Queen's Park 1 Morton 0: Thomas strike keeps Ton waiting

Dom Thomas' deflected first half strike was all that separated the sides as Queen's recorded their first league win over Morton in 63 years.

But the tale of the tape in the shadow of Hampden was far more conclusive as Callum Davidson's side should've been out of sight after hitting the crossbar four times in an astonishing barrage on Ryan Mullen's goal.

Ryan Mullen was the busier of the two keepers (Image: Gary Bradley)

With results elsewhere going against them, in the form of Dunfermline and Partick picking up positive results, it saw their run of three draws become a bit less comfortable as they were cushioned from hitting the bottom of the table purely on goal difference.

Ton headed to the south side of Glasgow with their tails up, whether the support would've been in a similar mindset or not, after a less than convincing win over Cowdenbeath last time out.

Michael Garrity's second half winner meant that Dougie Imrie's men earned their place in the fourth round of the SPFL Trust Trophy, but also had that winning feeling behind them in the build up to kick off in the shadow of Hampden.

That was one of a few slender positives that the Ton gaffer had to hold onto heading into this one as he was dealt with two injury blows off the back of the cup tie.

Iain Wilson, who didn't feature in the matchday squad at all, was still absent from Imrie's team sheet alongside Garrity, who is understood to have rolled his ankle in training earlier in the week.

This saw the Ton supremo forced into making three changes to the side that ran out at Central Park with Garrity, Cameron Blues and Alex King dropping out the side. In their place, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, Grant Gillespie and Kirk Broadfoot returned to the starting XI.

Queen's Park (3-5-2) Ferrie, Kerr, Murray, Udjur, Duncan(Longridge,90+1), McGregor(Hinds,90+3), Welsh, Turner, Scott, Thomas, Rudden(McLeish,83)

Subs not used: Tizzard, Hinds, Wills, Hickey Fugacci, McDonnell, MacKenzie, Fieldson

Bookings: Welsh (20) Rudden(61) MacGregor(64) Udjur (72) Scott(74)

Scorers: Thomas(43)

Morton (4-1-3-2) Mullen, Ballantyne, Broadfoot, Boyes, Delaney, Gillespie(Blues,65), Crawford(Davies,65), Lyall, Moffat(Baird,80), McGinn(King,75), JET(Reynolds,65)

Subs not used: O'Boy, Woods

Bookings: Gillespie (37) Ballantyne(50) King(82) Lyall(90+2)

Ref: Lloyd Wilson

MoTM: Niall McGinn

Niall McGinn showed flashes of promise (Image: Gary Bradley)

You can see the knowledge that the Northern Irishman possesses and once he fully settles in he'll be a big player for Dougie Imrie moving forward albeit, he should've scored inside 20-minutes.

ATT: 883

Much of the talk in the build-up to this one had been about whether Ton would get their first win of the season at the fifth attempt.

Imrie admitted himself that he saw this tie as the perfect opportunity to implement the new passing style that he's so desired to see.

And the hybrid surface at Lesser Hampden looked to be the perfect stage for that to come to the fore.

It was imperative that Ton's experienced front line started to show some signs of life in front of goal so Imrie will have been looking for a fast start in Mount Florida.

The solitary stand in the City Stadium meant that there was little in terms of protection from the elements and this saw the hosts put Ryan Mullen under a barrage of pressure in the opening stages. 

A wind assisted Dom Thomas corner would prove to be the most concerning of the efforts, nearly catching the stopper out at his near post but the Cappielow men lived to fight another day.

Joshua Scott though should've headed Queen's in front inside 20-minutes though, as he ghosted unnoticed into the box, getting on the end of Cammy Kerr's deep cross after Ton were caught napping from a throw.

That was a let off for Ton as they looked to get their footing in the tie, but Niall McGinn should've burst the net midway through the opening period.

JET did well to hold a long ball forward, before rolling Dane Murray and slipping his new strike partner in-behind, beating the offside trap.

He had all the time in the world, one on one with Callum Ferrie, but could only force him into a smart stop down to his left.

Owen Moffat's follow-up was equally as disappointing, erratically firing wide of the far post with the whole goal to aim at.

The wind was discreetly giving Ton a hard time of it, which meant they had to really be careful about how they approached the first half.

McGinn clearly didn't as he attempted a lofted switch of play, which gifted the hosts with a four on three scenario that resulted in MacGregor firing wide from distance.

MacGregor would give Ton a let off once again in the closing stages of the half, skewing an effort wide from close range after Imrie's backline was at sixes and sevens, gifting them possession not twice but three times in the final third.

The Spiders would deservedly get themselves in front moments before the interval though, as they made their pressure pay.

A quick burst forward saw Dom Thomas try to play in Cammy Kerr as the spare man on the right.

The former Dundee man cut the ball back for his captain who tried to strike a fierce strike across the face of goal, only to see his effort take a deflection and deceive Mullen in net.

Thomas' deflected strike changed the direction of the game (Image: Gary Bradley)

Ton weren't at the races one bit after the interval and were let off not once but twice in the opening stages of the half as both Thomas and Zak Rudden saw efforts cannon off of Mullen's crossbar in huge let offs.

The slow start saw Imrie turn to his bench in the hope of turning the tables as Blues, Reynolds and Davies were thrust into the action with little under half an hour to go.

It'd take a while for anything meaningful to happen for the visitors in the second half, in fact they didn't force Ferrie into a save until the 80th minute.

Arron Lyall drifted past two men to fizz an effort towards the bottom left corner, where Reynolds couldn't follow up.

The equaliser that Imrie longed for wouldn't come though as Callum Davidson's men held on for a huge three points after the afternoon's worth of action that had played out in Scotland's second tier.

Ton couldn't find a way through (Image: Gary Bradley)

Rather alarmingly though, Imrie will have been left rather dissatisfied with his side's second half efforts. With the wind behind them they rarely troubled Callum Ferrie in the Spiders net.

They faltered as time went on and didn't really look like scoring all afternoon. But they now remain the only side in the division to have not yet won a game thus far this season.

The Ton chief will be hoping it clicks sooner rather than later though as he looks to avoid being cut adrift at the bottom of the table.

Imrie also needs his strikers to start finding their scoring touch as they remain the lowest scorers in the division after five games, but it remains to be seen when and where that'll happen with the few glimpses that they managed to get in front of goal.