MICHAEL McCARTNEY Trying to predict the outcome of Dundee's season is probably harder than being a meteorologist in Inverclyde.
Alex Rae's side eventually prevailed at Cappielow in a match which began in sun-kissed conditions, only for an April snowstorm to drift in off the Firth of Clyde before half time.
The mood of Morton fans was pretty much in keeping with the bizarre weather, as they saw their team's sprightly opening spell, which was capped by Jim McAlister's excellent solo goal, spoiled by Mickael Antoine-Curier's riposte and a late winner from substitute Derek Lyle.
Lyle, who banished any lingering doubts over his commitment to Dundee's cause ahead of his summer move to Hamilton, the first division league leaders, added another twist to the saga of the the Dens Park side's own title push.
Whenever Rae's men have looked in danger of exerting real pressure on Hamilton this season, they have faltered. Yet whenever they have threatened to fall out of contention, his players have pulled a rabbit out of the hat.
No-one typifies their idiosyncrasies more than Antoine-Curier, whose goal on Saturday came just days after a glaring miss against Partick Thistle. The Frenchman, however, remains confident that a showdown against Hamilton at Dens Park is the only conceivable way a season of such high drama could possibly end.
He said: "I still think it's going to go down to the last day of the season. It was a good performance from us today and I'm delighted for the team.
"It was a great goal by Derek. He's a very good player, he shows it every day in training and he showed it today. He'll be a good player for Hamilton but while he is here, he needs to keep showing people what he can do."
Antoine-Curier's goal, a powerful low drive from 18 yards, brought Dundee back into the match at a crucial stage when things seemed to be slipping from their grasp.
"I was disappointed not to score against Partick Thistle so I was delighted to get one today," he said. "My team-mate made a lot of space for me."
The team-mate in question, David O'Brien, departed injured minutes later to be replaced by Gavin Swankie, whose pace and trickery helped to wear down the home side as the match progressed.
It could all have been so different, though, had Peter Weatherson converted a great opportunity shortly after McAlister's opener. Ten minutes from the end, Lyle kept his cool in more trying circumstances to control the ball on his thigh and side-foot into the net from the edge of the box.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article