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  The Quest for Points Goes On   With only seven games left to salvage something from an error strewn season, we go searching for that elusive three points from Morton, something we have yet to achieve this season. Two wins and a draw so far against Dougie Imrie's team. The 4-0 loss at Cappielow at the end of October prompted the start of 'Ridgersgate'. How ridiculous does that look now given Mark's stunning performance last Friday in the ten man win over Partick Thistle. Not one of Billy Dodds' better decisions made in the heat of battle as Morton cuffed us and resigned Mark to the naughty step at half time and over the next seven games until Partick put five past Cammy on Xmas Eve. That period saw us win two points from a possible fifteen. It's just as well they don't do that to managers as Doddsy would have been sitting in the stand for months. However, all has hopefully been forgiven and Mark produced the performance of the season on telly to remove any lingering doubts about his ability.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Supporters Bus Info Semi-Final Tickets On Sale Now ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue H2H v Morton Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 21 12 5 4 48 20 +28 Away 18 10 3 5 35 23 +12 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 39 22 8 9 83 43 +40 Overall we hold a massive advantage home and away over Morton, but recent games show that the trend is changing as we only have one win in the last five encounters. It took a late strike from Ethan Cairns to salvage a point last time in a 2 - 2 at the Caledonian Stadium. Calvin Miller had put Morton ahead early in the first half before Billy Mckay levelled around the hour. Robbie Muirhead looked to have given Morton all three points ten minutes before the end before substitute Cairns scored his first goal for the Caley Jags to share the spoils. Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Morton 2 - 2 (H) 0 - 4 (A) 0 - 1 (H) 1 - 0 (A) 0 - 1 (H) 6 - 1 (A) 1 - 1 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 2 - 0 (H) 4 - 1 (A)   Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Arbroath v Ayr United Friday Night 1. Queens Park 30 16 6 8 58 39 54 2. Dundee 29 14 8 7 47 32 50 3. Ayr United 30 14 7 9 56 38 49 4. Partick Thistle 30 13 6 11 49 40 45 5. Morton 29 11 10 8 41 35 43 6. Inverness CT 29 10 9 10 40 41 39 7. Raith Rovers 28 10 8 10 39 37 38 8. Arbroath 29 5 13 11 26 41 28 9. Cove Rangers 30 6 8 16 34 65 26 10. Hamilton Ac. 28 6 7 15 25 47 25 FRIDAY 31ST MARCH 7:45 Arbroath v Ayr United SATURDAY 1ST APRIL 3:00 Cove Rangers v Partick Thistle Dundee v Accies       Morton v Inverness  Raith Rovers v Queen's Park Last Time Out A rousing backs to the wall performance from the Caley Jags earned a 1-0 win over Partick Thistle. After Jay Henderson nicked the ball off of a Partick player, he danced down the wing before delivering a terrific pin point ball into the box for Nathan Shaw to slide in and convert. Sean Welsh was wrongly sent off with forty minutes remaining and Partick besieged the Inverness penalty box. However, Mark Ridgers was in tremendous form to deny the eager Partick attack time after time and 1-0 it was for the hosts. Ridgers had pulled off a worldy save in the first half to deny a stunned Brian Graham and was unbeatable on the day. That ensured Inverness' last five results look like this L D W L W    Morton dropped points at Gayfield after George Oakley scored his sixth goal in eight games for the Cappielow side. However keeper Brian Schwake blundered to allow Sean Ardakwa to tap in. That fumble was not lost on Morton manager Dougie Imrie who told BBC Sport: "I think for large parts of that game we were by far the better team. I'm lost for words. I thought my players were superb to a man. The amount of chances we created - I don't know how we didn't win that. "He's [Schwake] a young goalkeeper in the game trying to make a name for himself. He has to be switched on and his concentration levels have to be high. That's not the first time this season he's cost us points."  (Naughty step for you m'lad) Morton Last Five W D L D D  This season Morton hold the Indian Sign over us. A 0 - 1 at the Caledonian Stadium followed by the 0 - 4 game at Cappielow before the 2 - 2 draw back in Inverness at the beginning of February. Time to sort it out guys. Latest Team News Just when we thought things were getting better we lost Danny Devine to injury in the warm up last Friday. The previous game Roddy MacGregor was injured in his second appearance since returning from months out. Potentially, Sean Welsh could also have missed out but we appealed that, and given the secret society within the refereeing circles then I wasn't holding my breath. However, miracles do happen, the spell has been broken and he is now free to play at Morton. Unless of course he is injured. Zak Delaney filled in for Devine last week and did well after an early booking. We also found out that Ben Woods is a real thing after he came on as a substitute in the second half. Thankfully Robbie Deas has not shown any adverse reaction on his return to action and likewise Scott Allardice.  So, it sounds like MacGregor and Ram plus the long term Walsh and Sutherland will be unavailable. Danny Devine? Your guess is as good as mine. Morton starting XI v Arbroath: Judging by wee Dougies reaction to the Gayfield fumble then Schwake could be on the naughty step for Morton. Jai Quitongo has been out recently but could be near to a return to the squad. 1Schwake   23Grimshaw 5Baird 4O'Connor 6Waters   14Crawford 8Blues   9Muirhead 30Crawford 21Gillespie   22Oakley George Oakley seems to have had a new lease of life since joining Morton. I wonder what, or who was holding him back at Inverness? Six goals in eight games since leaving Inverness. Hmmnnn? On a sad note, Ian Manning the former club physio has passed away. RIP Ian. Condolences to family and friends.    

