Date: 10th January 2004
Venue: Cappielow, Greenock
Opponents: Morton
Attendance: 6,613
Final Score: 3-0
Scorers: Grady (2x pens), Rowson
Venue: Cappielow, Greenock
Opponents: Morton
Attendance: 6,613
Final Score: 3-0
Scorers: Grady (2x pens), Rowson
Misc:
- Sub keeper Stephen Pinkowsi replaced Kenny Arthur to make his only competitive appearance for the Jags top team.
- Morton managed by former Jag John McCormack.
Match Reports:
GARY SUTHERLAND at Cappielow (Scotland on Sunday)
MORTON 0
PARTICK THISTLE 3 Rowson 35, Grady 53 pen, 90 pen
THE climax of this Scottish Cup tie was James Grady sticking his second penalty of the day away for Partick Thistle, but before that the Premierleague strugglers had done enough to make sure that the game was an anti-climax. There were those who had been tipping Morton for an upset here when the third-round draw was made. It never materialised.
Morton can take credit, especially for a first-half display which put them on a par with their opponents, but a well-taken goal from David Rowson just after the half-hour was to prove vital to the eventual outcome. Morton’s chances receded and as the minutes passed it became obvious that the visitors would emerge from Cappielow unscathed.
It was good to see these two famous teams clash, but for the neutral it was just a pity that it wasn’t any closer. Partick Thistle will not care about that. The wins don’t come too often for them and they were entitled to some contemplative celebration for yesterday’s efforts.
Piccollo’s chip shop and the adjoining Norse Man bar provided pre-match sustenance for the crowds that descended on Cappielow for this old-fashioned cup-tie.
The teams had met pre-season but this was their first competitive encounter in nearly six years, and Morton and Thistle hadn’t met in the Scottish Cup in four decades. It was good to see them facing off against each other as they have done so many times in the history of the Scottish game.
With Morton top of the Second Division and their opponents propping up the Premierleague some were reckoning there could be an upset on the cards. The pub was certainly heaving in anticipation of the match and more than 6,000 made it inside the gates to ensure a warm atmosphere on a cold and decidedly wet Inverclyde afternoon.
On the basis of the first-half evidence you wouldn’t put two divisions between these teams. If anything, Morton had the better of it and the Maisano brothers, Marco and John, were combining well in midfield for the home side, getting the better of their opposite numbers David Rowson and John-Paul McBride, who were losing out in the battle for possession as the contest raged on at a serious pace.
The visiting fans from Maryhill were given a decent reception to the "Colosseum of Cappielow". In this gladiatorial conflict it was Morton who had most to gain. Thistle, though accepting that the Cup was a welcome distraction from league business, still had to make sure that the result was one that would be received in good spirit back in Glasgow.
There was a blow for Thistle early on as goalkeeper Kenny Arthur was forced to leave the field with an injury, Steven Pinkowski taking his place between the posts. First chance fell to Morton when John Maisano sent a free-kick sailing a deep into the Partick penalty box and Paul Gaughan met the ball with a volley but sent it awkwardly wide.
Next opportunity fell to Grady at the other end after a fine through-ball from McBride found Kenny Milne on the run. His centre reached Grady but, as with the earlier opportunity for Morton, the finish was off-target and the home fans breathed a collective sigh of relief. Any Thomson tried his luck next for Thistle, bearing down on keeper Craig Coyle, but the Morton goalie did well with a near-point-blank block.
The best chance for Morton to convert their good first-half display into a lead came when a ball played into the Partick box reached Alex Williams. He wasn’t given much room to fashion an attempt, however it broke to his strike partner Peter Weatherson, who enjoyed the space and the angle but saw his curling drive stopped by Pinkowski.
At the other end, Andy Thomson was wasteful for Thistle by blasting over the crossbar when the very least that was demanded was a shot on target. Meanwhile it was a measure of the regard in which the Morton supporters hold John Maisano that when a trick in the middle of the pitch didn’t quite come off the response came from the main stand: "C’mon, John. You’re better than that."
