The Diamonds came away with a point against Morton on a miserable morning at the Albert Bartlett.

Trialist goalkeeper Jayden Creer made his debut in the absence of Lewis Lindsay. Last week’s goalscorer Kayden Reid also made his first start, meanwhile Jack MacMillan came into the midfield.

Creer was involved in the early stages, parrying an effort at goal as the visitors looked for a blazing start.

Kyzer Fealy showed his range of passing with a delightful cross-field ball to Kaleb Donnachie, but the Diamonds forward didn’t have any teammates in the middle as he lashed across the face of goal.

Two curling efforts from MacMillan were saved comfortably by the goalkeeper as Airdrie started to impose their game plan after a quarter of an hour.

The Diamonds opened the scoring with an excellent goal on 22 minutes. Aaron McDonald floated a pinpoint cross to top scorer Guy Bainbridge, who connected with his volleyed effort to bounce the ball into the roof of the net for his eighth goal in as many league games.

Stephen McKay tried his luck from a free kick a few minutes later, but Ryan Lindsay got across to beat the ball away from goal.

The first half turned scrappy after the half hour mark, with no chances for either side until the 38th minute when a Ton attacker hacked over Creer’s crossbar.

MacMillan’s eyes lit up when his cross looked to be sailing into the top corner, but Lindsay managed to get a fingertip to the ball and poked it behind for a corner – meaning the Diamonds went into the break with a one-goal advantage.

Valentino Taouss replaced McDonald for Airdrie just four minutes into the second half, displacing David Ruddy to right back as Taouss slotted into the centre of defence.

Donnachie nipped in front of Niall Maloney to win possession inside the Morton box, but he was quickly surrounded by blue-striped shirts, and his shot was blocked on 56 minutes.

The Diamonds should have doubled their lead just seconds later, when McKay spotted the run of Bainbridge who latched onto the ball – but this time Airdrie’s skipper dragged his shot wide.

Scott Craig looked to his bench just before the hour mark, introducing trialist midfielder Jason Boughey and Cole McCafferty in place of Fealy and MacMillan.

Airdrie’s substitutions didn’t have the intended impact, and it was the visitors who found the net in the 61st minute. A thumping half-volley from Morton substitute Kian Christie leaving Creer with no chance.

Donnachie’s last action came in the 64th minute, when he was hacked to the ground on Airdrie’s left-hand side. Darryl McMutrie replaced Donnachie as the sides entered the final quarter of the match.

Two quick chances came for McMutrie, but the forward fired over the bar initially before his second effort was drew a comfortable save from Lindsay in goals.

McMutrie got in behind again 74 minutes in, and was fouled by a defender, who somehow escaped without even a caution.

Trialists Kai Walmsley and Reid were replaced by Cole Lyon and Sean Dempsey for Airdrie, both returning from the treatment table with 15 to play.

A swirling McKay corner went over Lindsay and came off the upright with 12 minutes to go.

Dempsey showed a good turn of pace on 80 minutes to track back and get a toe on the ball as Dylan Mathieson got beyond Airdrie’s defence.

With nine minutes of the game remaining, Airdrie snatched back the lead. Once again, Guy Bainbridge was on hand to slot past the goalkeeper after a ball in behind was set nicely by McMutrie for the Diamonds captain to strike.

The Diamonds’ lead was short lived, as Morton caught out Airdrie’s defence with a through ball. Leo Beaton latched onto the pass and raced beyond Creer before slotting into an empty net with seven minutes of normal time to go.

The visitors looked to be in behind in stoppage time after Boughey conceded possession in midfield. Taouss was left with a decision to make, prompting the Airdrie defender to commit to a last-ditch challenge in which he brought down Christie on the edge of the box – earning him a red card.

From the resulting free kick, Creer saved but a Ton forward followed in and finished from yards out – but the referee had blown his whistle and raised his arm for offside. The away side were unaware, as the entire team and bench raced into the corner to celebrate their disallowed goal.

There would be no late winner this week, and ten-man Airdrie had to settle for a frustrating point after yet more missed opportunities. The Diamonds will look to get back to winning ways next weekend as they make the long journey up north to face Inverness Caledonian Thistle.