Match Preview: Brechin City
MORTON versus Brechin City
Saturday 24 March 2018
Cappielow Park, Greenock
Kick-off 3pm
Match Preview
Morton host Brechin City at Cappielow this afternoon as Jim Duffy’s side close out the 2017/18 Ladbrokes Championship campaign with five of their final seven fixtures on home turf.
The Glebe Park outfight are detached at the bottom of the table, 23 points behind ninth-placed Dumbarton, and come to Greenock fighting for their second-tier lives.
Anything less than three points will see them officially relegated to League One, and that demand for victory could make for desperate and dangerous opponents.
The Ton, too, will be unwilling to settle for anything less than a win for different reasons. The race for the promotion play-offs is hotting up, with just three points separating Dundee United in third and Queen of the South in sixth.
Every point is a prisoner in the final quarter and so, the Sinclair Street side will he hoping for a similar outcome to the last time the clubs clashed at Cappielow rather than the most recent result in Angus.
While they shared a 1-1 draw there at the beginning of the year, Morton came from behind to claim a comfortable 4-1 win on home turf at the beginning of December. While a repeat will not be easy, it would be most welcome.
Manager’s Thoughts
Team News
Jamie McGowan, Ross Forbes, Robert Thomson, and Jai Quitongo remain sidelined through injury, while Lee Kilday is still short of match practice and could head out on loan in order to get up to speed after 10 months out.
Playmaker Gary Harkins is also absent as he serves a one-match suspension for an accumulation of bookings, albeit he would have missed out through an ankle injury in any case.
Current Connections
Frontman Robert Thomson was on Brechin’s books between 2014 and 2016 and featured in all four meetings against the Ton in season 2014/15, scoring twice.
Brechin have three former Ton players in their squad. Centre-half Sean Crighton, a local lad who still works as a youth coach with our academy, was a regular in our League One title-winning team in 2014/15.
Left-back Willie Dyer (2012/13) and striker Andy Jackson (2011/12) both had solitary seasons on Sinclair Street during Allan Moore’s tenure as manager.
Recent Meetings
Sat 4 Apr 2015: Morton 0-2 Brechin City (League One)
Sat 14 Oct 2017: Brechin City 0-1 Morton (Ladbrokes Championship)
Sat 2 Dec 2017: Morton 4-1 Brechin City (Ladbrokes Championship)
Sat 6 Jan 2018: Brechin City 1-1 Morton (Ladbrokes Championship)
Last Time Out
The Glebe Park outfit opened the scoring through Connor McLennan after just seven minutes, but striker Bob McHugh hit back five minutes later to restore parity.
Despite flooding forward in wave after wave of attack in as one-sided a second half as you are likely to see, Ton could not find that quality final ball or finish required to net a winner and claim all three points.
The outcome meant the Sinclair Street side had recorded back-to-back 1-1 draws with the league leaders and bottom club in the space of four days, summing up the fine margins in the second tier.
Officials
Referee: Mike Roncone
Assistant one: Graham Chambers
Assistant two: Kevin McElhinney
Supporters Notes
Supporters are asked to purchase tickets in advance for all home fixtures where possible in order to avoid excessive queues at the ticket office on a matchday, with briefs still available from the following outlets:
Smiths of Greenock – During opening hours, 9am – 5.30pm.
Sinclair Street ticket office – Home matchdays, from 11am to 3pm.
Match tickets can also be purchased in advance online at www.gmfctickets.co.uk or by calling the club on 01475 723571. These can collected at the ticket office on matchday.
Today’s Ladbrokes Championship fixture against the Glebe Park outfit can also be pre-loaded to fan cards on Interstadia’s dedicated club website, www.gmfctickets.co.uk.
Admission Prices
Tickets purchased after 1pm on a matchday are priced at:
Adults – £20*
Concessions – £15
Children aged 12-16 – £5
Children under 12^ – Free
*£2 from each adult admission will be invested directly into our youth development programme.
^ Children under 12 who do not have a season card or fan card will be required to collect a match ticket with a scannable barcode from our ticket office on the day of the game and must be accompanied by an adult at all times.
However, fans who purchase tickets in advance – prior to 1pm on matchday – will enjoy a freeze upon last year’s pay-at-the-gate prices and these are:
Adults – £18
Concessions – £15
Children aged 12-16 – £5
Children under 12^ – Free
If you do intend to purchase a ticket at Cappielow after 1pm, please allow for the fact that there may be a queue at the ticket office.
Sinclair Street
Vehicles, on exiting the car park, must turn left and exit under the railway bridge, turn right into Carwood Street if travelling towards Greenock town centre, or the second left into Weir Street if travelling towards Port Glasgow.
Image: David Bell
