BBC Radio Scotland show Off The Ball named Morton as their team of the day on Saturday for managing to dodge a widely-tipped Scottish Cup banana skin at Annan Athletic.

The misplaced suspicions that the Ton might slip up at Galabank were based on the fact that the League Two outfit had previously dispatched Premiership Hamilton Accies in style.

It was last month that Jim Chapman’s men created a cup sensation by beating Accies 4-1 to pull off the shock of the fourth round and quite rightly earn nationwide attention.

But the Greenock men left many scratching their heads and wondering how they had managed that feat by dismantling their opponents to win by the exact same scoreline at the weekend.

This vibrant 4-1 victory saw Morton seal a spot in the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup for the first time since hosting a Celtic side featuring Henrik Larsson and Mark Viduka at Cappielow in 1999.

Their long-awaited return to the final eight was never in any real doubt despite fourth-round shock troops Annan’s giant-killing credentials, thanks to a thoroughly professional performance.

After two matches spent assiduously defending to contain Rangers and Hibs and with chances at a premium, the Ton were a team straining to be let off the leash against lower league opponents.

Jim Duffy had named the same starting XI for the third consecutive match for the first time since taking charge of the Ton.

The only slight tweak has been to the side of the midfield four on which widemen Bobby Barr and Stefan McCluskey have featured.

As they had against Hibs, Barr started on the right while McCluskey was deployed on the left, and the pair would prove key players in the victory.

Ton were relentless in their attacking assault from virtually the first whistle, with Barr full of zest on the right flank and firing over a series of early crosses that went unconverted.

Bursting with belief, he was almost punished for over-elaborating with an ill-judged backheel deep in own half that presented the ball to Martin McNiff.

The Annan left-back fizzed in a first-time cross that broke off defender Thomas O’Ware for the man who netted a double to sink Accies in the last round, Rabin Omar.

But the forward, whose Kurdish parents arrived in Scotland via the Netherlands after fleeing Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq, could not repeat his heroics and sliced his half-volley high over the bar.

The chance sparked a spell of home pressure in which Jordan Morton also dragged a low drive wide but it amounted to no more than a brief, unsustained five-minute interlude.

By the 10-minute mark Morton were back beating a path to the hosts’ goal, and keeper Jordan Hart was required to dart off his line and make a smart block to deny Denny Johnstone.

O’Ware attacked the resulting corner, whipped over by Joe McKee, with gusto, bulleting in a downwards header that required a goal-line clearance by McNiff.

After struggling to cause Hibs any problems with their outswinging flag-kicks in midweek, Ton had reverted to inswinging deliveries – and Annan were at sixes and sevens trying to cope.

That style of corner suits O’Ware’s aerial prowess in particular and was the method by which he netted the only goal of the 1-0 victory over Livingston in the last round.

After that match he spoke to the Tele about his desire to find the net more often via corners, and he was adamant he had done so on 18 minutes at Annan.

Attacking a Ross Forbes flag-kick from the opposite side, he directed an almost identical header towards the goal only to see Ryan McStay stoop to clear this time.

O’Ware was adamant the ball had crossed the line but referee John Beaton was unconvinced and waved play on.

Any frustration quickly dissipated though when the Ton took a deserved lead on 21 minutes through McCluskey.
Johnstone was the creator, working his way out into the right channel and bending a low cross to the near post.

The ball squirmed through Peter Watson’s legs and broke kindly for McCluskey, who deceived Hart by sweeping an empathic finish into the roof of the net at his near side rather than go across goal.

Although he would not grab the glory with a goal on the day, Johnstone was a real handful up front, using his loping stride to work the front line and his touch to link the play.

On 28 minutes, he picked out McKee with a perceptive square pass but the midfielder leaned back and scooped an uncontrolled shot high over the bar.

Beside Johnstone, Declan McManus was almost trying too hard to find the net in his eagerness to score his first goal since returning to the Ton on loan.

