Dougie Imrie: Motherwell fans must take what they dish out

Morton manager Dougie Imrie told Motherwell fans to take what they dish out after he celebrated his side’s Scottish Gas Scottish Cup win in front of the visiting fans at Cappielow.

The former Hamilton player had to put up with some abusive songs about members of his family during the fifth-round tie but he got the last laugh after his side’s 2-1 win.

Imrie cupped his ears and waved his arms towards what remained of more than 2,000 visiting fans and savoured their angry reaction before moving towards his own supporters and being chased down by the fourth official.

The 40-year-old said: “Listen, I am thicker-skinned than that but if they want to give it out, they have got to take it.

“It’s not nice (hearing that), but that’s part and parcel of football. If they think that’s going to bother me, then they better get something else to sing about.”

Morton were well worth their win after putting Motherwell under pressure from the off. George Oakley hit the bar before Robbie Muirhead’s inswinging corner had Motherwell goalkeeper Liam Kelly scrambling, with the ball appearing to go in off his team-mate Harry Paton after he palmed it out.

Oakley drilled home the second after the break and Motherwell’s comeback attempts were too little, too late with no chances coming after Jack Vale’s deflected 85th-minute effort.

Imrie said: “From start to finish we were very, very good, albeit the last 10 minutes was a bit nervy with them getting their goal because we didn’t track the run into the box. But in the main we were well worthy of the victory.”

The remaining Motherwell fans also vented their anger towards their own players and manager Stuart Kettlewell, whose side failed to build on Tuesday’s 5-0 win over Ross County as their six-match unbeaten run came to an end.

“We simply weren’t good enough,” Kettlewell said. “Very simply Morton did a number on us. We didn’t stand up to the challenges we knew were going to be presented.

“We knew it was going to be completely different to Tuesday when we were able to get the ball down and play. We knew Morton were going to be up and at us, and be in our faces, they were going to pile balls in on us.

“The first goal’s symptomatic of us not dealing with that. It comes in and we just don’t deal with it.

“Second half we became really ragged and it was only in the last 10 minutes of the game we started to test their resolve and make a bit more of a tie of it.

“But I expect way more from the players. When you see that travelling support I expect way more than that. Morton deserved to win.

“Our use of the ball, our choices and our quality has to be a hell of a lot better.”