Morton v Partick – Match Preview  

by Russell Gordon  

Dougie Imrie’s task going into this weekend is to pull his players down from Cloud Nine after last Saturday’s enthralling win at Tannadice in time for the visit of their fellow promotion hopefuls, Partick Thistle to Cappielow Park Supported by Dalrada Technology.  

While last weekend’s task looked the most daunting test of Morton’s ever increasing unbeaten run, the visit of a side that have had their number thus far in the campaign will doubtless prove a difficult challenge for Imrie’s men.  

Tickets for the match are available at the below link:  

Fanbase | Select Ticket (fanbaseclub.com)  

Photo - GBR Photographs.

Squad News  

I don’t think I’ve said this at any point this season, but the Morton boss could well have a clean bill of health heading into a match which could go a long way towards establishing Morton as play-off contenders against a team who must already have the dates pencilled into their diary even at this early stage of the campaign.  

Robbie Muirhead returns from his enforced absence after serving a one-match ban at Tannadice last weekend and will likely slot back in in the place of Michael Garrity, despite the youngster excelling in the victory on Tayside, notably providing a wonderful cross for the first of George Oakley’s magnificent hat-trick.  

Vice-captain Jack Baird sat out of the Tannadice visit and could return to the side, but with Darragh O’Connor putting in another fine ninety minutes, there is at least the luxury of cover available to allow Baird time to fully recover.  

I’d expect Jai Quitongo to start on the bench as Imrie nurses him back to full fitness, and the return of Calum Waters last weekend was another welcome bonus, but with the left back not quite at full fitness and Lewis Strapp’s imperious form on his return to the club, Waters will more-than-likely join Quitongo on the bench.  

Current Connections  

Partick manager Kris Doolan’s playing career peaked with a 12-minute cameo in a Morton jersey in a 2-2 draw against Queen of the South in February 2020, his time at Morton curtailed by the outbreak of the COVID pandemic which saw the season stopped a month later.  

His captain, Brain Gaham started his career at Morton, scoring fourteen goals in all competitions across 73 appearances, most of which were from the bench. In his time at Morton, he enjoyed a prolific loan spell at East Stirlingshire, then of the old Third Division, before moving onto Raith Rovers.  

Since his departure, Graham has made no secret of the pleasure he takes in putting his old club to the sword at the various clubs he’s represented. He’s certainly got a love-hate relationship with the Morton fans- he loves to hate us, and the feeling is very much mutual!  

Another ex-player, but on the other side of the fence, who doesn’t endear himself to the fans of his former employees is Robbie Muirhead, who had a short loan spell at Firhill in 2016, scoring twice in eight appearances.  

Robbie Crawford was slightly more popular with the Partick support than Muirhead, enjoying a season in Glasgow before joining up at Cappielow at the start of last season.  

Jai Quitongo joined up at Partick after his first spell at Cappielow, enduring a pretty miserable time in Glasgow before moving over to Machine Sazi in Iran and coming back to Scotland with Dumbarton and subsequently Queen’s Park before returning to Cappielow.  

Tale of the Tape   

Anyone of a Morton persuasion may want to look away now. Partick came to Cappielow in August and fell behind early to a terrific Robbie Muirhead free kick before Robbie Crawford was forced off after only 21 minutes and Morton’s afternoon soon unravelled.  

Steven Lawless restored parity for Partick before half time, and the last twenty minutes proved a chastening experience for the Morton fans, with pantomime villain Graham scoring twice in a couple of minutes to put the game beyond the home side’s reach. There was still time for Partick full back Harry Milne to walk for a second yellow and for substitute Tomi Adeloye to put the cherry on the visitors’ cake on an afternoon we’d all rather forget.  

In the return match just over two months ago, Morton suffered their most recent league defeat, falling behind to an early Kerr McInroy strike before levelling the affair half an hour later through a Grant Gillespie penalty.  

