Match Report: Morton 20s 1-1 Queen’s Park 20s
Morton Under-20s 1 – 1 Queen’s Park Under-20s
Tiffoney (1) – MacLennan (21 pen)
Morton Under-20s were held to a 1-1 draw by Development League West table toppers Queen’s Park at Cappielow last night.
On a dreich Greenock evening, Darren Barr’s side came back from behind to claim a point after Scott Tiffoney cancelled out James MacLennan’s first-half penalty.
But the Ton teenagers will feel they deserved the win and missed out on an opportunity to close the six-point gap on the leaders after bossing most of the match and hitting the woodwork twice.
After an uneventful opening 20 minutes, the Spiders were awarded a penalty when 17-year-old defender Nathan Durham was harshly ajudged to have tripped Chris Duff inside the box.
MacLennan took responsibility from 12 yards and placed a cool penalty in the bottom-right corner, sending Ton keeper Jamie McGowan the wrong way.
Ton’s response was immediate and Jack Purdue pushed the ball into the path of Ben Armour for a first-time shot at goal, but opposition shot-stopper Mikey White made a smart save with his feet.
Tiffoney had White beaten all ends up on 43 minutes with an incredible curled shot towards the top-right corner only to see the ball crash back off the junction of bar and post.
Although home custodian McGowan had little to do on the night, he kept his side in the game with a vital save just after the restart, flicking out his right arm to push MacLennan’s fierce angled drive across the face of goal.
It took on extra significance when, on 57 minutes, Tiffoney restored parity by lasering an unerringly precise shot inside the left post after the impressive Blair Docherty had picked him out with an incisive, slide-rule pass.
Coach Barr, who elected to name himself on the bench rather than start the match, made three second half changes in his search for a victory, bringing on Lewis McGrattan, Alexander Easdale, and Scott Miller.
Miller, currently on loan at Clydebank, was presented with a great chance to give Morton the lead on 80 minutes, but his left-footed snapshot took a nick off a defender and zipped just wide.
Easdale and David Anderson then combined to tee up the striker again just two minutes later. On this occasion, his curled finish grazed the outside of the upright, meaning Ton would have to settle for a share of the spoils.
Morton (4411)
1. McGowan
2. Hynes 4. Langan (c) 5. Durham 3. Hayes
7. Docherty 6. Anderson 8. Lyon 11. Tiffoney
10. Purdue
9. Armour
Subs used: 14. Easdale (for Purdue, 69), 12. McGrattan (for Tiffoney, 73), and 15. Miller (for Armour, 77).
Subs not used: 16. Barr, 19. Carracher.
Booked: Langan (27)
Images: Gary Bradley
