PARTICK THISTLE’S stalemate with Morton at Cappielow is not one that will live long in the memory but manager Ian McCall conceded a draw was probably a far result on the balance of play.

There was no shortage of effort on either side on a wet and windy evening in Greenock but the conditions ensured this was always going to be a blood-and-thunder contest where industry trumped guile.

“We should have scored in the first two or three minutes and that was the best chance of the game,” McCall said. “We didn’t play that well. We huffed and puffed.

“Defensively we were sound and we got into good positions.

“But after scoring 10 goals in two games we’ve now scored zero in two games – how Partick Thistle is that?”

The visitors came flying out of the traps and almost found themselves ahead with just three minutes played. A long ball forward was flicked on by Brian Graham, Zak Rudden went scarpering after it but Morton goalkeeper Jack Hamilton was alert to the danger. Scott Tiffoney latched onto the rebound but could only blaze his effort over the bar.

Morton grew into the game but the home side were dealt a blow on the half-hour mark as Oisin McEntee was forced off with a dislocated shoulder, with Michael Ledger brought on in his stead.

Thistle were struggling in the final third as the half wore on. Graham did well to connect with a Richard Foster cross but could only nod the ball wide, but Tiffoney’s pace was causing problems down the left at his old stomping ground.

Gavin Reilly then went close to finding the breakthrough shortly before the interval but could only stab the ball wide from a dangerous-looking delivery across the face of goal.

The weather worsened as the two sides came out for the second period. The rain poured and the wind howled, and the conditions weren’t exactly conducive to free-flowing football.

The Jags began to turn the screw but clear-cut chances for either side were few and far between. Both goalkeepers found their handling tested extensively as cross after cross was whipped into the box but to the credit of Hamilton and his opposite number Jamie Sneddon, it was one both shot-stoppers passed with flying colours.

A Jakko Oksanen pass rolled tantalisingly across the face of goal as Morton went close but no one was at hand to make the most of the opportunity, while Kevin Holt forced a smart stop from Hamilton after drilling the ball goalwards from 25 yards.

The contest always had the air of one that would be decided by an individual moment of skill or a hastily-conceded error but it would never arrive as the two sides settled for a point apiece.

“It was a fair result on a horrible night – two teams competing hard,” surmised Morton manager Gus MacPherson.

“We changed our system slightly and it’s maybe taken a bit of time to adapt to but we grew into the game and settled down after 25 minutes. We kept a clean sheet, that’s a positive.”

Elsewhere, Dunfermline let a one-goal lead over Raith Rovers slip as the Fife derby finished one apiece, while Arbroath recorded a victory over table-toppers Inverness with Michael McKenna the only player to get on the scoresheet in the Highlands.

A last-minute Oli Shaw penalty ensured Kilmarnock won the bragging rights in the Ayrshire derby with a 1-0 win at Somerset, and Hamilton edged past Queen of the South with Andy Ryan’s second-half strike all that could separate the two teams.