Another Saturday at Palmerston, and once again it was the away team who left with all three points as this time Morton were the victors as they thumped a very poor Queens team by four goals to nil, and to be brutally honest, we were very lucky that we only lost four goals. After a particularly awful first 45 minutes, there was some hope amongst the small crowd that playing against a very strong wind in the first half might have contributed to Queens` poor display,but that theory was soon dismissed, when having coped with a brief spell of Queens pressure early in the second period that lasted for about 10 minutes, the away side soon resumed control and they eased to a very comfortable victory.

Match photo gallery here

Following last weekends loss against Dundee, Queens made three changes to their starting line-up as Jack Hamilton, Darren Lyon, and Michael Paton, came in for Abdul Osman, David Devine, and Diemantus Petravicius as we reverted to a 4-4-2 formation.

 

Playing with a strong swirling wind blowing in their faces, Queens started poorly and were soon under pressure as the visitors made better use of the conditions and Cadden on the left skipped beyond two Queens players before drilling a low ball across the face of goal that fortunately for Queens had no takers. The first corner of the game went to the visitors, and although Colville was not able to keep his header on target, once again Queens struggled to defend the set-piece with any conviction as the Morton player was first to the ball.

 

 Jacobs and Wilson challenge

 

Our first opportunity of the opening period arrived via a free-kick, and although Dobbie`s delivery was decent nobody in blue could get their head to the ball as Morton defended the situation comfortably. At the other end Cadden continued to pose problems and another low cross from the lively winger was just about smuggled to safety as Nesbitt looked for a tap in.

 

On 20 minutes we won our first corner of the game when good link up play involving Hamilton and Dobbie saw us win the set-piece, and although Dobbie`s cross was met by Callum Semple his header lacked direction.

 

The opening goal of the game came on 25 minutes and there was no surprise to see Cadden involved once again. After collecting the ball wide on the left, he got to the bye-line and although his cut-back was initially blocked by Ross Stewart, Queens failed to complete the clearance and Tumilty was on hand to drive the ball into the net past a crowd of players.

 

Number 2 Tumilty nets the opener

 

There was no doubting that Morton deserved their advantage and they were certainly the team doing the majority of the attacking as a combination of both a lack of quality, and lack of ideas stopped Queens from putting them under any significant pressure.

 

The Queens central midfield of Wilson and Lyon were getting overrun as Jacobs and Nesbitt were comfortably controlling that area, and with Pybus not used to playing wide on the right, Morton - and in particular Cadden - took full advantage of the space available on their left and almost every attacking move from the visitors came down that side. Scott Mercer picked up a slight knock earlier in the half, and after failing to overcome the injury he was replaced after 38 minutes  by Diemantas Petravicius. That substitution saw a slight adjustment made as Darren Lyon moved to right-back, and Pybus returned to his more accustomed role in central midfield. Substitute Petravicius` first involvement in the game saw him flattened when the ball hit him full in the face from very close range, but after treatment he was able to continue.

 

Unfortunately, the switch made no difference at all, and almost on half-time Cadden created all sorts of problems for the Queens back line and another cross that was unexpectedly left by Stewart was tuned in from a tight angle at the back post by Nesbitt.

 

Second Morton goal beats Stewart

 

The half almost ended with a third Morton goal as yet another ball into the Queens box was met by an opposing player, but Orsi`s powerful header was too close to Stewart who was able to make a relatively easy save.

 

A minute into stoppage time a player wearing blue at last showed a bit of passion as Wilson hurled the ball to the ground after a decision went against him, the Kilmarnock loanee was booked for the show of dissent, but at least it was a sign that somebody cared.

 

The half-time whistle was greeted by loud boos from the home support as they showed their frustration at their team`s very inept first half showing.

 

HALF-TIME QUEENS 0-2 MORTON

 

If there was to be a way back into the game for Queens, an early goal would have been a boost and they very nearly got one minutes into the half but Petravicius couldn`t provide the finish from a tight angle. Our first - and subsequently - only shot on target came when Dobbie saw his effort well saved by Rogers as for the first time in the game we carried a threat. A cross from Lyon was well dealt with by Rogers but that short spell of attacking play from Queens didn`t last for very long as the visitors soon re-grouped.

 

Dobbie denied by Rogers

 

More pressure for the Queens defence followed when Morton won a series of corners, but thankfully nothing came from any of them as we defended them effectively. We made a second change on 59 minutes when Gary Oliver replaced Michael Paton in the hope of injecting a bit more pace into our attacking play. We had a half chance following a corner when Semple rose well to meet Dobbie`s set-piece delivery, but again the attempt was well off target.

 

The impressive Cadden - now full of confidence - tried an ambitious lob from fully 30-yards out and was unlucky to see his effort narrowly miss the target. The Morton winger was causing so many problems and after latching on to Nesbitt`s pass he so very nearly grabbed the goal that his play deserved but he could only drag his shot wide. However he didn`t have to wait very long to add his name to the scoresheet as just 2 minutes later he drove the ball beyond Stewart to add more woes to the battered Queens defence.

 

The cake was well and truly iced by the visitors on 88 minutes when yet another ball into the box caused problems for the Queens defence, and as Kilday tried to clear, the ball hit substitute McGuffie - who had only been on the pitch for 8 minutes - who then reacted well to hit a shot beyond Stewart.

 

There were not many home fans left in the ground at full time, but those who stayed vented their frustration as they reacted to possibly the worst home performance - and there have been a few - of the season, as the result left us still searching for a first win in 2020, and still looking to keep a clean sheet for the first time in 8 games. With three successive away games coming up these are very difficult times for Queens, and our next game at Firhill on Tuesday is huge. Here`s hoping that we can put this very poor display behind us quickly, and end this disappointing run of results -  a performance on Tuesday would be a good way to start.