Match Report | Falkirk 0-2 Morton
Falkirk 0 – 2 Morton
Kiltie (47), Telfer (54)
Morton moved up into sixth place and five points clear of Ladbrokes Championship bottom side Falkirk after recording a huge 2-0 victory away at the Bairns on Saturday thanks to goals from Greg Kiltie and Charlie Telfer.
Jonatan Johansson elected to name the same starting XI that had come agonisingly close – just two minutes to be precise – to what would have been a fantastic three points against Inverness Caledonian Thistle on Tuesday.
This meant skipper Jim McAlister continuing to fill in at the back, and midfielder Michael Tidser retaining his place in the team, a decision that gaffer Johansson revealed he had made earlier in the week.
Should there have been anyone who had concerns as to the long-serving playmaker’s frame of mind, they would have been dispelled inside 19 minutes.
It was then that Tidser took one for the team by hauling down former Ton loanee Ross MacLean to smartly halt a counter-attack following a McAlister slip, for which he was shown a yellow card by referee Colin Steven.
The 29-year-old, alongside engine room colleagues Telfer and Reece Lyon, also ensured that the visitors enjoyed control of the ball from around the 15th minute onwards.
While Robby McCrorie was left with little to do by a defence impressively marshalled by Gregor Buchanan, Bairns shot-stopper Harry Burgoyne was required to produce three important stops to keep his side level.
On 35 minutes, the Wolves loan keeper dropped to his left to smother a Kiltie snapshot after the forward had pounced on a low cross from the right by Andrew Dallas, freshly off the bench in place of the injured Gary Oliver.
Kilmarnock loan ace Kiltie pushed Burgoyne to his limits five minutes later with a controlled volley off the back of a deflected Telfer shot that required two strong hands to claw it around the post.
Lyon, who also fired a left-footed shot wide of the right-hand upright in the 12th minute, then stung his palms with a fierce low drive as the sides went in goalless at the break.
However, the Sinclair Street side burst out of the traps in the second half, scoring twice inside nine minutes to effectively put the game beyond the Bairns.
Hitman Kiltie has been in tremendous form of late and stretched his scoring streak to four goals in his last five appearances when he broke the deadlock on 47 minutes.
Telfer was the architect, sweeping into the Falkirk box with a deft nutmeg on Ian McShane before firing over a low cross that flicked off Dallas as he challenged with a home defender at the front post.
The ball broke kindly for Kiltie eight yards out, and he made no mistake, slotting a measured left-foot shot inside the right-hand post.
It was at the Morton end that a chain of events that led to the all-important second goal began when McCrorie scrambled down to his left to gather a Zak Rudden half-volley from 30 yards.
The Rangers kid then took his time before sending a long ball up to Ibrox team-mate Dallas. His flick-on caused a calamitous mix up in which William Edjenguele and Jordan McGhee collided.
Kiltie seized on the gaffe by calmly picking out Telfer peeling away into space at the far post. The midfielder then produced a trademark finish, taking a touch before tucking a tidy finish across his body beyond the keeper.
It was a massive moment in the match, and quite possibly the whole campaign, as demonstrated by the thunderous roar that exploded from the away end and the 625 boisterous travelling fans .
Thereafter, custodian McCrorie made a hat-trick of impressive stops – two of which were superb fingertip saves to deny Rudden and Aaron Jarvis – and the visitors comfortably saw out the second half to collect a vital victory.
Morton (352)
23. McCrorie
2. Kilday 4. Buchanan 8. McAlister (c)
14. Tumilty 6. Telfer 32. R. Lyon 12. Tidser 3. Iredale
18. Oliver 20. Kiltie
Subs used: 44. Dallas (for Oliver, 30), 7. Millar (for Telfer, 71), and 11. McHugh (for Dallas, 89).
Subs not used: 17. O’Connell, 25. McKeown, 37. McGrattan, 1. Gaston (gk).
Booked: Tidser (19), Iredale (40).
Falkirk: Burgoyne; McGhee, Edjenguele, Paton (Waddington, 42), Todorov (Jarvis, 60), MacLean (Robson, 60), McShane, Rudden, Osman, Dixon, McKenna.
Subs not used: Kidd, Brough, Lavery, Mitchell (gk).
Booked: Rudden (90+2).
Referee: Colin Steven
Attendance: 5,254 (625 away fans)
⭐️ Star Man: Charlie Telfer
Image (main): Gary Bradley
Image (inset): David Bell
