After Partick Thistle defeated fellow promotion play-off contenders Greenock Morton 1-0 on the road to solidify their hold on fourth position, Brian Graham maintains that the outcome was all that mattered.
Dan O’Reilly’s header 15 minutes from the end gave the Jags a crucial victory after Thistle had to put in a lot of effort and dig in at Cappielow.
Graham, who is leading the William Hill Championship club on an interim basis alongside Under-18s manager Mark Wilson, has made no secret in the past of how much he enjoys victories over Morton – but the striker insists getting points on the board was all that truly mattered.
“I don’t care about the game, it’s the three points,” he said. “It’s the tail end of the season. It’s the business end and it’s about winning football matches.
“We know it’s an important one, but it doesn’t secure anything fourth place-wise. We still need to keep going and we have another massive game coming next week.
“It’s about consistency. We’re now six unbeaten. This is one of the hardest grounds in the league to come to and win, and we’ve done it this afternoon. So it’s great for the confidence, but it’s the whole belief within the group now.
“We need to keep looking up the way. There’s no point in looking at the teams below us, we can’t control them. We can only control what Partick Thistle will do.
“I always like beating Morton, but I don’t really care about Morton to be honest with you. Every time I come here they give me a great reception! I really enjoy the banter between the sets of fans and myself, but to be honest I just ignored them.
“I just went about my business. I won the free-kick that led to the goal, so that made it even sweeter. I might not have scored it, but I’ve still got a part in the goal, so I’ll take that.
“Dougie’s team’s been flying of late, so to come and beat a good Morton side at Cappielow, it shows where we are as a club.”
The Jags switched from a back three to a four-man defence for the final half-hour against Morton, and the change in shape helped Thistle get the win over the line.
Graham and Wilson have been setting the team up in a 3-5-2, but the centre-forward stressed he is not married to one particular tactical set-up.
“We work on it every week,” he explained. “We’re not just stuck to one formation. We started the year at 4-2-3-1, now we’ve went 3-5-2 and we keep changing to 4-3-3.
“We’ve got all different formations in our locker, and sometimes that’s what it’s going to take to unlock a game. We worked on set-plays this week as well, we were actually so close in the first half not to score one – the keeper just gets his fingers onto one to stop me from scoring at the back post.
“And Dan O’Reilly’s as brave as a lion [for the goal], but I can’t believe that Lee Ashcroft didn’t steal the goal. Because if that’s me I’m putting my toe in that and running away and celebrating. I said that to him in there, a big stupid defender, I’d have been claiming that for my goal!”
Morton manager Dougie Imrie found it difficult to hide his frustration after a defeat that all but ended the Greenock club’s hopes of reaching the play-offs. Missed opportunities from Ali Crawford and Morgan Boyes proved costly for the home side, leading to a gloomy post-match assessment from Imrie.
“I think the better team lost,” he said. “I thought we were excellent and didn’t give them anything. Ali had an unbelievable opportunity and he blazes over the bar, and Morgan gets the best chance from a corner – if he gets anything on it then it’s in.
“The goal just isn’t good enough and I don’t know what the goalie was thinking.
“I don’t want to be the person who almost finished sixth once more. I’d like to improve. I’m a dedicated and enthusiastic individual who wants to lead this team beyond simply placing fifth once more. Our goal is to qualify for the playoffs.
“Unfortunately, we’ll have to look for another group that can get us there if I can’t accomplish that with the one I have. We simply don’t eliminate teams, but we’ve demonstrated enough this season to be competitive.
