Craigen hits winner to break Morton hearts again

MORTON supporters must be sick of the sight of James Craigen. In 2013, the then Partick Thistle midfielder all-but clinched promotion to the top division for his side at Morton’s expense by grabbing the only goal of a late season dual between the top two.

When the ball hit the back of the net yesterday to put the final nail in the coffin of the Greenock side’s promotion play-off hopes, there was only ever going to be one man responsible.

“I looked at my phone there and I had a few texts saying ‘you always seem to score against Morton’,” Craigen said rather sheepishly in the Cappielow tunnel following the match. He had no need to be bashful though, as his own and fellow midfielder Ross Callachan’s dynamic performances were the driving forces behind a Raith Rovers victory that was all about substance over style.

The only goal came after 53 minutes, as the afore-mentioned players combined to break the deadlock in a game that had to that point put the stale in stalemate.

Callachan picked the ball up and drove to the edge of the Morton area, where he slipped a clever reverse ball into Craigen’s path. In keeping with the afternoon to that point though, that final pass looked to have too much on it as it skipped along the sodden surface towards Morton goalkeeper Derek Gaston. As Craigen stuck out a toe towards the ball more in hope than expectation though, the normally reliable Gaston took his eye off the ball, allowing it to squirm under his foot and giving Craigen the opportunity to run past him and slam the ball into the empty net. The groans of resignation in the main stand as the scorer was identified were audible, and the Morton faithful will be hoping that Falkirk, who Craigen has signed a pre-contract agreement with for next season, eventually pip Rovers to promotion through the play-offs so that they don’t have to face him again in the near future.

“We’re not mathematically there yet, but it’s definitely ours to lose,” said Craigen, who is undaunted by the prospect of facing his future club in a promotion showdown.

“When you’re growing up as kid all you want to do is win games, and when you go out on the pitch you’re not thinking about pre-contracts or anything.

“We’ve not lost a game since it got announced actually! I’m taking a bit of stick off the lads, but I’ll just keep going.”

Morton, for their part, should not be too disheartened at missing out on the play-offs after what has been a season that has defied expectation to this point.

The excellent Michael Miller almost forced an own-goal from Rovers’ Lewis Toshney with a driving ball across the box that the midfielder diverted goalward, only for Kevin Cuthbert to pull off an outstanding save.

They should also have had a penalty in the second-half, as Declan McManus’s shot was blocked by the outstretched arm of Craig Barr in the area, but referee Stephen Finnie waved away their appeals.

“It’s disappointing to lose but Raith deserve to be there,” said a crestfallen Ross Forbes.

“I think they stopped us playing our own game. They’re a good side and they know how to win.”