Shortly after slipping as he attempted to pull the trigger, McKee picked him out inside the box by threading a clever pass through the Annan defence.

The hitman danced inside a defender to open up the space for a shot but screwed a left-footed effort well wide of the left-hand post.

It was the sort of chance McManus would have buried without blinking last year, a season in which he netted 23 times.

Although his body language suggests a striker in need of a goal, knowing his supreme inner belief would suggest that all he needs is for that first one to go in to open the floodgates again.

That more goals would come on the day was never in doubt either as the Ton completely bossed the game.

O’Ware and Lee Kilday had stamped their authority in defence, with the latter looking to have quickly recovered from his error against Hibs, as they put the shackles on Omar and Josh Todd.

Such was O’Ware’s confidence that after dominantly charging out to win the ball in midfield he pushed on and unleashed an audacious 35-yard drive that swerved over the bar.

Despite their pressure, it took until the second minute of first-half stoppage time for the visitors to double their advantage.

Johnstone was again the architect, quickly swivelling to recover after taking a fresh-air swipe at a shot to prod the ball into the path of McKee bursting into the left-hand side of the box.

The playmaker fastened onto the pass without breaking his stride and rifled a blistering left-footed shot high past Hart to score his third goal of the campaign and his second on Scottish Cup duty.

It was a pivotal moment in the tie, coming right at the death to deflate an Annan side who had been steamrollered by their Championship opponents.

Annan were first out of the traps after the break, Omar pulling a shot wide after managing to wriggle past O’Ware.

But they were soon back defending desperately, with keeper Hart clawing Barr’s floated cross to safety under pressure.

On 55 minutes, McCluskey came within a hair’s breadth of doubling his tally when he met McManus’s low cross with a cushioned volley that flashed back across the face of goal.

A minute earlier, Chapman had made a double change, bringing on forwards Smart Osadolor and Lewis Guy for midfielders Steven Sloan and McStay and dropping his erstwhile strikeforce deeper.

It was a stitch that gave his beleaguered troops much-needed attacking impetus, and Nigerian Osadolor went close with a stinging left-foot strike that flew narrowly past the post.

The second half was a more open affair than the first, but Morton were still the more menacing outfit.

After operating on the right flank in the first half, Barr had swapped sides with McCluskey at the break, meaning he would continue to stalk the stand side touchline.

And he found another level in the second 45, laying the third goal on a plate for McCluskey on 65 minutes.

Seizing on McManus’s flick infield after Mark Russell’s thrown-in had been knocked on by Johnstone, Barr dropped a shoulder to breeze inside McNiff on his way into the box.

The shot was on, but in a moment that recalled Leigh Griffiths’ assist for Gary Mackay-Steven in Celtic’s League Cup semi-final loss against Ross County, he unselfishly rolled the ball across goal to take out keeper Hart and leave McCluskey with the simple task of side-footing into the net.

Barr wasn’t quite as giving three minutes later yet still managed to tee up McCluskey to complete his hat-trick, albeit inadvertently.

Ignoring McManus peeling away to his right to have a crack at goal himself, the former Livi man’s effort was blocked and ricocheted right into the path of McCluskey.

The 25-year-old took aim and flashed a shot inside the left-hand post via a slight deflection to score his third of the afternoon and claim the matchball.

It was the second hat-trick of his Cappielow career, the other coming in a 4-0 home win over Stirling Albion in March 2015.

Barr continued to dazzle and bamboozled the Annan defence before slipping McManus in on goal with a deft reverse pass, but the Ton No21 saw his low drive saved by Hart’s outstretched leg.

Home midfielder Matty Flynn pulled it back to 4-1 with a glancing header from a precise Jordan Morton cross from the left with just under quarter of an hour remaining.

But it was little more than a consolation – the Ton had long since booked their place in the final eight.

The draw will be made at Hampden tonight by former Celtic and Slovakia star Lubo Moravcik and screened live on Sky Sports News at 6.30pm.