Falkirk 0 Morton 1: Tough lesson at school of hard knocks

Stewart Fisher

Sports Writer

Monday 14 January 2013

FALKIRK's youngsters might be on the right road but it was Morton's streetwise senior citizens who got the job done.

Martin Hardie forces the winning goal beyond goalkeeper Michael McGovern

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Stewart Fisher

Steven Pressley's callow side started the match with an average age of 19.5 and fought their corner on a chilly day at the Falkirk Stadium, but it was the Cappielow side who escaped with the points.

They arrived courtesy of a sixth goal of the season from a man closing in on the fourth first division title of his career, and moved Morton three points clear at the top of the division with their hopes of returning to Scotland's top flight for the first time in quarter of a century burning more brightly than ever.If it is, indeed, the mark of champions to win matches without playing particularly well, the dividing lines at the Falkirk Stadium were particularly thin. While Conor McGrandles, the Falkirk teenager, had his far post finish from a Thomas Grant set piece disallowed because he had lined up in an offside position, 36-year-old Martin Hardie was deemed not to be interfering when he used veteran smarts to start in a similar position in the second half, only to come alive for the second phase of play and hitch kick a volley past Michael McGovern from close range. "I'm enjoying my football at a club where it is good to nurture the younger ones through," said Hardie, who now trains more often in the gym than with his team-mates. "The majority are 24, 25, 26, 27. That is not young, but they are now in a team all about winning week in, week out and there are a few of us who have got that council-estate mentality which is disappearing these days."While Hardie, his fellow Dunfermline cast-offs Kevin Rutkiewicz and David Graham, former St Johnstone striker Peter MacDonald and captain Mark McLaughlin, have elevated this side, the result owed much to Derek Gaston, Morton's goalkeeper. Not only did he make some crucial catches, but he also produced a miracle save in two instalments from another Grant free-kick with the help of the woodwork to keep his side level. Unlike his veteran team-mates, as recently as five years ago Gaston was playing in public parks for under-21 amateur side Baillieston, and ending the campaign by clinching promotion to the top-flight would be quite a rise for the former Albion Rovers player who still works lifeguard shifts at the Time Capsule leisure centre in Coatbridge."Half the team have been there and done it and won promotions, so they'll carry the younger boys, like myself, who haven't been up here at the top of the first division challenging," said Gaston. "They won't let us get carried away with being up here."As for the hosts, the result is clearly the be all and end all of football, but there was plenty to admire about Falkirk, not least the muscular front play of Lyle Taylor, the classy promptings of Kieran Duffie at right-back, and another sprinkling of talented kids who play football in the correct manner. No wonder McGovern, all of 28, was feeling his age. "I do feel old, but not as old as Dodsy [regular captain Darren Dods]," said the goalkeeper. "I'm sorely disappointed at losing at home, but there's positives to take. It's quite remarkable that outwith mine, the team's average age goes down to 18. The next year or two could see us become a real force."

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Falkirk 0 Morton 1: Tough lesson at school of hard knocks

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