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Morton 0; ROSS COUNTY 1 |
Neale Cooper's Dingwall outfit ground out the victory - their first of the season - through sheer determination and the inate striker's instinct of Alex Bone, who scored the only goal of the game after 16 minutes. Where others would have given up, he chased a long ball with defender Derek Anderson, harassing the full back into an awful pass back and sweeping the loose ball well beyond Boswell in the Morton goal.
It was this persistence that typified the visitors' afternoon: the willingness to forego the fancy stuff and get stuck in. This was true even into the fourth minute of added-on time that had the Highland support on their feet to give County a raucous ovation as they left the field.
It was as much relief as appreciation though as the home side battered their guests in a frantic finale. Nicky Walker dived full length four minutes from the end of normal time to block Kharim Boukkra's close-range rocket. But for all Morton's pressing, it was the only thing that the veteran 'keeper had to do all afternoon.
In fact, Bone could have made County's outing even sweeter on the half hour mark when he struck the ball on the run that had Boswell at full stretch to acrobatically knock the the ball to safety.
That was one of the few chances that Bone was allowed by his marker Parfait Medou-Otye. The tussle between the two was titanic and ofetn strayed on to the fringes of legality. Both participants were spoken to by the referee on occasions and the French defender was booked in the first half for the illicit use of the hands.
The hosts may feel aggrieved that the referee did not find time to award a penalty in the second half. Stephen Whalen found himself on the turf after tangling with the County rear-guard, but on both occasions the referee simply looked away.
There was no reward for the home side despite their late pounding of the County goal. The pressure that they exerted only once transferred itself into a serious goal threat and even then Walker was the equal of Boukkra's shot.
Ross County: Walker; Gilbert, Maxwell, D McKay, Cunnington, Ferguson (Escalon, 66), McQuade (Kinnaird, 46), Fraser, Bone (Irvine, 90), Millar and Henderson. Unused Subs: Hamilton (gk) and King.
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ROSS COUNTY 3; Morton 1 |
Morton's inability to name more than four substitutes at Victoria Park, and even then one was a trialist, spoke of ravaged resources. Their determination and spirit of adventure in defeat, however, did not.
In a division so often decried for its lack of entertainment as well as its financial impoverishment, this free-flowing match was a heart-warming spectacle.
Admittedly, some of it was down to defensive errors, but few of the 2,500 crowd were complaining and even the wearied Morton travelling support applauded warmly at the end.
Ross County, having succumbed to Airdrie the previous week, were in no mood to offer sympathy to their visitors and set about their opponents with a vicious, uncompromising edge to their play.
That they did not run away with the match spoke volumes for Morton's reserves of grit and will-power. They were out-classed and out-run at times, but they fought bravely and ultimately paid for missed chances, including a squandered penalty miss.
County took the lead after only two minutes. Alex BONE shoowed great awareness by responding to a superb Steve Fergsuon through-ball to score from ten yards out. The Dingwall men seemed to be cruising when Derek HOLMES stabbed the ball past Carlin from close range.
But County then paid the price for sitting on their lead with Morton pressing hard before scoring through Ross Matheson just before half time.
Couny had not managed more than one goal at home before this match, but they scored a third within a minute of the re-start. Darren Henderson and John McQuade, who had come on at the interval, set up Craig TAGGART to blast the ball home from 25 yards.
The game comntinued to flow but neither side could find the crucial opening. Morton's best chance came when they were awarded a penalty but the ball was sent high over the bar by Curran.
Ross County: Walker; Gilbert, Maxwell, Irvine, Cunnington, Ferguson, Taggart, Henderson (McQuade, 46), Fraser (McKay, 70), Bone and Holmes. Unused Subs: Hamilton (gk), Campbell and Lees.
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ROSS COUNTY 0; Morton 2 |
Rangers free-transfer striker Ross Mathieson struck twice at Victoria Park last night to give relegation-threatened Morton a precious First Division victory against an off-colour Ross County.
The Dingwall men looked seriously short of motivation, method or a cutting edge.
