A Game of Two Halves: Morton 0-3 Caley

By: Ian Rose | September 12th, 2009

First, I’m sorry for the break in posting. I took a short break from my obsession with the Caley to feed my older (and if I’m honest, slightly stronger) obsession with Scotland. Now that my dreams of watching the Scots in South Africa is well and truly dead, I can return full-strength to my Caley Thistle duties.

The Jaggies went into the international break in a very mixed mood. On one hand, we had just lost a home Highland derby to Ross County (spit). On the other, we survived penalties against Partick to move on to the semifinals of the Challenge Cup, where we will get our revenge on County.

Today’s match was basically what it should have been – at least in terms of final scoreline – a comfortable victory. Morton is having a horrible season, with just three points so far and anchored at the bottom of the table. In fact, in a season where so many teams could win the First Division, Morton is one of the few that have distinguished themselves as absolutely not capable of that task. So, our 3-0 win is about as it should be. I’m happy, but really more I would have been disappointed with any less.

The striking thing about this match, and the point that gives me a bit of confidence, is that we improved as the match went on. Now, an argument could be made that what actually happened was Morton disintegrating and not us stepping up. But the point remains valid that we often play much better in the first half than the second, a source of constant frustration. Halftime is rarely our friend, and often seems to give great comfort to our enemies. In this match, it seemed like we were the side to make progress between the halves.

Now, the way we went into halftime certainly had a lot to do with it. After 45 minutes of the standard missed chances and wasted possession, Dani Sanchez netted with the last kick before the interval, sending us visitors into the locker room on the unique high of a last-gasp goal. Terry Butcher, to his credit, seemed to be able to maintain that feeling, and we came out in the second half still running on all cylinders. At the hour mark, Richie Foran made it two, a very significant goal considering his struggle for fitness and his potential importance to the Caley attack. Sanchez has had an impressive strike rate so far, but we know Foran can both create and score, and it’s great to have him on the board. David Proctor made it three late, and we were never really threatened with anything less than three points in the second half.

A good effort, a good result, and well dones all around. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Another road trip, and another expected win, comes next as we travel to face Airdrie United. Then we have two vital home matches, against Partick and Queen of the South, which will go a long way to resolving the early promotion favorites. It’s ironic that we are looking to our road matches to build confidence to go back home, but that’s the nature of Caley Thistle right now, and often in the past – we are traveling far better than we defend our own fortress.

And mixed in that schedule, of course, there’s also the small matter of a cup semifinal next month against County. Altogether, a pretty important month of football for the Caley, and one I am hugely looking forward to. Mon the Jags.