Cappielow Park (Greenock Morton v St Mirren)

On Tuesday 23rd August I made my way to Greenock for the clash between arch rivals Greenock Morton and St Mirren. The Scottish League Cup second-round encounter was the first competitive Renfrewshire derby since they were paired in the semi-final draw of the League Challenge Cup in 2005. I was at that match as well, a tense affair at Love Street, which turned out to be the final Renfrewshire derby played at the old Saints ground. Both teams were unable to find the net during 120 minutes of football six years ago but the Buddies were victorious on penalties.

A healthy but strong (and sometimes not-so-healthy) rivalry has remained despite the teams not meeting each other regularly on a competitive basis. During the noughties the 'Ton dropped down the SLF divisions. The Greenock side sank as low as the Third Division in 2002 but recovered fairly quickly. By the time they returned to the First Division in 2007 the Saints had won promotion to the Scottish Premier League. Nowadays the sides usually meet in the Renfrewshire Cup final, a glorified pre-season 'friendly'. Despite its humble status the Renfrewshire Cup has quite a bit of history illustrated by the fact Morton has won it 51 times compared to their Paisley rivals' 53.

Exactly one month ago today I took the 6:20pm train at Paisley Gilmour Street train station and got off at Cartsdyke station at 6:45pm. Since I travel to my work in Greenock every day by train I did not have to buy a train ticket, a nice little bonus. The walk from the station to Cappielow Park is a short one, about 5-10 minutes. The St Mirren fans were allocated the Wee Dublin End, an uncovered terrace that has been turned into an all-seater stand by adding bench seating. With its variety of stands and terraces Cappielow is a great Scottish football stadium, similar in character to Ayr United's Somerset Park and Queen of the South's Palmerston Park. Of course, when in the presence of Morton fans I will maintain that St Mirren Park is a slick and modern SPL stadium and Cappielow is a tip...who am I kidding.

Much like the venue, the match itself was a cracker, a lively encounter between two in-form sides: after eight minutes, Gary Teal put the visitors ahead with a free-kick, my camera said 'memory full' as the ball went in, typical. Truth be told, Morton had been the stronger team so far and, credit where its due, they were not fazed by this early set-back and twenty minutes later the First Division side were 2-1 up, thanks to goals by Michael Tidser and Peter MacDonald. 2-1 was also the half-time score and Saints only had themselves to blame.

The Buddies looked more convincing at the start of the second half. Steven Thompson levelled the score 1o minutes after the interval and five minutes later, Nigel Hasselbaink's spot-kick made it 3-2 to the visitors. Steven Thompson's second came six minutes later but somehow Saints seemed adamant to do this the hard way and complacency (Lee Mair...) struck again: with eleven minutes to go Andy Jackson netted the home side's third goal. Somehow and with five men in defence, St Mirren managed to hang on to their slim lead.

In the third round St Mirren defeated St Johnstone 2-0 at McDiarmid Park. Saint will meet Ayr United at St Mirren Park next month with a League Cup semi-final berth at stake.

For pictures of a capacity crowd at Cappielow (against Celtic) see this post. For last year's Renfrewshire Cup final at Morton's ground see this post.

Terraces in the back, seats in the front: the magnificent Cowshed before the game.

The Cowshed during the game.

The Main Stand, Saints fans were allocated part of it but the majority preferred the Wee Dublin End.

The Sinclair Street End: Gary Teale is about to take the free-kick that put the Buddies ahead: 0-1.

Saints are ahead once more after Nigel Hasselbaink's penalty: 2-3.

Tuesday 23th August 2011
Scottish Communities League Cup 2nd round
Greenock Morton 3 St Mirren 4
Morton: Tidser 17, MacDonald 27, Jackson 79
St Mirren: Teale 8, Thompson 55, Hasselbaink (pen) 60, Thompson 66
Att: 4,959

Cappielow Park (Greenock Morton v St Mirren)

After last Saturday's trip to Peterhead I stayed a bit closer to home last Tuesday. I took the train to Greenock, for the second time that day as I work in Greenock, for the annual Renfrewshire Cup 'final' between Morton and St Mirren. At least the Ton went through an actual semi-final to reach it, thrashing amateurs Moorcroft 13-0. According to Morton chairman Rae Douglas in tonight's matchday programme the amateur team played 'well and competed well.' At least that's something I suppose.

