Morton 2
Dundee Utd 0
League (Premier Division)
Morton |
2 - 0 |
Dundee Utd |
 |
League (Premier Division) |
 |
| Goalscorers | |
|
Drew Busby (16) Jim Tolmie (40) |
None. |
| Team Managers | |
| Benny Rooney |
Jim McLean |
| Starting Eleven | |
|
Roy Baines Davie Hayes Jim Holmes James Rooney Joe McLaughlin Neil Orr Ian Cochrane Drew Busby Bobby Thomson Jim Tolmie Andy Ritchie |
Hamish McAlpine Frank Kopel Dave Narey Iain Phillip John Holt Derek Stark Eamonn Bannon Ralph Milne Billy Kirkwood Paul Sturrock Davie Dodds |
| Bench | |
|
Edward McNab Bobby Houston |
Derek Addison Willie Pettigrew |
| Substitutions | |
| Edward McNabb for Bob Thomson |
Derek Addison for Derek Stark Willie Pettigrew for Billy Kirkwood (10) |
| Cautions | |
| Bobby Thomson (47) |
Hamish McAlpine (40) |
| Red Cards | |
| None. | None. |
| Match Officials | |
|
Bill Crombie (Edinburgh) (Referee) |
Match Report
Following on from their midweek Scottish Cup Semi-Final success over Celtic, match winner Paul Hegarty was rested for the trip to Cappielow after only just passing a fitness test for the match on Wednesday night. Derek Stark was the man who came in for the missing skipper.
In the 16th minute McAlpine completely lost the ball at a corner and Drew Busby hooked the ball home to give Morton the lead. United were obviously suffering a hangover from their midweek success. With the team struggling to threaten, manager Jim McLean appeared on the pitch to confront the referee after a bad foul on Stark by Morton's Bobby Thomson, but he was shushed off by the referee. Stark eventually had to hobble off, with Billy Kirkwood also replaced due to injury. Five minutes from half-time, Busby looked off-side as he collected a Thomson pass, and although McAlpine came rushing out and fouled the Morton player outside the box, Jim Tolmie eventually poked the ball home to make it 2-0.
United had no answers, and the defeat now sees the team sitting fifth in the Premier Division, struggling to qualify for a UEFA Cup place. However they still have two games in hand over third placed St Mirren.
Squad Statistics (as at April 18th, 1981)
| 1980-81 | All Time | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | Nat |  |
 |
|
|
|
| Hamish McAlpine (GK) | 33 |
|
52 | - | 461 | 3 |
| Derek Stark | 22 |
|
32 | 1 | 114 | 3 |
| Iain Phillip | 30 |
|
44 | - | 93 | 1 |
| Dave Narey | 24 |
|
50 | 2 | 334 | 22 |
| John Holt | 24 |
|
30 | 1 | 139 | 11 |
| Frank Kopel | 32 |
|
45 | - | 385 | 13 |
| Billy Kirkwood | 22 |
|
41 | 10 | 165 | 38 |
| Ralph Milne | 19 |
|
27 | 9 | 48 | 12 |
| Eamonn Bannon | 23 |
|
49 | 11 | 80 | 15 |
| Davie Dodds | 22 |
|
36 | 20 | 114 | 42 |
| Paul Sturrock | 24 |
|
51 | 22 | 270 | 77 |
| Derek Addison (sub) | 25 |
|
20 | 3 | 133 | 15 |
| Willie Pettigrew (sub) | 27 |
|
29 | 9 | 79 | 31 |
League Table (as at April 18th, 1981)
| Pld | W | D | L | +/- | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Celtic | 33 | 25 | 3 | 5 | +48 | 53 |
| 2. | Aberdeen | 33 | 19 | 9 | 5 | +37 | 47 |
| 3. | St Mirren | 34 | 16 | 8 | 10 | +5 | 40 |
| 4. | Rangers | 32 | 14 | 10 | 8 | +22 | 38 |
| 5. | DUNDEE UTD | 32 | 15 | 8 | 9 | +21 | 38 |
| 6. | Partick Th | 34 | 10 | 9 | 15 | -15 | 29 |
| 7. | Morton | 34 | 10 | 8 | 16 | -19 | 28 |
| 8. | Airdrie | 33 | 9 | 9 | 15 | -16 | 27 |
| 9. | Hearts | 34 | 5 | 6 | 23 | -41 | 16 |
| 10. | Kilmarnock | 33 | 4 | 8 | 21 | -42 | 16 |
| League results since United's last match |
|---|
| 5th April 1981 |
|---|
| Partick Th | 0-1 | Celtic |
| 6th April 1981 |
|---|
| Hearts | 1-0 | Kilmarnock |
| 11th April 1981 |
|---|
| Aberdeen | 1-0 | Hearts |
| St Mirren | 3-2 | Partick Th |
| 15th April 1981 |
|---|
| Kilmarnock | 0-0 | Morton |
| Rangers | 1-0 | St Mirren |
| 18th April 1981 |
|---|
| Aberdeen | 3-0 | Airdrie |
| Hearts | 1-2 | St Mirren |
| Kilmarnock | 0-1 | Partick Th |
| Morton | 2-0 | Dundee Utd |
| Rangers | 0-1 | Celtic |