he gets them, Dunfermline could be going to Kelty for derby matches next season, never mind managers!
Elsewhere, Imrie will be looking for a favour from his old boss Davie Martindale, who visits Firhill this evening while a draw between Raith and Queen’s Park would be a desirable outcome, especially if we can collect the points in the Kingdom of Fife.
With a free midweek coming up in which some of the pains and strains can be nursed before the visit of title chasing Ayr next weekend.
A return to winning ways at a venue that Morton have had plenty of joy down the years would be a timely boost.
