Stirling Albion’s faint promotion hopes were surely dealt the final blow when they went down 2-0 to Morton at Cappielow Park. The win keeps Morton in with a chance of promotion although I would imagine that the other Second Division clubs will be hoping that Stranraer go up as the travelling support which Morton takes with them ensures a good income for these clubs.

The Binos lined up with Di Giacomo up front following his suspension. This was the only change to the team which gained a draw last week at Berwick. The match referee was John Underhill who is more accustomed to refereeing SPL matches. Unfortunately, his performance left something to desire, especially his inability to punish Morton’s time wasting tactics in the second half. Despite pointing to his watch on at least 3 occasions and 5 substitutions, he only played one minute of added time. However, it is fair to say that the better team won although the Binos did exert a lot of pressure in the second half and should perhaps have scored when Mc Donald was in a good position but elected to pass instead of shooting. The former Motherwell player has come in for a lot of criticism for his lack of goals and this incident showed quite clearly that we are unlikely to see many goals from him. However, the attribute I admire in McDonald is his ability to spot danger when the ball comes to him and lay it off to a team mate. This was exemplified early on when he “dinked” a lovely ball to Dunn but the weak shot was easily gathered by McGurn in the Morton goal. McGurn was later to go on and become the match sponsor’s man of the match. When a goalkeeper wins this accolade, it is usually a sign that his team had endured a lot of pressure. Unfortunately, today it was less to do with that and more to do with the way he commanded the penalty box, something which Hogarth should have done when Morton took the lead in the 16th minute. A cross from the left was headed down by Templeman and, as the Stirling keeper waited for the ball to come to him, Harding nipped in to score.

Prior to that, Templeman did have the ball in the net but the linesman had put his flag up for offside. The Binos had also had opportunities to score and the best came from Dunn who cut in from the left and despatched a right foot shot which McGurn turned round the post for a corner. From the corner, the ball came all the way to Devine whose cross just grazed the top of O’Brien’s head.

After Morton had taken the lead, they began to dominate and the Bino’s back three of Hugent, Scotland and McNally had to resort to some desperate defending. Chris Scotland, in particular, was having a torrid time trying to cope with the height of Templeman. Stirling, on the other hand, also tried to use the high ball but, without someone like Templeman in your team, it is a waste especially as Morton had 2 big central defenders.

In the 32nd minute, Morton almost scored a second when Paul Walker hit the post after he had beaten Devine. With 5 minutes left of the first half, the Binos should have equalised but Di Giacomo’s shot was saved by the feet of McGurn. Half time came with the score still 1-0 to Morton.

Neither team made any substitutions at half time as Morton kicked off. After 3 minutes, a Weatherston free kick saw Hogarth producing a brilliant one handed save. Then came McDonald’s chance which I mentioned earlier when he elected to pass instead of going for goal himself. The Binos did win a corner from that and the ball came to Di Giacomo but he headed over the bar. Morton responded and a corner from the right found Templeman who saw his shot deflected for another corner. Just before the hour mark, Morton’s Dillon should have been booked when he brought down Canning after the midfielder had beaten him to the ball. Referee Underhill awarded a free kick after initially playing advantage but stopped play when Hay was also fouled when he collected the pass. However, the referee kept his cards in his pocket.

On the hour mark, Morton made the first change when they took off Paul Walker and sent on Jason Walker. Many Stirling fans were surprised by this move as the Morton number 6 had been causing a lot of problems. Ten minutes later, Stirling brought on Wilson in place of Canning who had been having a quiet game. A mis hit corner saw the ball come to Nugent whose shot was touched over the bar by McGurn. Nugent was again involved when he drove into the box and played a one two with Di Giacomo. Unfortunately, the striker’s shot was blocked. At this point Stirling were exerting a lot of pressure but not getting the rewards.

Morton then brought on Adam for Greacen who had suffered a leg injury a few minutes earlier. Walker then became the only player to be booked when he fouled Devine. The 2 players then went eye ball to eye ball but nothing came of it and the referee was happy only to produce the yellow card for the Morton player.

With 10 minutes left, Dunn and Di Giacomo linked well but the latter sent his shot well over the bar. Morton then produced the killer blow when a corner found Templeman in the box. The lanky striker despatched a shot into Hogarth’s bottom right hand corner as the Stirling defenders failed to put in a tackle. 2-0 to Morton.

Before the match restarted, O’Brien went off and was replaced by Craig Ferguson. A few minutes later, Maisano came on for Templeman as the match headed for the final few minutes. The referee blew his whistle to leave the final score 2-0 to the home team.

Morton were deserved winner although the Binos did battle hard but the breaks did not go their way. Morton are a much better team than Stranraer and, if there is any justice, should be promoted. However, their inconsistency may be their downfall coupled with Stranraer’s ability to grind out victories against most teams, the Binos excluded, in this division. The Binos have virtually guaranteed that they will still be playing Second Division football next season but, with a game against Stranraer still to come, may still have a say in who goes up to the first. This match takes place in 2 weeks time and will be eagerly awaited especially as there is no league football next weekend due to the Italy v Scotland match.

It is very unlikely that the attendance in 2 weeks time will match that of the penultimate match last season, but let’s hope that there is a healthy attendance to boost the club’s finances.

After a 2 week holiday, I am now off to enjoy a nice bottle of Merlot although I may have to start limiting my intake as I read in today’s papers that one large glass of red wine contains 200 calories. Then again, you only live once. See you in 2 weeks.