Greenock Morton manager Dougie Imrie was left feeling frustrated after Partick Thistle’s late equaliser saw the points shared in Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Firhill.
Imrie pulled no punches post-match, blasting Thistle for their performance, believing Morton deserved to walk away with all three points.
“I don’t think Partick Thistle deserved anything” claimed Imrie. “I thought we ratted them really well. Yeah, they had a spell in the game but, in the main, I thought we were outstanding today.”
Thistle received a penalty in the first half, against the run of play, after Kanayo Megwa was fouled by Jack Baird. It originally looked like Kyle Turner was going to take the spot kick only for Brian Graham to grab the ball and take it himself, only for his shot to be saved by Morton keeper Ryan Mullen.
Morton took the lead just before half time when Nathan Shaw’s superb free kick rifled past David Mitchell to make it 1-0.
Thistle got on level terms on 61 minutes, when Dan O’Reilly got himself on the end of a corner, rocketing his show in from long range past Mullen to equalise.
Eight minutes later, Morton found themselves back on top when Shaw’s shot was parried by David Mitchell, falling to Filip Stuparević, with the Motherwell loanee slotting home to restore the lead.
In stoppage time, Thistle snatched a point after Terry Ablade, picked up a Robbie Crawford pass. Ablade burst through and found Chalmers at the back post to tap home for 2-2.
It was a bright end to the game for assist-maker Ablade, who had been given the rough treatment by Morton’s defence after causing them problems since he came on.
The result sees fourth-placed Thistle remain nine points clear of Morton in fifth, but fail to make ground in the title race, nine points behind Livingston in third and eleven points behind league leaders Ayr United.
Reflecting on the game afterwards, Morton boss Imrie said: “I thought we were magnificent today, all over the pitch. You come away from home, score two goals, you expect to pick up three points.
“I thought we were magnificent today, all over the pitch. You come away from home, score two goals, you expect to pick up three points, but if somebody said to me ‘Next two games, you’re away from home, you’d pick up four out of six’, I would have took it.
Imrie vented his frustration at the manner of the late equaliser. “It’s frustrating to lose the goal and the way we did” said Imrie, who referenced a similar incident where Morton’s defence were caught late on against Queen’s Park. “We spoke about this situation from last week.”
While Morton held on against QP in that instance, Thistle managed to capitalise, much to Imrie’s ire. “[Today], they do the exact same. Unfortunately, this thing will be punished. We’ve talked through all these scenarios, and that’s my frustration.”
Morton next face basement dwellers Airdrieonians on Saturday, while Thistle travel to Falkirk.
