morton 2 Baird 50, 72 brechin city 0
MORTON jumped up to third place in the Championship with a double strike from John Baird, a result which confirmed Brechin City’s relegation in a dismal season.
Ton boss Jim Duffy said: “It wasn’t pretty, but we dominated from start to finish.
“Brechin gave everything, but, on the day, we were the better side.”
Morton, desperate to consolidate a place in the play-offs, almost got off to a great start with two brilliant efforts in the opening exchanges.
After six minutes, Baird held the ball up well for Gary Oliver, bursting in from the left, but his angled drive from 15 yards was superbly turned over by goalkeeper Graeme Smith. Three minutes later, Smith was in action again with an even better save, getting down to push away a downward header from Gary Fraser, making his first start on loan from Partick Thistle.
Ton goalkeeper, Derek Gaston should have found himself picking the ball out of the net in 14 minutes when Jordan Sinclair whipped in an in-swinging corner from the right for the unmarked Paul McLean, but the Brechin skipper’s flashing header from eight yards went wide of the far post.
Morton reacted well and, in 24 minutes, a Michael Doyle cross from the right was only half-cleared as far as Scott Tiffoney, but the midfielder blasted over from 20 yards.
The Cappielow outfit continued to look impressive and after 38 minutes Michael Tidser let fly from 20 yards, but Smith, in sensational form, flew to his right to parry the ball to safety.
Brechin never gave up and a minute later Liam Watt passed up a glorious chance when he shot over from 16 yards after a mix-up in the home defence.
Morton came racing out of the traps in the second half and took the lead in 50 minutes when Fraser’s corner was met by Baird, who had the simplest of jobs to head home.
The points were secured, along with Brechin’s fate, in 72 minutes when Tiffoney slipped the ball through for Baird to run on and chip keeper Smith.
City boss Darren Dods said: “We switched off, and the legs tired.
“We keep battling, but the full-time teams have that extra quality.”