David Hopkin: I’m delighted with the team performance

Morton manager David Hopkin has praised the efforts of the team in Saturday’s match after an important 2-1 victory over Arbroath to edge further away from bottom-placed Alloa Athletic

The Ton put in a solid performance to ensure that all three points would go to the Cappielow side and David Hopkin knew the importance of this.

Speaking to gmfc.net, Hopkin said: “We all knew that this was going to be a tough place to go to because Dick [Campbell] has built a great team here.

“I thought our two goals were really well worked with big Sutts [John Sutton] doing well to get it in the net and the play before our second goal was worth what we got in the end.

“The goal was disappointing to concede because we’ve been working on it in training all week before the match today so we were kicking ourselves after it when it went in.

“Other than an outstanding save from Danny [Rogers] I felt the boys didn’t have too much to deal with towards the end and when we did, we were able to stop any chances for Arbroath.

“That did put a bit of pressure on us towards the end of the first half and moments in the second half but I thought that overall we defended well to make sure we won the match.”

Our manager was full of praise in particular for the effort in which Robbie Muirhead put in for the match against the Licthies when he said: “I thought Robbie [Muirhead] was brilliant today and he was absolutely everywhere on the pitch working hard to defend and attack.

“I think Luca [Colville] has been struggling to come to grips with the Scottish game since coming up from England so I hope his goal today can let him kick on with the quality I know he can produce.”

But Hopkin was quick to make clear that it was not about individual performances in the match as the team’s overall performance was what edged them over the line.

“I thought I would use my experienced players in the team and blend them with the younger players in the squad which I thought worked an absolute treat for us.

“This is a close league this year so hopefully we can build on today’s result and push on from there to finish in a good position in the league.”

By Ewan Boyle