HOT TODDY SCORES A PEACH This crucial week kicked off at Cappielow and despite the condition of the pitch Inverness managed to score twice in the first half. We benefitted from what looked like an infringement for a pass back seven minutes before the break. Scott Allardice lashed the ball high into the net after much confusion and two minutes later Nikolay Todorov turned in the box to lash the ball into the net after some defensive bloopers. Two up at the break but the next goal could be important and it was Muirhead that gave Morton some hope. However Todorov superbly volleyed home after chesting down the ball to restore our two goal cushion and Danny Mackay scored a tremendous fourth with a curling shot from the edge of the box. Back up to fourth for Inverness with Dundee also winning at Ayr. After the Scottish Cup heroics at Dingwall we went to Cappielow on a more serious mission, to capture three points in our bid for a play-off slot. Morton find themselves in desperate need of points at the other end of the table and something was going to give. Three league defeats on the trot for Morton, three league wins on the trot for Inverness, but Morton were the last side to beat Inverness. Gus MacPherson made four changes from the side that put East Fife out of the cup. In come Luca Colville, Steven McGinn, Gary Oliver and Robbie Muirhead. For Neil McCann, Wallace Duffy and James Keatings disappear without trace as he goes with the same line-up that put County out of the cup. Morton kicked off on a dry but chilly night in Greenock with Inverness playing in their pink away strip with a change before a ball was kicked as Roddy MacGregor replaced Sean Welsh in the starting XI. It was a scrappy opening to the game on a pitch that has seen better days after a testing winter. First opportunity to make a keeper work fell to Todorov from a Scott Allan free kick but it was headed well wide. Ridgers made a comfortable save fifteen minutes in but the pitch was making passing difficult. He made another save a couple of minutes later from a close range header pushing it out for a corner as Morton threatened. However, it was brutal stuff akin to a welfare league match at the Bught Park. Claims for a penalty were dismissed as an Inverness player went down in the box as the ball bobbled around. Storey ballooned a bouncing ball well over the bar from a decent position on the left side of the box as the surface dictated the pace of the game. Friday's goal hero Danny Mackay was fed through on goal by Scott Allan but his initial shot was weak and McAdams blocked it; when the rebound came back to him he lifted it over the bar from close range. Great opportunity missed. Morton then forced a couple of corners that came to nothing although Aidan Nesbitt was looking dangerous wide on the right. Mystery moment in the Morton box soon after as referee Reid picked up the cleared ball and carried it thirty yards back into the hosts penalty box via the linesman. Rumour has it it may have been a pass-back spotted by the line judge. Unperturbed Scott Allan touched it to Scott Allardice and he ended up lashing the ball high into the net from eight yards. Two minutes later another Scott Allan free kick caused havoc in the Morton box and when the ball was headed back in by Daniel Mackay and Colville fresh aired it, Nikolay Todorov swivelled and opened up his body before hammering it into the net from around 15 yards, the keeper rooted to the spot. Half Time: 0-2 The second half saw no changes and it was only two minutes in when Mark Ridgers had to make a crucial block when McGinty burst into the left side of the box. The resultant corner was perilously close to the goal line as well as Morton's urgency looked to get them a foothold in the game. Morton were pressing the Inverness midfield better in this half and the visitors were living dangerously at times as they forced a number of corners. It was little surprise when Morton pulled a goal back on the hour when Robbie Muirhead drilled a loose ball into the net from twelve yards, swiftly followed by two attacking substitutes with scorer Muirhead going off. Shane Sutherland replaced Scott Allan with twenty minutes left as we became increasingly desperate as our composure deserted us momentarily. He made an immediate impact after collecting the ball on the right before fighting a great ball into the box. Todorov scored a goal of the season contender as he chested the ball down from high and volleyed it into the net on the turn from fifteen yards before the ball hit the deck, the ball flashing high past the astounded keeper. What a fekkin strike from a hot Toddy! Danny Mackay got in on the act as he picked up another great ball from Sutherland before curling a beauty into the top of the net from the edge of the box. Another beauty. James Vincent was denied a fifth as McAdams did well to block the substitutes effort from inside the box and Toddy looked for his hat-trick diving low to try and head a cross goalwards. Full Time:1-4 The game was over as a contest and the points were heading North long before the final whistle with Morton lucky not to concede more. Great win for Inverness who keep the pressure on the top six and jump back up to fourth, but Morton are deep in trouble at the bottom. Dundee beat Ayr 3-0 on the night Match reaction and highlights to follow Date: 06/04/2021 Venue: Cappielow Park, Greenock Attendance: 0000 Referee: Steven Reid Morton FC: 1 Manager: Gus MacPherson Lineup: McAdams, Ledger (Orsi 62), McLean, McGinty, McGinn, Strapp, Colville, Hynes, Nisbett, Oliver (McGuffie 72), Muirhead (Sterling 63) Subs (not used): Fjortoft, Jacobs, Blues, Lyon Scorers: Muirhead (61) Booked: none Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 4 Manager: Neil McCann (temporary) Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, B Mackay, Devine, Deas, D Mackay (Harper 81), Allardice, Allan (Sutherland 69), MacGregor, Storey (Vincent 72), Todorov Subs (not used): C Mackay; Lyall, Welsh, McHattie Scorers: Allardice (38), Todorov (40, 71), D Mackay (81) Booked: none Sent Off: none a