By Mark Hendry

MORTON goalkeeper Derek Gaston says he still doesn’t know why Dumbarton’s goal was chalked off in Saturday’s clash — but insists his side were due a slice of luck after being denied victory in their two previous matches.

Gaston was at the heart of a melee in the Ton penalty area in the last few minutes of their Championship fixture at Cappielow on Saturday after punching the ball straight to the feet of Sons’ midfielder Joe Thomson, who rifled a shot into the roof of an empty net.

Referee Mat Northcrof however called for an infringement, cancelling out Thomson’s first ever career goal — and Gaston admitted to the Tele he was stumped as to exactly why the whistler had disallowed the strike.

He told the Tele: “I don’t know whether the referee has given it for offside or the challenge.

"The striker and I have gone up for the ball, he’s jumped into me as I’ve gone to punch it. Whether it was fair or not I’m not sure. 

“He’s given me a wee nudge and I’ve punched it straight to their player. 

“He’s supplied a good finish and put it into the net, but I’m not 100 per cent sure what the decision was for. 

“I think in previous weeks we’ve played really well and we’ve been disappointed to come away with only a point, but I think at the weekend it was probably the worst we’ve played all season yet we’ve got away with the 
draw.”

The stopper also acknowledged that he didn’t have the best of times in goal against Dumbarton. An own goal from Gaston saw the visitors take an early lead before sub striker Kudus Oyenuga rescued Ton moments after coming on to replace Jamie Lindsay.

Speaking of the mistake for Dumbarton’s opener, Gaston said: “From a personal point of view I didn’t play very well, and that’s always annoying.

“For the goal, their cross has came in and I felt that I had to try and get something on it. 

“I’ve jumped over the guy’s shoulder with a punch but slightly mistimed it. 

“I was off-balance and the ball has just spun down and back into the net.

“I should’ve got a better connection on it and that’s what was most disappointing.”

Gaston looked ahead to this weekend’s action and insists the match at Easter Road against Hibernian will be the most difficult test of the season so far for his team.

Hibs have enjoyed a strong start to their campaign and are the bookies’ favourites to win the Championship title this year after missing out on the trophy the last two seasons.

But the Ton goalie believes his team-mates can take confidence from previous results against the Leith side, even if another 3-0 away victory might be a bit much to hope for.

He said: “Hibs are one of the strongest teams in the league, if not the strongest this season. 

“It’s going to be the toughest game of the season going away to Easter Road, but obviously we’ll go there with a good bit of confidence knowing we did really well against them in all four games last year.

“The last time we played there we managed to spring a wee bit of a surprise in a 3-0 win. 

“We won’t be going there expecting that again but if we put in a good performance you never know what might happen.”