Something has to give this weekend as newly promoted Falkirk visit Cappielow, with the Bairns boasting a 100 per cent record, while Morton have drawn every league game to date.
After a difficult afternoon last Saturday at Almondvale, there would have been few Morton fans leaving Livingston unsatisfied with a well-earned point from a game the hosts dominated.
That, however, is not to say that there weren’t positives to take from the visit to West Lothian.
The absence of Ryan Mullen from the starting XI was the immediate concern to arise when the team sheet was released, but Garry Woods proved an able deputy on the day, comfortably repelling most of what the Lions threw at him.
His spectacular second half save from Stevie May, stretching out his right hand as he dived to his left, was the standout moment of the Morton custodian’s afternoon.
Again, though, going forward Morton were unconvincing, with Jay Emmanuel-Thomas not getting much change from the Livingston defence. While the jury is also still out on Jordan Davies and Lamar Reynolds, it was Davies who impressed more than his fellow substitute as both were brought on in an immediate response to Scott Pittman’s opener for the hosts.
Despite the concerns about Morton’s attacking prowess, it is to the team’s immense credit that they salvaged a draw from a game that few would have given them much chance of taking anything from when Pittman notched that opening goal in the 54th minute.
While there were still heart-in-the-mouth moments, such as Livi left back Matthew Clarke’s astonishing miss, and the late goalmouth scramble that appeared on first viewing to see the ball cross the Morton line, Ton grew into the game.
When the chance arose, Owen Moffat converted his spot kick with aplomb. And had referee Euan Anderson seen the coming-together of Reynolds and Livingston keeper Shamal George differently, we could be discussing an unlikely victory.
Unfortunately, the official saw the incident as a dive from the Morton forward, but on a day that Anderson got little wrong, I felt the decision could’ve gone either way and didn’t merit Reynolds’ inclusion in his book. I’m sure most would agree, though that this was very much a point gained for Dougie Imrie's men, rather than two dropped.
So, what of Falkirk? It’s been a while since the clubs have met on league duty, and I don’t suspect their absence has made the heart grow fonder, as relations on the terraces and in the respective boardrooms could be described as cold at best.
This weekend is the the sixth anniversary of Ray McKinnon’s defection to the Falkirk Stadium, an event which subsequently only benefitted Morton, as his new employers were relegated to League One in the spring of the following year.
The Bairns visit Cappielow on the back of an impressive unbeaten league run of 41 games, albeit 38 of those games were in the third tier. And even though McKinnon, who lasted for just 15 months at the club, may have long since left for the hot-seats at Queen's Park and now at League Two Forfar Athletic, in the words of Kevin Keegan...
Credit has to go to the League One champions of course. An unbeaten league campaign is no mean feat, even if promotion back to the Championship was achieved only at the fifth time of asking. And the Bairns will be boosted by the departure of Lewis Strapp, who exasperated Bairns’ boss, and purveyor of the beautiful game, John McGlynn during his time in charge of the regens of the 1974 Dutch World Cup team that was Raith Rovers a couple of years ago with his long throws.
Like Livingston last week, the Bairns have benefitted from a kind first couple of fixtures against two of the less fancied teams in the division, though their fans will likely point to the significance of the win at Dunfermline, given its apparent derby status.
Their wins over Hearts in the League Cup and fellow promotion hopefuls Partick Thistle in the league last Saturday stand out of course, but Hearts’ form at present doesn’t exactly paint them in the best of lights, while it should be noted that Partick’s Ben Stanway was ordered off for a foolish second booking early in last weekend’s match.
Imrie will, of course, have his charges well briefed on the threat of former Morton strikers Gary Oliver and Ross McIver, while last season’s talisman Callum Morrison will probably provide the biggest threat to the Ton’s unbeaten record.
Hopefully the unbeaten record that does fall is the extended one that currently belongs to our guests.
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