The Dons couldn’t tame the ‘Hannibal’ Hayes gang
Every club seems to have a bogey team at some point in their history.
It’s more noticeable during times when your side is going great guns, but just can’t get the better of one opponent.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s all-conquering Aberdeen had that problem with Morton.
Although they defeated some of Europe’s leading outfits, winning in Greenock was a real rarity.
There was little love from the Granite City on February 14, 1981, when the Dons were beaten for the second week in a row by Morton.
A 1-0 victory for Benny Rooney’s men knocked the champions out of the Scottish Cup.
Long-serving full-back Davie Hayes got the best view in the house of an incredible winning goal from Andy Ritchie.
He recalled: “It was always a big game against Aberdeen at that time, and they just didn’t seem to be able to handle us.
“I remember our assistant manager, Mike Jackson, saying that in 12 games, we would probably beat them 8 times.
“Before the cup game, he said that if we won again, we got to keep them!
“Andy Ritchie was capable of scoring amazing goals and free-kicks. We saw it all the time in training.
“I was standing behind him on the touchline when the ball was played up to him on that day against Aberdeen.
“He took it on his chest, went one way,
then the other, leaving Doug Considine on the ground.
“Then he had Alex Mcleish, Willie Miller and Jim Leighton to beat, but sent a shot into the corner of the net with the outside of his foot. “It’s one of the best goals I’ve ever seen. “Andy would often come up with those moments of genius.
“He was maybe lucky to be in such a hardworking team but we were lucky to have him. He was the cherry on the cake.
“I’m don’t know if he would prosper in the modern game, where you have to work hard all the time. Maybe he would have changed. “Benny Rooney did a great job as manager in blending so many different personalities. We were a bit different – they called us ‘The Wild Bunch’.”
Morton went on to the Scottish Cup semi-final that season, losing 2-1 to Rangers in a game where they had Jim Holmes and Bobby Thomson sent-off.
Davie admits it was an altogether tougher game in his day but he preferred that.
He said: “I signed for Morton as a schoolboy in 1969, and made my first-team debut against Wolves in the Texaco Cup at Molineux.
“I was up against experienced left-winger, David Wagstaffe.
“Our coach, Eric Smith, and Bobby Collins wound me up before kick-off.
“Collins knew Wagstaffe from his time at Leeds United. He told me that he was a ‘fearty’ and to get ball and man early on.
“I got a couple of challenges in and didn’t see much of him after that. These days I might have been sent off for my first tackle in football.
“Mind you, forwards gave out as much stick as they took at that time.”
“We had Hal Stewart running the club, and he was up to all sorts of stuff to promote Morton.
“He told people my middle name was Mackay, so it sounded like Dave Mackay of Tottenham. It’s actually Mackie.
“He would say things like: ‘We’re going to play cowboy football today – bang, bang and the game’s finished’.”
They didn’t come more committed than Davie ‘Hannibal’ Hayes. He spent 14 years at Cappielow and played nearly 500 games.
Fans remember a vital goal that put Morton on the way to victory against Airdrie and sealed promotion to the Premier Division in 1978.
Davie, now 67, retired from the senior game in 1985 after short spells with Queen of the South and Partick Thistle. He carried on playing in amateur football until the age of 50.