Even that famous old fictional barrister Rumpole of the Bailey would have struggled to make a convincing case for the Dunfermline defence on Saturday.
Indeed, any jury would not have taken long to deliver a guilty verdict on a rearguard that was culpable for all three Morton goals.
That trio of howlers shattered the Pars’ unbeaten home record for the season and put a major dent in their promotion push. The result leaves them six points behind league leaders Raith Rovers and, on this evidence, manager Jim McIntyre has a major job on his hands to restore morale and confidence before his side take on Ross County at East End Park on Tuesday night.
The Morton game was a comedy of errors from start to finish, though no one associated with Dunfermline was seeing the funny side. The tone was set with just 36 seconds on the clock when centre-half Chris Higgins sent a pass-back wide of Chris Smith’s goal. The keeper ran to prevent the ball going for a corner but hit it directly to Morton striker Derek Lyle who struck a tame angled shot towards goal from 18 yards.
Higgins’ defensive partner Alex Keddie tracked back and looked to have the situation under control. However, he tried to be too clever and attempted to let the ball roll out of play instead, it nicked off the post and trundled into the net.
The Pars tried desperately to recover from that early blow but found it hard going against a disciplined Morton side content to sit in and hit on the break. As the half progressed, the tension and frustration started rippling down from the stands and on to the pitch, with a Keddie pass-back on the 39th minute being greeted with a chorus of boos by irate home fans.
Any hopes McIntyre’s half-time team talk would produce a positive reaction from the home side were shattered within three minutes of the restart, thanks to a Higgins howler.
Morton’s David O’Brien had tried to work his way through the middle of the Pars defence but his chance looked to have been lost when he attempted an elaborate step-over and the ball ran on to Higgins. The defender should have cleared the danger into row Z but instead tried to take a touch. That delay proved fatal as O’Brien picked his pocket and shot past Smith.
Liam Buchanan managed to nick one back for the Pars with a close-range strike in the 77th minute, but any hopes of an against-the-odds rally were ended with three minutes remaining when skipper Austin McCann was woefully short with a header back to his keeper.
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Substitute Peter Weatherson pounced on the error and calmly rounded Smith before firing home. That prompted a mass exodus from the Dunfermline support, many of whom will not have seen Buchanan miss two easy, late chances, errors equally as bad as the ones his defenders had committed.
Captain McCann bravely agreed to talk to the press and he defiantly insisted that his side will put things right against Ross County.
“It was definitely a bad day at the office,” he said. “We were poor in front of our own goal and in attack. It just was not to be and we need to pick our heads up for a big game on Tuesday.
“The first goal is very important in this league and, after losing one so early, we found it very hard to get back into it. We could feel the tension from the stands on the pitch, which was not surprising because of the start we made to the game and the amount of mistakes we committed.
“We tried to get things right but we couldn’t at both ends of the park. We missed important chances as well in front of goal. It was even more disappointing when you look at the other results. We just have to get performances like that out of the system and go back to doing what has taken us to the top of the league this season.
“This is an important month for us with a lot of games and we have the chance to get back on the winning trail on Tuesday night.”
That sentiment was echoed by McCann’s grim-faced manager McIntyre, who said, “When you look at the goals we gave away, you are going to struggle to win any football match. The boys have been excellent recently and I have been really pleased with them but we made three glaring mistakes.
“We still created three or four good chances, but when you gift goals like that it saps the confidence from the players. But they are a good group and I am certain they will bounce back on Tuesday.”
Morton are now four games unbeaten a run that has also includes draws with Dundee and Falkirk and a win over Partick Thistle and Cappielow boss Allan Moore said, “For the first time in a long while, we capitalised on the opposition’s mistakes.
“We have been playing well against all of the top teams but we have not had a rub of the green. We did against Dunfermline, though, and we are on a right good run.”