The second half proved to be tight, with the main talking point as usual involving Partick’s former Morton striker, Graham. Enduring a difficult afternoon, Graham was withdrawn to be replaced by Adeloye with eighteen minutes remaining. With the visiting support enjoying watching Graham’s frustrations, he made his feelings clear by gesticulating to the Morton support, an act that was spotted by the stand side linesman, who alerted referee Alan Muir. Graham saw a straight red card for his troubles, but Partick weren’t reduced to ten men as he’d already been replaced.  

Three minutes later, Graham had the last laugh, as Blair Alston back heeled the winner past Jamie MacDonald to keep all the points in Maryhill, sparking wild celebrations from the banished striker, who goaded the visiting fans at a time he should have been sitting in the dressing room with his head in his hands.  

It’s fair to say we owe them one.  

Photo - GBR Photographs.

Opposition Analysis   

Our pals from Glasgow have had a strange season. After narrowly missing out on promotion in that dramatic and not-at-all-funny play-off final in Dingwall, there was notable panic about how the books would be balanced with Partick’s trip to Ibrox in the cup last season being the only saving grace from a season in which there were a lot of eggs thrown into the promotion basket.  

They find themselves sitting in third- a sort of no man’s land between the two title challengers and those pushing for a play-off place. Having endured a slow start to the season, wins against Queen’s Park and Morton were followed up by yet another Friday night Somerset Park rout of Ayr before they suffered a surprise drubbing by Arbroath. After beating Dunfermline the following week, Partick went on runs of four without a win, then four wins in a row, before losing a thrilling TV game 3-4 at Stark’s Park.  

The Christmas period proved difficult, with dropped points at home to Inverness and a 0-3 mauling at Tannadice, but victories over Queen’s Park and Arbroath in the new year have seen Partick return to form ahead of the visit to Greenock.  

Despite their apparent financial woes, they’ve managed to find a few quid down the back of the sofa to sign Raith defender Dan O’Reilly on an 18-month deal in a surprise move after his short-term deal at the big-spending league leaders came to an end.  

What’s Happening Elsewhere?  

I don’t think it’s too arrogant of me to say that after last weekend’s heroics, even the most pessimistic of Morton fans are now looking at the permutations for the teams looking towards the play-offs at the top end of the table rather than the bottom end.  

With the weather in the Highlands expected to take a turn for the worse, we may well see the Friday night BBC Scotland game falling foul as, after all, it’s only Morton who are required to make the journey up and down the A9 when driving conditions are treacherous. Should it go ahead, Dundee United getting back to winning ways would go down well, with the Highlanders currently four points behind our favourites.  

On Saturday, there’s unlikely to be much of a feelgood factor at Gayfield as bottom dogs Arbroath host an Ayr United side in freefall, with Lee Bullen under increasing pressure from a support that’s losing patience with every passing week.  

The two promoted sides, Dunfermline and Airdrie, meet at East End Park in the game that most Morton fans will have their eyes on, hoping both can cancel each other out as we march to victory.  

Big-spending Raith Rovers host a Queen’s Park side who dragged themselves off the foot of the table with last weekend’s victory over injury-ravaged Dunfermline and appointed former St. Johnstone cup-winning boss Callum Davidson as their new manager during the week. Davidson knows a thing or two about winning at an empty Hampden, so the Spiders’ support will be hoping he can draw from those experiences!  

Photo - GBR Photographs.

Betting Guide   

All odds are supplied by McBookie. All odds correct as of 7am on 12th January 2024 and are subject to change. Please only bet within your means and visit BeGambleAware if you are struggling.   

Morton to score in both halves comes in at 21/10, and George Oakley to continue on from last weekend by scoring at least twice is 9/2.  

Match Officials   

Referee- Craig Napier takes charge of his third Morton game of the season, having been in the middle of our 0-0 draw against Queen’s Park at Hampden and the 4-0 Scottish Cup victory over Bo’ness United.  

AR 1- Ross MacLeod  

AR 2- Scott Anderson