Finding the net for the first time in Pars colours was of little consolation to striker Nicky Clark after the East End Park side slumped to another defeat.
The recent recruit from Bury had grabbed a first-half equaliser for Allan Johnston’s side, but a below-par second-half display saw all three points stay in Greenock.
Clark said: “It was a very disappointing afternoon. We made it hard for ourselves and we never played to the tempo we know that we are capable of.
“It is a hard one to take.”
Ben Richards-Everton had seen an early header strike the bar before the hosts took the lead on 25 minutes when Gary Oliver was allowed to run at the visiting defence, with the former Hearts man sending a low shot past David Hutton from the edge of the box.
Five minutes later Callum Fordyce drilled a 25-yard effort towards the home goal and Clark instinctively stuck out a boot and diverted it past Andy McNeil from eight yards.
Clark said: “My goal was all about reaction. I knew Callum was going to hit an effort towards their goal and luckily enough it fell to me and I reacted quickly enough to put it into the net. It is always good to score but it does not matter that much when you get beat.
“As a striker you want to get off the mark and I have done that, but the most important thing in football is getting the three points and we did not do that.
“I never scored at Bury so scoring is the only positive I can find from today.”
The frontman’s goal ensured parity at the break and, after Jai Quitongo had gone close at the start of the second half, Dunfermline came within inches of taking the lead when Gavin Reilly spun on the spot and fired for goal.
However, his effort was inches high.
It was as close as the Pars came as Morton took control in the closing stages and found the winner 13 minutes from time when a corner was worked to Quitongo, who netted an 18-yard shot via the underside of the bar.
There was little response from Dunfermline, and Clark added: “It had been a frantic start and I was thinking that we had been the better team.
“We gave away what I thought was a sloppy goal but I have not seen it again and will need to watch it on Monday.
“We got back into the game with my goal, but in the second half we never really got going at all. We lost another bad goal and it killed us.”
After a fifth straight defeat Clark acknowledged: “We have a great squad but it is no use being good on paper. You need to turn up on a Saturday and at this moment in time we are not doing that.”
Manager Johnston was also far from pleased, admitting: “It was poor.
“There was not much in the game but we need to be better than that. We should be coming to places like Morton and, without being disrespectful, win. We did not do enough, and allowed their front two to cause us problems.”
Johnson added: “It is a team thing and not down to individual mistakes or anything like that. When results are not going your way you need to work harder.
“We all need to get our heads down and pull together,” he added.
“A draw may have been a fairer result as they had three shots and scored with two. That sums up our last few games in that we are getting punished for everything.”
