At 4.42pm last Saturday, it looked like we’d be playing host to second place Morton as they appeared to be on course for their sixth league win in a row, leading Dunfermline 2-1 going into the dying minutes. An 87th minute equaliser from Pars midfielder Ryan Wallace changed all that though and means that Morton’s winning run came to a halt and they had to settle with remaining in third place.
Still though, five wins in a row and six games without defeat is the sort of form that teams pushing for the top spot are looking for and with the first quarter of the season now complete, Morton find themselves labelled as potential title contenders by some sections of the media.
An arguably poor start to the season meant the Greenock side had only picked up two points from three games. An opening day draw with us was followed up by a draw away to Hamilton and defeat at home to Falkirk which may have had some Morton fans already thinking a long season lay in wait. Add to that second round defeats in both the Ramsdens Cup and the Scottish Communities League Cup to Queen of the South and Aberdeen respectively, and it wasn’t looking too great.
September seemed to see a corner being turned though and after a comfortable 3-0 win over promoted side Dumbarton, Morton went on to record four wins out of four last month, helping to build confidence, put points on the board and steadily climb back up the table. A 4-3 win at Cowdenbeath and a 3-2 win away to Airdrie sandwiched a hard fought 1-0 home win over Raith Rovers and meant Morton started October raring to go as they played host to, at the time, unbeaten league leaders Partick Thistle.
Partick had been flying but a 1-1 draw away to Raith Rovers the week before gave Morton an added boost and goals from Kevin Rutkiewicz, Mark McLaughlin and David O’Brien were enough to seal an impressive 3-1 victory and send Allan Moore’s men to just two points behind leaders Dunfermline.
Of course that then took us to last week where Morton travelled to East End Park knowing a win would see them leapfrog the Pars and possibly grab first place depending on Partick Thistle’s result with Airdrie.
It was all going to plan too with Archie Campbell goals either side of half-time giving Morton a two goal advantage as the game entered the final ten minutes. A Scott Taggart handball gifted Dunfermline a penalty with eight minutes left and ex-Livi midfielder Stephen Husband slotted the kick home to set up a dramatic finish. Then, as mentioned, with only three minutes remaining, a Ryan Wallace header snatched the points away from Morton and both teams had to settle for a point.
The disappointment of that aside, Morton still come here today undefeated away from home with two wins and two draws from four games and without a loss in their last six league fixtures.
Campbell’s double last week also sees him move into first place in the first division goal scoring charts with nine goals in as many games. That list also sees David O’Brien and Peter Weatherston with seven goals between them, with the latter of the two having already notched a goal against us back in August.
On the two occasions that these sides met here at the Braidwood Motor Company Stadium last season, a 1-1 draw and a 0-0 draw were played out. Both sides will be aiming to go one better today and pick up all three points.
Dave Black.
As published in 'ROAR' - the Livingston FC matchday magazine.
Still though, five wins in a row and six games without defeat is the sort of form that teams pushing for the top spot are looking for and with the first quarter of the season now complete, Morton find themselves labelled as potential title contenders by some sections of the media.
An arguably poor start to the season meant the Greenock side had only picked up two points from three games. An opening day draw with us was followed up by a draw away to Hamilton and defeat at home to Falkirk which may have had some Morton fans already thinking a long season lay in wait. Add to that second round defeats in both the Ramsdens Cup and the Scottish Communities League Cup to Queen of the South and Aberdeen respectively, and it wasn’t looking too great.
September seemed to see a corner being turned though and after a comfortable 3-0 win over promoted side Dumbarton, Morton went on to record four wins out of four last month, helping to build confidence, put points on the board and steadily climb back up the table. A 4-3 win at Cowdenbeath and a 3-2 win away to Airdrie sandwiched a hard fought 1-0 home win over Raith Rovers and meant Morton started October raring to go as they played host to, at the time, unbeaten league leaders Partick Thistle.
Partick had been flying but a 1-1 draw away to Raith Rovers the week before gave Morton an added boost and goals from Kevin Rutkiewicz, Mark McLaughlin and David O’Brien were enough to seal an impressive 3-1 victory and send Allan Moore’s men to just two points behind leaders Dunfermline.
Of course that then took us to last week where Morton travelled to East End Park knowing a win would see them leapfrog the Pars and possibly grab first place depending on Partick Thistle’s result with Airdrie.
It was all going to plan too with Archie Campbell goals either side of half-time giving Morton a two goal advantage as the game entered the final ten minutes. A Scott Taggart handball gifted Dunfermline a penalty with eight minutes left and ex-Livi midfielder Stephen Husband slotted the kick home to set up a dramatic finish. Then, as mentioned, with only three minutes remaining, a Ryan Wallace header snatched the points away from Morton and both teams had to settle for a point.
The disappointment of that aside, Morton still come here today undefeated away from home with two wins and two draws from four games and without a loss in their last six league fixtures.
Campbell’s double last week also sees him move into first place in the first division goal scoring charts with nine goals in as many games. That list also sees David O’Brien and Peter Weatherston with seven goals between them, with the latter of the two having already notched a goal against us back in August.
On the two occasions that these sides met here at the Braidwood Motor Company Stadium last season, a 1-1 draw and a 0-0 draw were played out. Both sides will be aiming to go one better today and pick up all three points.
Dave Black.
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