Dunfermline Athletic v Morton – Match Preview 

by Russell Gordon 

Morton hit the road this weekend, seeking to create a landmark twelfth game unbeaten for the first time since they embarked on a magnificent run of fifteen unbeaten in 1979.

While such an achievement would be a tremendous one, and testament to the good work that Dougie Imrie and his squad have done in recent months, those looking for omens may not want to consider that in March 2017, as Morton approached the landmark of a full year unbeaten at home, their bubble was burst by none other than Saturday’s hosts, Dunfermline Athletic. 

Having now reached the top four though, Imrie’s charges will be determined to carry on the momentum from their terrific run of form. 

Photo - GBR Photographs.

Squad News 

With Jack Baird returning to the team last Saturday, the only certain absentee is winger Jai Quitongo, whose season I’ve described several times as “stop-start”, but realistically can only be described as “injury ravaged” at this stage, as he suffers setback after setback. Imrie intimated that the winger would likely be out for 3-4 weeks this time around, but given his fortunes this season, there can’t be too many that are optimistic for Quitongo. 

Kirk Broadfoot also sat out of Saturday’s comprehensive victory over the division’s bottom side, but there’s no indication as to why, with the boss keeping his cards close to his chest, as is often the case. 

Current Connections  

There are only two players in the Morton squad who have represented the Pars- Robbie Muirhead endured an extremely disappointing season in Fife in 2018-19. Having signed on deadline day in August, he failed to find the net in only twelve appearances that season before moving onto Cappielow, where he has of course enjoyed a much more fruitful period of his career, albeit with it’s ups and downs, particularly in his early days. 

Iain Wilson is another who made the move from Fife to Inverclyde, becoming Imrie’s second signing in the January window of 2022, having spent a year and a half at 

Dunfermline. He did of course move onto Queen of the South before returning to Morton this season, but managed to score a somewhat unconventional 25 yard “strike” on his return to East End Park shortly after joining Morton, as Dunfermline sunk towards a season slumming it in League One with minnows such as Clyde, Peterhead and Falkirk. 

Pars’ gaffer James McPake had a brief and unremarkable loan spell at Morton in 2006, scoring twice in ten appearances. 

Tale of the Tape  

Over the last 10-12 years or so, Morton have had the upper hand over Dunfermline, but the tables have turned this season, with our friends from the Kingdom taking six points from six this season, albeit at periods of the campaign where Morton were really suffering for form. 

Their previous visit to East End Park couldn’t have gone much worse. 2-0 down at the break thanks to goals from Craig Wighton and Lewis McCann, they lost Tyler French to injury early in the second half, and his replacement Darragh O’Connor, who lasted a whole seven minutes before he too had to be replaced, eventually sitting out for around six weeks. 

A late Robbie Crawford strike gave Morton hope of sneaking a draw, but Michael O’Halloran’s goal in the final minute sent the ‘Ton home pointless and licking their considerable wounds. 

In early November, the BBC Scotland cameras made their first visit of the season to Cappielow, and only had to wait a matter of seconds to see Dunfermline break the deadlock through Celtic loanee Owen Moffat. Moffat doubled his account in only the seventh minute on an evening that the Cappielow atmosphere was at perhaps its most poisonous in a long time. 

The cameras caught Wilson storming off after his early substitution, and Broadfoot was to face the ire of the Cowshed, with the BBC’s microphones picking up a cacophony of boos as Morton hit perhaps their lowest point of the season. 

Whatever was said at half time though, while it may not have achieved a result, saw Morton produce a far improved performance, with a Steven Boyd penalty 12 minutes from time putting a bit more respectability on the final result. 

While we may not have felt it at the time, it was arguably the watershed moment in Morton’s season when things began to turn. 

Photo - GBR Photographs.

Opposition Analysis  

With Morton enjoying a fine run of form, which has coincided with the return of a number of key players, Dunfermline’s fortunes have been almost the exact opposite of our favourites. Injuries have piled up for the Fifers, with the likes of Kyle Benedictus, Aaron Comrie, Kane Ritchie-Hosler and Alex Jakubiak amongst the absentees in recent weeks. 

With that, results have fallen off a cliff, with no wins in six, their last being at Airdrie in early December as we were breaking our Arbroath duck. Add to that an early Scottish Cup exit to their local rivals Raith Rovers, and three league defeats to their big-spending neighbours, it’s not been the perfect return to the Championship. Last weekend’s goalless draw at Tannadice was perhaps a step in the right direction, but by all accounts owed a lot to a fine defensive display, with the Pars offering very little going forward. 

With the injury list being what it has been, I’m sure it’s only a coincidence that their last two home matches fell victim of the weather, the match against Airdrie succumbing to a frozen pitch and against Queen’s Park to a waterlogged one. 

That poor run of form, coupled with the two postponements has seen Dunfermline fall out of the play-off places to seventh in the table, albeit with games in hand over everyone else in the division. But sitting only four points clear of the ninth placed Spiders, who recorded their first league win since August recently against Dunfermline, there must be a point that McPake’s men begin to look over their shoulders. 

Though they won’t be as stretched as Arbroath were last weekend, one can only hope that Morton offer as little sympathy as they did to the Red Lichties. 

What’s Happening Elsewhere? 

There’s an abridged Championship card due to the SPFL Trust Trophy semi-finals. The two Championship clubs remaining in the competition- Morton’s conquerors Airdrie, and big-spending Raith Rovers for the right to beat either League One minnows Falkirk, or Welsh champions The New Saints, who meet in Grangemouth on Saturday evening. 

In the Championship, Arbroath and Partick are inactive, and Dundee United will look to take advantage of big-spending Raith Rovers being otherwise occupied by disposing of an Ayr United side who started the Scott Brown era with a win at Hampden last week.. 

There’s a six-pointer at the bottom of the table in the Highlands, as Callum Davidson’s Queen’s Park visit Inverness. With four points separating the teams, the Spiders will see this as a massive opportunity to make ground on Thistle in eighth. 

Photo - GBR Photographs.

Betting Guide  

All odds are supplied by McBookie. All odds correct as of 7pm on 1st February 2024 and are subject to change. Please only bet within your means and visit BeGambleAware if you are struggling.  

Dunfermline are slight favourites at 29/20, with Morton priced at 13/8 and the draw at 9/4. 

Morton to win to nil comes in at 7/2 and Grant Gillespie to score anytime is 3/1. 

Match Officials  

Referee- Kevin Clancy takes charge of his first Morton match in just over a year, his last being the 0-5 Scottish Cup defeat at Celtic Park in which he awarded Celtic a ludicrous VAR-assisted penalty against Efe Ambrose for a non-existent handball. 

AR 1- John McCrossan 

AR 2- Barry Reid