BRIAN Graham bagged a brace to fire Morton to a 2-1 Scottish Cup victory over Dumbarton at the Strathclyde Homes Stadium.

Andy Geggan had given the Sons an early lead but Graham scored either side of half-time to dump Dumbarton and ensure it would be the Ton who are in the hat for today's fourth-round draw.

Morton made a bright start and almost scored as early as the first minute when Michael Tidser and Carlo Monti combined down the left to present Graham with a chance, but his 20-yard strike was easily caught by Stephen Grindlay.

Stewart Kean then curled an effort inches wide of the upright as Morton threatened to overwhelm their Second Division opponents.

But it was the Sons who took a shock lead in the 11th minute.

Colin Stewart came to collect Alan Cook's inswinging corner, but Geggan beat him to the ball and powered a header into the empty net.

The home side took a huge lift from the goal and almost doubled their lead in the 20th minute when on-loan St Mirren youngster Jon McShane glanced a header just wide of the upright.

Darren Young had both a snap-shot from the edge of the box and a toe-poked effort from close range saved by Grindlay as Ton gradually began to force their way back into the game.

But it was Stewart who was forced to keep his side in the tie in the 41st minute when he dived to his right to deflect Ross Campbell's low finish wide of the post with his elbow.

Ton took full advantage of the stop by going straight up the park and levelling the tie. Graeme Holmes drove to the byline before clipping a cross to the far post for Graham to nod home.

The timing of the goal seemed to deflate the hosts and Ton almost scored again in the 43rd minute.

Monti rose to meet David MacGregor's cross with a looping header, but Grindlay grasped the ball to ensure the sides would go in level at the break.

Morton took the lead four minutes after the restart when Graham thrashed the ball into the top corner from close-range after Kean's low cross found him lurking at the back post.

Grindlay pulled off a stunning save when he dropped to block Kean's angled drive in the 56th minute, then caught Kevin McKinlay's long-range effort one minute later as Ton continued to turn the screw.

Dumbarton rallied and Stewart batted away McShane's Cristiano Ronaldo-style free-kick in the 67th minute.

McShane went close again in the 73rd minute, bulleting a header wide from a Cook free-kick after MacGregor was cautioned for an obstruction in the middle of the park.

Stuart McCaffrey, Kieran Brannan and Marc Smyth were then booked in quick succession, before Ton were reduced to ten men when MacGregor was shown a second yellow card for a slide tackle just six minutes after his initial booking.

But 10-man Ton held on despite a couple of scares involving Cook, who flashed a shot wide, then curled a free-kick over the bar from the edge of the box in the last minute.

Graham had an excellent chance to grab a hat-trick in the third minute of injury-time but dragged his shot wide of the target and the match finished 2-1.

It certainly wasn't pretty, but Morton got there in the end to secure passage to the next round - and that's what cup football is all about after all.