Morton 4 - 0 Inverness CT

League Match
Friday, October 28th, 2022, 7:45 PM at Cappielow Park, Greenock
Attendance: 1,516
Referee: Colin Steven
Morton Inverness CT

Goalscorers
Robbie Muirhead (6)
Grant Gillespie (12)
David Carson (o.g.) (41)
Cameron Blues (73)
None.

Team Managers
Dougie Imrie Billy Dodds

Starting Eleven
Brian Schwake
Liam Grimshaw
Jack Baird
Efe Ambrose
Lewis Strapp
Cameron Blues
Grant Gillespie
Jai Quitongo
Robbie Crawford
Lewis McGrattan
Robbie Muirhead
Mark Ridgers
Zak Delaney
Max Ram
Wallace Duffy
Cameron Harper
Sean Welsh
David Carson
Aaron Doran
Steven Boyd
Billy Mckay
George Oakley

Bench
Carlo Pignatiello
Jaze Kabia
Darren Hynes
Lewis McGregor
Alex King
Cameron Mackay
Matthew Strachan
Lewis Hyde
Calum MacKay
Nathan Shaw
Austin Samuels

Substitutions
Jaze Kabia -> Jai Quitongo (56)
Alex King -> Lewis McGrattan (82)
Carlo Pignatiello -> Grant Gillespie (85)
Cameron Mackay for Mark Ridgers (45)
Nathan Shaw for Aaron Doran (66)
Lewis Hyde for Sean Welsh (80)

Bookings
Cameron Blues (38)
Lewis McGrattan (65)
Zak Delaney (58)

Red Cards
None. None.
Appearances & Goals To Date
Mark Ridgers (GK) 213 apps -
Zak Delaney 18 apps -
Max Ram 6 apps -
Wallace Duffy 51 apps2 goals
Cameron Harper 94 apps7 goals
Aaron Doran 346 apps51 goals
Sean Welsh 110 apps13 goals
David Carson 112 apps1 goal
George Oakley 79 apps21 goals
Steven Boyd 18 apps1 goal
Billy Mckay 219 apps86 goals
Cameron Mackay (sub) (GK) 31 apps -
Lewis Hyde (sub) 27 apps -
Nathan Shaw (sub) 18 apps2 goals

Starting Lineup
Youngest Player:Zak Delaney (20 years 296 days)
Oldest Player:Billy Mckay (34 years 14 days)
Average Player Age:27 years 11 days
Domestic Players:5 (45.45 % of starting eleven)

Matchday Squad
Youngest Player:Matthew Strachan (17 years 151 days)
Oldest Player:Billy Mckay (34 years 14 days)
Average Player Age:24 years 244 days
Domestic Players:9 (52.94 % of matchday squad)

First Team Debuts

Milestones

Morton Madness: An injury hit Inverness side went to Cappielow with expectations low and they didn't disappoint. Muirhead opened the scoring against the run of play in the fifth minute after Ridgers allowed a shot to go through him. A second soon followed after a soft penalty award when Ambrose went to ground in the box. Gillespie scored from the rebounded penalty. Worse was to follow when David Carson inexplicably headed a corner behind Ridgers under no pressure. Blues added a fourth with twenty minutes left despite Inverness dominating the ball. Defeat by a wekened team against the form team on a run is bearable, what is more difficult to grasp is the substitution of your keeper at half-time and the silence that followed it. More to come over the next week or two methinks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Much had been made of the injured Caley Jags players as Inverness went down to Greenock to face one of the form teams over the last five games. However had Doddsy pulled a fast one as Wallace Duffy came back into the defence with Austin Samuels managing a seat on the bench after weeks out? Morton had new signing Efe Ambrose in defence and the dangerous Quitongo and Muirhead up front.

Wet and blustery was the outlook as Inverness got the game underway with fresh optimism. That would soon disappear in Morton's first attack.


Disaster for Inverness after a bright opening as Robbie Muirhead looked to have opened the scoring after a blunder from Mark Ridgers allowed the ball to squirm under him. He clawed it back but it appeared to be over the line before Cameron Blues followed up to stab the ball into the net.

Efe Ambrose went down in the box under a challenge from Max Ram. Colin Steven pointed straight to the spot much to the surprise of everyone including Ambrose. Ridgers blocked the spot kick from Gillespie but he scrambled in from close range when it looked like we were about to clear it.

Almost a third after some miscommunication and tentative defending from the makeshift defence but we managed to swipe it clear before Muirhead got his shot away although he will maybe wonder why he never headed it in the first instance.

Boyd was looking lively but his shooting was wayward as he fired over from a good position.

Muirhead found himself running into the box on the inside right area and got his shot away across Ridgers, however the keeper managed to stop this one at full stretch at the second attempt.

Billy Mckay won a corner when his close range shot was charged down by Ambrose as Inverness looked to reply before the interval.

It's another shambles at the back as David Carson stooped to head a corner into his own net five minutes before the break. Not sure we deserved to be three down, but every mistake has been punished.

HALF TIME: 3-0

Dodds hooked Ridgers at half time. Lets just say he didnt look injured.

Another bright start to the second half for the visitors and a Billy Mckay snapshot from the edge of the box just cleared the bar.

Around the hour a great turn and run by Boyd ended with his shooting letting him down again as the ball cleared the bar once more. Billy Mckay found the side netting after being slid through by Nathan Shaw as Inverness dominated the second half. However it was the hosts that extended their lead.

Cameron Blues ran onto a ball forward and slotted it behind the keeper for number four.

Boyd was at least trying and he managed to get one on target but Schwake saved low down. Shaw had done well when he came on and whistled a powerful shot just wide in the dying moments.

FULL TIME: 4-0

A not unexpected defeat although the margin of it was disappointing. Our lack of a cutting edge was obvious. We could have played for a fortnight and not scored, that's a worry.

Morton got the early breaks with the goals and were solid defensively and thoroughly deserved the points. We need to lick our wounds and regroup.

Match report written by tm4tj



Pld W D L F A +/- Pts
1. Ayr United 12 6 3 3 26 17 9 21
2. Morton 13 6 3 4 19 13 6 21
3. Queens Park 13 6 3 4 21 21 0 21
4. Inverness CT 13 6 3 4 15 15 0 21
5. Partick Thistle 12 6 2 4 25 21 4 20
6. Dundee 13 5 4 4 21 18 3 19
7. Raith Rovers 12 5 1 6 13 13 0 16
8. Cove Rangers 12 3 3 6 16 20 -4 12
9. Arbroath 12 2 4 6 8 15 -7 10
10. Hamilton Academical 12 2 4 6 9 20 -11 10