Clark tells his flops it’s time to get real

Rugby Park manager fumes at lack of urgency as part-time Morton take advantage of shortcomings

LEE Clark believes his new players were given a reality check as Morton exploited their frailties to all but secure their place in the last 16 of the Betfred Cup. Goals from Gary Oliver and Jai Quitongo gave Jim Duffy’s part-timers a deserved victory as Kilmarnock looked disjointed and without conviction, especially in the second half.

A chorus of boos greeted Killie as they trooped from the field and Clark – who has brought in 11 new players – accepted there is some hard work to be done.

“That was not what we wanted,” Clark said. “It was a steep learning curve for the players and a reality check. We need to use this in the right way.

“We have to win our next two games [against Berwick Rangers and Albion Rovers] and score lots of goals to try to get through to the next round, but also to put us in the right position in terms of August 6 [the Premiership opener].

“Both goals were very poor. We didn’t match a runner for the first and the second goal was a misplaced pass and then bad defending.

“The last 10 minutes there’s no urgency when the ball is going out of play to take a quick throw or corner. We sauntered over to the ball.

“We didn’t take risks. It’s very disappointing. These lads will have to learn very quickly.”

With eight changes to the starting line-up and new players still settling in it was perhaps unsurprising that Kilmarnock looked disjointed in the early part of the match and Morton were quick to capitalise.

With only seven minutes played, the Cappielow side took the lead when Oliver took advantage of hesitation as he headed for the penalty area, skipped into the box and drove a low shot past Jamie MacDonald.

Jordan Jones and Josh Magennis offered some pace at times in the wide areas but Killie struggled to create.

Even when the latter did supply decent delivery in 17 minutes, when he clipped a pass into Kris Boyd, there was no finish as the striker blazed over the bar from 14 yards.

It was a frustrating day for Boyd who did have a shot deflected wide for a corner in 34 minutes but lacked support as well as supply.

Magennis at least forced Andy McNeil into a smart save two minutes later when he collected Martin Smith’s free kick, turned swiftly but could not get enough angle on his shot.

Then three minutes into the second half the Northern Irishman shot just past the left post as he blasted a shot through the Morton defensive wall from the edge of the penalty area from a free kick situation.

Boyd made way for Souleymane Coulibaly after 55 minutes when Gary Dicker was also introduced to try to gain some control of the midfield area.

However, Kilmarnock made no headway against a Morton side superbly marshalled from the back by captain Lee Kilday.

In truth, Morton looked comfortable and they made sure of a deserved victory when teenager Quitongo – on his first start – produced a second goal in 67 minutes.

It was rather embarrassing for centre back Jonathan Burn as the striker, son of former Hearts and Hamilton winger Jose, outmuscled him to win possession in the box and then drove a low shot across MacDonald and into the left corner.

Just like his Dad used to do, he celebrated with a highly acrobatic hand spring and back flip and the joyous Morton fans lapped it up.

Manager Jim Duffy said: “I’m thrilled with that result. We were organised and scored two great goals. I thought we did really well.”

We didn’t take any risks. It’s very disappointing. These lads will have to learn very quickly.