Scottish 2nd Division
Sat 6th Dec 03
Cappielow Park

An enthralling 10 goal game at Cappielow saw Morton come out eventual 6-4 winners against Arbroath.

Despite the free flowing of goals in the right end for Morton, silly defensive errors allowed the Red Lichties to stay in the match and it wasn't until Alex Williams popped up with the sixth near the end that the Ton faithful could relax.

Morton started with Scott Bannerman at right back while there was still no place in the squad for either Warren Hawke or Jani Uotinen.

Despite coming to Cappielow with attack in mind and scoring 4 goals the fact remained that every one of these was offered on a plate by sloppy defending. Luckily for Morton the rest of the team were firing on all cylinders and could ensure goals to combat their defensive frailties. As it was each goal was also picked out of the top drawer in total contrast to the visitors efforts.

Arbroath had the better of the opening chances with defender King having a couple of efforts cleared by the Morton defence. There seemed little indication of the goal fest to come however as the score remained goalless for the first quarter of the game.

It took a marvelous piece of solo play from Paul walker to set the ball rolling in 26 minutes. Collecting the ball on the right, a cross was expected but instead the winger cut inside through the defence and let fly past the 'keeper. Morton could have extended their lead soon after but Peter Weatherson was unlucky not to break his recent goal drought as he watched the ball rebound off a post.

The lead wasn't to last long however as within 3 minutes of the opener Arbroath were level. Diack found Cargill unmarked in the box and he swept the ball past Coyle. It took another spectacular goal to enable Morton to regain the lead. John Maisano passed to Weatherson who cleverly flicked to the onrushing Bannerman. Without breaking his stride he volleyed from the edge of the box with his left foot and the ball crashed home off the underside of the bar. He doesn't score that often but when he does you can guarantee that they are important (winner against Peterhead) or spectacular (against Stenhousemuir after administration).

Morton's joy was to last momentarily again however as a mistake by David McGregor was punished. The big defender failed to correctly clear with his header and McGlashen was on hand to take advantage by knocking the ball home.

And so 4 goals scored with another 6 to go. The second half pretty much followed that of the first with Ton getting in front only for Arbroath to be gifted one back. The only difference this time was the the visitors would never pull level at any time.

Chris Millar struck his first Morton goal since arriving from Celtic last year and it was an excellent finish to open your account with. With Alex williams caught and injured the ref played the advantage allowing John Maisano to play the ball past a defender finding Chris on the right. Taking the ball goalward he unleashed an unstoppable shot past the 'keeper from 8 yards.

If Chris was happy to get his first goal for Morton , one other player would have been equally if not more pleased to get on the score sheet today, Peter Weatherson. The striker has been prolific so far this season scoring 13 goals but has dried up and been off the boil slightly in recent weeks. How much that goal in 65 minutes meant to him was clearly evident as he celebrated after nodding home. Scott Bannerman released a perfect cross from the right and Peter expertly guided the ball backwards towards goal past the 'keeper.

It seemed that Morton had a grip on the game now and in fact would extend their lead. Not so, the defence had other thoughts. With no apparent danger Chris Millar took a swipe at mid air allowing Cargill to shoot past Coyle. With the game now at 4-3 the Morton fans couldn't relax just yet.

Three minutes late Morton returned the two goal advantage. A John Maisano corner was cleared out to Marco Maisano who drilled the ball low for Morton's fifth. 5-3, surely we could relax again.

You would think wouldn't you, but again the Morton defence wanted to make us sweat. Arbroath sub Durno was barely on the park when he took advantage of yet another defensive error. A throw in from the right wasn't cleared after McGlashen headed on and Durno fired past Coyle. (5-4 now!)

As time ticked down it looked like the victory was sealed but with this defensive performance you just never knew. It took until injury time for the Morton support to allow themselves to relax. As Arbroath pushed for the equaliser Morton quickly countered and found themselves in the majority in the Arbroath half. John Maisano released Paul Walker on the right and his low cross passed Peat for Alex Williams to slide and place the ball home to secure the points.

It was a remarkable game that that kept the 2665 Morton fans on the edge of their seats (or terracing!) for the complete 90 or so minutes. I bet those that make up the remainder of the usual 3000 plus crowd who decided against the cold weather or were pressured into shopping with the missus will be kicking themselves at missing it.

Morton: Coyle, Macgregor, Greacen, Bottiglieri, Millar, John Maisano, Bannerman, Marco Maisano, Walker, Williams, Weatherson(89). Subs: Henderson, Adam, Cannie(89), McAlistair, McGurn.

Arbroath: Peat, McMillan, Rennie, Browne, King, Cusick(57), Cargill, Henslee(79), McGlashan, Diack(39), Swankie. Subs: McAulay(57), Euan Graham, Durno(79), Herkes(39), Mitchell.

Referee: E Smith

Attendance: 2665