McCall won’t make official complaint
THERE won’t be any formal complaints drawn up in the Somerset Park boardroom against Willie Collum despite Ayr drawing a blank after the controversial official marked his return to action with a red card for Craig Moore.
The United striker only had himself to blame for the red-mist retaliation at Gregor Buchanan on 62 minutes which left the league leaders content to escape with a point on a day when they looked set to surge seven clear at the top.
But, as manager Ian McCall suggested in his programme notes and alluded to after this second successive home draw, teams are showing his men ultimate respect on visits now and they must figure out a way to deal with that.
You could say that playing the bulk of the second period with a personnel disadvantage served to stall Ayr’s title charge but, according to McCall, no such thing exists.
He had cautioned fans not to get carried away with title talk, citing the sitting-in tactics of Queen of the South last week as a portent of potential problems for a side now there to be shot at while at the summit of the section.
And so it proved as crowding out Lawrence Shankland and Moore was the aim of Morton’s stout backline. They succeeded. McCall’s frustration stemmed from Moore’s dismissal which came as Ayr’s bright start to the second half threatened to prise open Morton.
‘We were really on top, then Craig got sent off,’ said McCall. ‘Craig held his hands up about that.
‘What I’m happy about was others worked their socks off to get him out of jail. He knows he was daft and we were up against it.
‘Going down to 10, the pitch was heavy, leggy but the fitness was great. Neither team can say they deserved to win. We take a point and move on. We increase our lead to five points and we’ll see how the others do now. It could be a good point come the end of the season.’
Collum, in his first game since becoming the subject of an official complaint by Rangers over a Daniel Candeias red card at St Mirren, initially seemed a changed man when placing a reassuring pair of hands on the shoulders of Lee Kilday as the Morton defender bounded at him in anger early on.
Collum went on to infuriate the home support who couldn’t figure out the failure to see Gary Oliver’s handball batting away an Ayr free-kick. But there could be no carping about his swift and correct action against Moore, whose violent fury was triggered by a clatteringin the back from Buchanan as he prepared to collect the ball in midfield.
Moore sought immediate and ill-advised revenge with a donkey kick at Buchanan’s groin area. To be fair, Ayr’s attacking players weren’t exactly hitting the visitors where it hurt before then.
Morton’s Gary Oliver enjoyed clearer sights of goal than Shankland. Three in the first half alone for Oliver despite the visitors losing the battle for possession, with keeper Ross Doohan proving a match on each occasion.
As Ayr frustrations increased, the anxiety among the home support would’ve cranked up considerably had Bob McHugh not dragged wide his one-on-one look at Doohan.
Five minutes before the interval, Derek Gaston was finally worked as he forced wide Shankland’s low shot. A more direct route was favoured by Ayr after the break, forcing Gaston into saves from Andy Geggan and Mark Kerr.
Yet Morton got much closer. Oliver skipped two challenges before booting a shot against Doohan’s post. Michael Moffat replaced Shankland 10 minutes from time, the idea being to sneak a first goal since August and pinch three points. But the veteran was required to rescue a draw, hoofing Buchanan’s header off the line.
‘I thought Gregor had won it with the header at the end,’ said Morton boss Jonatan Johansson. ‘That’s a massive improvement. We looked dangerous in our attacks.’