AIRDRIE UTD

MORTON

There was a sea of bookies slips and inflatable toys to greet the teams as Morton formed a guard of honour to gentlemanly greet Airdrie onto the pitch. Of course the courtesies wouldn’t last as both teams wanted to badly beat their opponents. Morton needed to win to give them any hope of promotion whilst hoping Hamilton slipped up, Airdrie had to rectify the 6-1 thumping from Morton last November, never mind the “I could beat Airdrie with one eye and one leg” jibe from a Morton striker that the Airdrie players mocked during their celebrations. Oh, and don’t forget the Nazi slur in their programme, the ‘no’ vote for Airdrie United to get a league place, Chic the linesman…. Motivation? Yes, and plenty of it.

Morton made the brighter, more desperate start. Peter Wetherston was lucky to escape a red-card from a very lenient, Willie ‘red-card Willie’ Young, for a drastic, over-the-top, studs in challenge that caught Marvyn Wilson above the knee. Wetherston then found himself clean through on goal with only McGeown to beat, but Airdrie’s goalie made a tremendous save to turn the certain ‘goal’ onto the post and clear. Airdrie then settled down and took full control for the rest of the half that would see Morton goalie, Craig Coyle, save them from a battering. First Alan Gow threatened from 20 yards out, taking control on the right side of the box, making space and delicately chipping the goalie, but only succeeding in hitting the crossbar. Owen Coyle was unlucky later on when a hooked effort looked goal-bound but Coyle in Morton’s goal made a dramatic last gasp save to claw the ball to safety. Jerome Varielle had sparkling first half and again tested Coyle after a magical piece of skill. 50 yards from goal, on the right wing, Varielle lifted the ball over the head of his marker, Bottiglieri, turned to beat him for pace, then thrashed a ferocious shot low to the keeper’s left hand post, but again, Coyle beat the effort to safety. There were several more efforts on the Morton goal but the half ended uproar for the Airdrie fans as Morton’s best player, Stuart Miller, came over to the left hand side of the main stand to take a corner. Hundreds of betting slips, and an inflatable champagne bottle, rained down on Miller, much to the amusement of the passing Airdrie subs. Mark Roberts spotted a tenner lying on the ground and promptly handed it to a kid hanging over the barrier. His best move of the season?

The second half got off to a flying start. Coyle threatened the Morton goal, and Warren Hawke fluffed a sitter when sent racing clear of the Airdrie defence. About ten minutes had gone in the second half. Airdrie’s brightest player to that point, Alan Gow, had went over to tell the bench that he had to come off due to a leg injury. As he hobbled about waiting for the change to be made Willie McLaren passed to Owen Coyle at the edge of the box. Coyle, maybe not aware of Gow’s dilemma, instinctively played the ball in the direction of the stricken striker, who simply unleashed and unstoppable left footed drive past the helpless Craig Coyle. Even when celebrating his wonderful goal, Gow told the bench he was finished for the season. Stevie McKeown replaced him. The flashpoint of the second half centred on Willie McLaren. The gallus wee winger decided to rip the urine out of Morton’s gargantuan former Airdrie centre-half, Stewart Greacan. Isolated on the left touchline, McLaren mercilessly teased Greacan by cheekily dragging the ball away from him for almost 20 yards before playing the ball off him. Greacan reacted angrily by head-butting McLaren and threatening him as former team-mate Stevie McKeown dragged him away. Incredibly ref Willie Young tore strips off McLaren for his cheek. Quite what crime he committed is beyond me, but then again I’ve never understood anything that red-card Willie has ever done. Owen Coyle wrapped up the win by hooking home a Mark Roberts cross in the dying moments of the game to set up the mood for the impending celebrations.