Arbroath 1 - 2 Morton: Things looking up for David Hopkin

They often say a week’s a long time in football but sometimes 90 minutes can seem like an eternity.

Scott Stewart scored a consolation goal for Arbroath. Picture: SNS.

At 3pm yesterday Morton took one of their poorest away crowds in years to Gayfield, deflated and despondent at the prospect of ending the afternoon at the bottom of the Championship.

Defeat at Arbroath, coupled with an Alloa win, would have sent the Greenock side to the foot of the table and piled the pressure on manager David Hopkin.

However, with goals from John Sutton and Luca Colville enough to render a Scott Stewart strike a consolation effort, Morton are suddenly looking up the table.

With a game in hand and back-to-back away wins, Morton are within three points of fifth place.

“That’s a big win for us at an extremely tough venue,” said Hopkin. “We’ve not had much luck in a lot of games but today we showed another side of our game – character – and that really pleases me.”

The visitors struck first on 13 minutes as Sutton rose above the Arbroath defence to meet a Robbie Muirhead cross and loop a header over Red Lichties goalkeeper Derek Gaston.

They doubled their advantage seven minutes later as Muirhead squared for Colville to sweep home from close range.

However, Arbroath replied almost instantly as Stewart, pictured, stepped off his marker to meet a Michael McKenna cross and bullet a header in from six yards.

Dick Campbell’s side pressed for a leveller but fell short. “It’s a tough defeat,” said Arbroath assistant manager Ian Campbell. “Every game in this league is competitive. Every single one is a battle.

“But we are here on merit. We deserve to be right in the mix and we are up for the challenge.”