Morton seal play-off slot
MORTON clinched the final play-off place after a 1-1 draw with Ayr United at Cappielow. Ian McCall’s team, meanwhile, gained ground on St Mirren at the bottom of the table, giving the manager hope his side can extricate themselves from their relegation predicament.
Lawrence Shankland came close for Morton early on but his volley was just too high. Thomas O’Ware thought he had put the home side in front following a corner-kick but Paul Cairney managed to clear his header off the line, with Morton appealing handball.
Shankland missed a great chance when he was through on Ayr Greg Fleming goalkeeper but his finish was sadly lacking. However, the striker got it right when he scored with a simple opportunity late in the first half.
Craig Moore netted an excellent equaliser just before the break when Morton were caught out by a quickly-taken free-kick and the on-loan Motherwell striker applied a stunning finish from a tight angle.
The game tightened up in the second half as both teams seemed content to hold on to what they had.
Dumbarton were the only side in the bottom half of the table to win as they secured a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Queen of the South at Palmerston.
From the moment Stephen Dobbie put the home side in front with his 24th goal of the season after 15 minutes, Dumbarton warmed to the task. Sam Stanton scored an excellent equaliser with his left boot five minutes later, direct from a free-kick after John Rankin had been booked for a foul on Lewis Vaughan.
Dobbie should have scored again before half-time but was uncharacteristically wasteful in front of goal after Dale Hilson’s shot had come back off the post. The striker rushed his finish and sent the followup shot high and wide with Dumbarton goalkeeper Alan Martin exposed.
Dumbarton scored what proved to be the winning goal moments later when Christian Nade provided an excellent cross for Robert Thomson to head the ball down past Lee Robinson. Queens tried to fight back in the second half but Dumbarton proved resilient.