A gutsy defensive performance earned Queens a narrow but deserved win in a brusing battle against Morton at Cappielow.
Several hundred noisy Queens fans made the trip to Greenock and created quite a unique atmosphere before kick-off with the stewards struggling to seat late arrivals in the cramped stands.
O'Connor looked in the mood as the Home side struggled to cope with the big striker. It was Morton however who almost took the lead but the referee disallowed the goal for an infringement on the Queens goalkeeper. This incident lifted the Morton team but the Queens rearguard stood solid and Dobbie almost snatched the lead with a lob which just slipped past.
Chances were few and far between however and the first half finished goaless in a match which to be fair provided very little in the way of entertainment.
Half Time: Morton 0 Queens 0
Queens caught Morton cold from the restart as Paton saw a gap and charged through into the Home penalty area. He seemed to lose control and Dobbie had a go. The ball however broke nicely to O'Connor who stroked the ball into the corner of the net to silence the Home support.
The Queens fans were now in full voice as their favourites went in for the kill. Morton however had other ideas and put the Queens defence under a lot of pressure as the game suddenly opened up. The away defence held firm however with Thomson organsing his troops superbly. Queens could and should have added to their lead and there were some tense closing minutes as Morton had a succession of free-kicks and corners.
In the end the ecstatic Queens support were more than happy with the narrow win which now propels us up the league. In what was a scrappy,brusing encounter the Queens defence can come out with great credit. Thomson and Laughlan were simply outstanding and had great support from McQuilken and Paton. Scally was the anchor in midfield and O'Connor was a constant thorn in the Morton flesh all afternoon.
There is still work to be done however and a distinct improvement will have to be made up front where we need to put our chances away. We have a couple of weeks to sort things out before we face Clyde.
A word about our magnificent fans - nearly 400 made it up to Greenock and they sang their hearts out despite some unnecessary intimidation by the stewards. I'm pleased to report however there were no incidents although I was severly cautioned by the police for having a bottle of water in my bag......enough said.
Travel Club Man of the Match - Sean O'connor
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