County were looking for their first win in seven starts to climb above Clyde into fifth place on goal difference, a move which would have totally dispelled any chance of the Dingwall club getting hauled into the relegation battle.
But bottom-of-the-table Morton, fighting for survival on and off the park, had not read the script and Mathieson's first-half double was all it took for the more industrious and lively Cappielow outfit to see off the home side.
Morton almost shocked County in 13 minutes when Brian Kerr nipped past Mark Perry on the left to set up Mathieson with a neat cutback. He made space for a shot but Brian Irvine quickly closed him down to snuff out the danger.
Three minutes later Kerr wriggled away from Dave McKay and picked out Mathieson and the Morton striker made no mistake with his second chance of the game, thumping the ball high into the roof of the net past Gary Hamilton from 14 yards.
Karim Boukraa, who was being watched from the stand by his old friend, Celtic star Lubomir Moravcik, and talent-hunting Livingston manager Jim Leishman, almost equalised for County in 20 minutes with a dipping shot which came back off the woodwork.
Steve Ferguson fired just wide two minutes later as County tried to step up the pressure but Morton hit with them a sucker punch to go 2-0 ahead in 26 minutes, Mathieson heading Kerr's chip past Hamilton from six yards after Kerr moved onto Irvine's slack back pass.
Irvine almost made amends in 33 minutes when he sent a glancing header just wide from a Hugh Robertson corner. The big ex-Aberdeen defender missed the target again from a Ferguson flag kick in 38 minutes and then Ferguson himself squandered a great chance, firing wide from 10 yards after drawing the 'keeper off his line.
And County were only saved the embarrassment of trooping off 3-0 down at the interval by a goal-line clearance from Eddie Cunnington in 43 minutes which kept out a David MacGregor effort.
County boss Neale Cooper made two changes at half-time to try and inject some urgency into his side, sending on Martin Prest for John McQuade and Mark McCormick for Hugh Robertson.
County almost got back into the game in 72 minutes when Ferguson fed the ball into Derek Holmes' feet in the box. He laid the ball off perfectly for Alex Bone, who hurried his finish and his shot flashed across the face of the Morton goal and wide.
Ross County: Hamilton; Perry, Robertson (McCormick, 46), Mackay, Irvine, Cunnington, McQuade (Prest, 46), Ferguson, Bone, Boukraa and Holmes. Unused Subs: Gonet (gk), Fraser and Canning.
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Morton 0; ROSS COUNTY 3 |
A Disastrous 12-minute spell before half-time, during which they conceded three goals, virtually condemned Morton to the Second Division last night.
Ally Maxwell’s threadbare squad were typically spirited and looked capable of throwing themselves a lifeline until the game turned on the substitution of their central defender Scott Patterson.
When he limped off on the half-hour, County grabbed the initiative to claim the lead through their top scorer Alex Bone.
Steve Ferguson and John Fraser worked an opening on the left, and BONE was presented with a free header which he placed behind the helpless Stuart Webster.
Further calamity struck in 40 minutes when the home defence made a mess of clearing a cross ball, and Martin CANNING’S deflected shot from 20 yards ended in the net.
County rubbed home their advantage before the break when BONE fastened onto Canning’s through ball before heading behind Webster. Ironically, Morton had enjoyed the better of the early exchanges with the powerful Brian Kerr causing problems for the Dingwall defence.
However, the young striker was unable to capitalise on his best chance, stumbling at the crucial moment. The second half became almost academic, with interest centring on whether Bone would notch a hat-trick.
However, he contrived to send the best of several chances over an open goal.
Morton’s misery was complete when Kerr was shown a red card in 83 minutes for a second bookable offence.
With two games remaining, Morton are six points adrift of third-bottom Raith Rovers, who enjoy a vastly superior goal difference.
Ross County: Walker; Canning, Cunnington, Maxwell, Perry, Fraser (McQuade, 89), McCormick (Holmes, 79), Ferguson, Bone, McKay and Robertson. Unused Subs: Hamilton (gk), Irvine and Prest.
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