Morton and St Mirren have enjoyed a longstanding rivalry for decades and it has remained strong despite both teams not having played in the same league for over a decade. This traditional pre-season 'friendly' is always fiercely contested and never meaningless to use a pre-season cliché. Saints were poor against last year's First Division strugglers but then again I do not think anyone has been expecting an easy 2010/11 season for the Buddies. The loan deal Celtic's Paul McGowan had signed shortly before the game at least was a bit of good news. The ex-Morton player came on as a replacement for Steven Robb eight minutes before time and added a bit of spice to the occasion.

There were no goals during 90 minutes of regular time which is worrying for St Mirren as they still seem unable to find the net easily, even against opposition from the second tier. It also meant I would not be able to make my 9:31pm train back to Paisley. Expecting extra time I went to the snack van for a coffee, no pies in the away end unfortunately, just something resembling a hamburger. Then it turned out there was no extra time and the teams had already started taking penalties. When John Potter scored the deciding 4-3 for St Mirren I had lost count. As there was no extra time I could still make the 9:56pm train from Cartsdyke to Paisley. Both sets of fans were separated at the station to prevent a repeat of the ugly scenes seen in recent years.

For more pictures of Cappielow see this post.

Long queues at the turnstiles.


The Grandstand before kick-off.


The Cowshed before the start of the game.


Saints fans in the Wee Dublin End.


Quite amusing, thirteen-year-olds taunting other thirteen-year-olds: 'Fatty, gie's a wave!"

Will there be a fifth consecutive Renfrewshire Cup at the end of this rainbow?

Cappie the Cat's bizarre antics...I really had no idea what he was up to. Well-nourished cheerleaders in the background.

Saints won the penalty shoot-out.

The Cowshed after the game.

The Grandstand after the final whistle.

Fans were separated by the police at Cartsdyke station. Not much happened. Some Morton fan threw an egg...better than a brick I suppose, see this report from two years ago.

Tuesday 27th July 2010
Renfrewshire Cup Final
Greenock Morton 0 St Mirren 0 (after 90 minutes, St Mirren win 4-3 on penalties)
Penalties:
Morton: Holmes missed, Monty scored, Kelby missed, Tidser scored, Smyth scored
St Mirren: Higdon scored, Van Zanten missed, Brady scored, McGowan scored, Potter scored
Att: 3,422

Cappielow Park (Greenock Morton v Celtic)

Last night I visited Cappielow in Greenock for the fourth round Scottish Cup match between Morton and Celtic. The tie was originally scheduled for 9th January when I was unable to go because I was in Frimley Green for the darts during that weekend. However the match was postponed, at first to 12th January and then again to the 19th because of a frozen pitch. This enabled me to witness a capacity crowd at Cappielow, a rare sight.

As I work in Greenock travelling was no problem. After a few pre-match pints in the James Watt, the local JD Wetherspoon pub, we started the two-minute journey from Greenock Central to Cartsdyke railway station, which is adjacent to Cappielow Park. The stadium is an old-fashioned ground with lots of character. I had visited Cappielow only once before, a 9-1 thrashing of Forfar when Morton were still playing in the Second Division a few years ago. The Grandstand looks like a standard main stand, however the Cowshed is a more unusual construction with seats at the front and terracing at the back. The terrace behind the goal at the Sinclair Street end of the ground is an uncovered terrace for the home fans. The opposite end, called the Wee Dublin End was allocated to the Celtic fans tonight. This end has wooden benches but fans are usually standing here as well. This stand is normally only open during the bigger games, such as the game last night.

Celtic have been struggling lately so there was an outside chance of an upset. A draw would have been attractive as the replay at Celtic Park would have taken place tonight. In the first 35 minutes the over 10,000 in attendance witnessed an even contest. However after Nial McGinn's goal it never looked as if this was going to be Morton's night.

For more pictures of Cappielow see this post.

A packed Cowshed.

The Celtic Supporters in the Wee Dublin End.

Unfortunately for Morton no cup shock tonight.

The Grandstand.

The Sinclair Street End.

The Sinclair Street End after the match.

Looking towards the Wee Dublin End.

The Grandstand.

Tuesday 19th January 2010
The Active Nation Scottish Cup Round 4
Greenock Morton 0 Celtic 1
Goal: McGinn 35.
Att: 10,191