Scottish 2nd Division
Saturday 1st November 03
Excelsior Stadium, Airdrie

A spectacular performance by Morton ensured the fans a very happy Saturday night and a memory that many will recall for a long time to come.

A tight game against the two promotion favourites was expected at the Excelsior Stadium but anything but that transpired as the visitors hit their sorry hosts for six in front of an obviously jubilant, ecstatic 1500 or so blue and white followers.

A few were grumbling before the game at the fact that the hosts seemed to be trying to extract as much money from us as possible with £2 for parking and an entrance price of £12 but all, I am sure, will concede that that it was money well spent. Well £2 a goal for Morton for the admission price can't be bad!

The game started tight and the initial forecast of a close game looked to be spot on, in fact the home side could lay claim to the best of the opening play. Airdrie midfielder Singbo  had an effort cleared.

The first twenty minutes saw the score remain tight and at 0-0 but both of these were about to change. A corner conceded by Airdrie defender Docherty was delivered excellently by John Maisano and was met by the towering Greacan who powered the ball past McGeown to open the scoring.

The floodgates opened up after this and Ton were 3-0 up within the next 9 minutes. A Peter Weatherson header three minutes after the opener was put through to John Maisano clear on goal, the Aussie coolly slid the ball past McGeown into the bottom right hand corner of the net to double the lead. The ecstatic away support were sent further into ecstasy 6 minutes later; a poor passback by Willie Wilson enabled Alex williams to pounce, the forward found himself clear on goal and calmly lifted the ball over the approaching 'keeper.

And so Morton found themselves 3-0 up within the half hour and only slight caution, if any, lingered as to the outcome of this game. Morton continued with the majority of possession and some fine football was in view as they dominated.  A thoroughly enjoyable and fruitful half came to an end allowing the visiting supporters to revel in the scoreline.

Quite often the second half of such games provides fewer goals for a team who are way out in front. The break can sometimes enable the downtrodden team to regroup to, if not provide a comeback, limit the damage. A recent example is the Arbroath game where Ton were similarly 3-0 up at half time and scored an extra goal in the second half. I expected the second half to follow this same pattern with Ton perhaps getting the other goal to make it four. Of course there is always the possibility of far more goals - this obviously was the case today.

In the sort of games described above, the other goal will usually come near the middle of the second half or near the end as the losing team dig in, this wasn't the case here as within nine minutes of the restart normal service had been resumed. Ton carried on from were they had left off and placed another one in the Airdrie onion bag. Stewart Greacan again rising above the defence from a John Maisano corner to head the ball for Morton's fourth and the big defenders second of the match.

Paul Walker was to add to the tally eight minutes later . The winger, who had been making darting runs along the right wing all day, went on another one which saw him emerge in the box. With only the 'keeper to beat he easily took it round him and slotted into the open net. Morton were now 5-0 up with only just over an hour gone.

Ten minutes later John Maisano completed his brace. A free kick between the edge of the box and the touchline was fired in low towards goal. The ball found its way through the crowd of players and into the bottom left hand corner of the net with McGeownlooking on. At this point everyone in the visitors end would have had every right to ask the person sitting next to them to pinch them to see if in fact they were still tucked up cosily in their duvet enjoying a dream. No disappointments,this was real; Ton had just put themselves 6-0 in front.

Boss John McCormack decided to give the subs a go and brought on Bannerman and Henderson to replace Marco Maisano and Greacan respectively. The big defender wouldn't have the chance to claim his hat-trick! A further substitution saw captain Derek Collins replaced by Jani Uotinen who made sure he claimed the captains armband from him.

The large band of traveling support sarcastically decided it was only fair to share their applause with the Airdrie Utd players and did so each time they touched the ball, a louder cheer and applause was delivered as Airdrie claimed a consolation goal nine minutes from the end. McKeown fired low goalwards through the busy box and found the net.

Morton could have continued their scoring after that and one such chance to do so fell to Peter Weatherson. The forward was desperate to get on the goalsheet and could have with a header that went just over.

And so a very enjoyable ninety minutes came to an end and all connected with Morton will probably still be sporting their huge grins. One thing is for sure, this is a match that will put that same expression on Morton fans faces as they recall it for a very long time.

Airdrie Utd: McGeown, William Wilson(64), McGowan, Docherty, Scott Wilson, Singbo, Vareille, Marvyn Wilson, Roberts(55), Dunn, Gow. Subs: Ronald, McKeown(55), Glancy(64), Black, Hollis.

Morton: Coyle, Collins(71), Bottiglieri, Macgregor, Greacen(66), Marco Maisano(66), Millar, John Maisano, Williams, Weatherson, Walker. Subs: Bannerman(66), Uotinen(71), McAlistair, Henderson(66), McGurn.

Referee: M McCurry

Attendance: 3159