Match Report: QotS U-20s 2-1 Morton U-20s
Queen of the South Under-20s 2 – 1 Morton Under-20s
White (48 pen), Harvey (64) – McGrattan (14 pen)
Morton Under-20s suffered their first defeat in seven Development League West fixtures after Queen of the South came from behind to win 2-1 at Palmerston tonight.
Since taking interim charge of the team in February, director of youth Derek Anderson has steered the side to six successive victories, the most recent of which was an emphatic 3-0 win away at Clyde.
Former Ton defender Anderson made just one enforced change to the team that beat the Bully Wee, bringing in Lewis McGrattan to replace Gavin Watt, who played for Scotland Schoolboys against Republic of Ireland.
And it was Under-17s ace McGrattan who would open the scoring by tucking a cool penalty inside the left post, sending goalkeeper Sam Henderson the wrong way, after Jack Purdue was tugged inside the box.
His successful spot-kick conversion was enought to send the Ton in leading at the break after a keenly-contested but bitty first half punctuated by a lot of niggly fouls.
That theme would continue in the second 45, with the hosts handed a penalty of their own within three minutes of the restart, Bailey White blasting a firm strike beyond Daniel Farrell’s dive into the bottom-left corner.
Ton had chances to retake the lead, Reece Lyon and Ben Eardley both saw fine strikes well saved while McGrattan miscued from a promising position, but it was Queens who would score the decisive third goal.
Doonhamers defender Daniel Harvey was villain turned hero when he made amends for giving away the Ton penalty by getting above keeper Farrell to head Ewan Gourlay’s dangerous, inswinging free-kick into the net.
Morton’s misery was compounded when midfielder Reece Lyon was shown a straight red card for foul and abusive language with three minutes to play.
Although there was a real sense of disappointment surrounding the squad after dropping points for the first time in 2018, there were still plenty of positives, including the debuts of 17s stars Daniel Wishart and Chris Stafford.
Morton (3412)
1. Farrell
2. Hynes 4. Langan (c) 3. Ben Docherty
5. Eardley 8. McGrattan 6. R. Lyon 11. Rodgers
10. J. Lyon
10. Easdale 9. Purdue
Subs used: 18. Wishart (for McGrattan, 73), 14. Black (for J. Lyon, 72), 12. Duffy (for Rodgers, 72), and 15. Stafford (for Ben Docherty, 82)
Subs not used: 17. Gallacher, 20. Coyle (gk).
Booked: Wishart (63).
Sent Off: R. Lyon (87)
Referee: Finlay Currie