Partick needed to prove that they were better than Morton and they went some way to demonstrating that when they took the lead in the 35th minute. Grady pushed a ball through to Rowson who did well under attention to guide a low shot from distance into the net inside the left-hand post of Coyle. Relief for Partick, a massive setback for Morton’s hopes.
That’s how it stood at half-time, and eight minutes after the interval Thistle seemed to put the match beyond doubt when they were awarded a penalty kick by referee John Rowbotham, who deemed that Jamie Mitchell had been unfairly felled by David McGregor. Grady it was who assumed responsibility, sticking it away to take the acclaim of the Thistle fans behind the goal. Surely, after this, Thistle were heading for the fourthround and their opponents out of the Scottish Cup for another year.
On his 21st birthday, Morton’s Williams had a close-range header saved before he was removed from the fray. Soon after, Partick gave Stephane Bonnes a run-out in their attack but the priority by that point was ensuring Morton did not get the goal they were looking for.
Grady converted his second penalty of the day after Morton substitute Scott Bannerman dragged him down in the box. Bannerman was red-carded for his intervention, and as he walked off many of the Morton fans headed for the exits.
Morton 0-3 Partick Thistle
Stewart Fisher at Cappielow Park (Sunday Herald)
THERE was a cup shock of sorts at Cappielow yesterday as Partick progressed effortlessly and emphatically into the fourth round. This tie, pitting two teams together who have prospered after teetering on the brink of extinction and who may still be fated to meet in the first division next season, was billed as one of those most likely to produce an upset, but such blanket media coverage has a tendency only to operate as an early-warning system for SPL sides.
As things turned out, the 6,613 fans who braved the incessant drizzle only witnessed an efficient and muscular performance from Partick which remorselessly exploited the home side’s defensive naivety.
The outcome was rarely in doubt after David Rowson’s opener, and it was fitting that James Grady, Morton’s tormentor, should knock home two penalties – the second seeing Morton substitute Scott Bannerman red-carded – which booked a home tie against Hamilton in the next round.
Partick’s backline celebrated a triumph over a much-vaunted home strikeforce that has seen Peter Weatherson and Alex Williams share 27 goals in all competitions. The clean sheet was made all the more remarkable because it was earned without Kenny Arthur for 83 minutes, after he injured a hamstring diving full length to head clear outside his box.
With No 2 Kevin Budinaukas loaded with flu, former Celtic youngster Steven Pinkowski made his first senior appearance, and produced fine, instinctive saves to deny glaring chances for both strikers. It may have been his 21st birthday, but Williams was not to be granted the key to the door.
As a Maryhill old boy linked with Partick’s recent managerial vacancy, John McCormack will not have taken this defeat easily. Although his Morton side entered the game with a 10-point lead in their division – a season after winning the third – the game emphasised how far the club have yet to travel. “We’re playing a team who might be bottom of the SPL,” he said, “but it just shows our players the standards we have got to get to. We’re by no means the finished article.”
Kick-off was delayed by 11 minutes to accommodate the large crowds, and once started Gerry Britton could have no quibble with the application his side showed. “We scored three and we could have had another three or four,” Britton said.
McCormack, Britton’s adversary in management, groped for alternatives to injured Morton talisman Stewart Greacen, with Paul Gaughan making his first start of the season. Perhaps ring-rustiness was therefore a factor as he spurned a glorious early chance, when the big defender got his technique all wrong as he volleyed wide from John Maisano’s free-kick.
The opening goal duly came for the visitors as Morton seemed intent on gifting them chances. An inventive Grady pass found an avenue amid the home rearguard and David Rowson trotted through to hit a low shot from 20 yards which flew low into Coyle’s bottom left-hand corner.
Eddie Forrest replaced David Lilley at half time, but Partick’s knack of carving open the home defence remained unerring. In a bout of pressure David MacGregor went in clumsily on Jamie Mitchell and referee John Rowbotham pointer for a penalty which the diminutive former Clydebank player Grady duly steered into the top left-hand corner.
Penalty No 2 came in injury time after Bannerman brought down Grady himself, who collected himself to wrong-foot Coyle, sending him low to his left. He was not the only one wrong-footed yesterday by Partick.
Programme:
Pictures:
Checked