REPORT: Morton 0 Airdrie 0

But by the time Joe McKee was shown a straight red card for a reckless tackle on Diamonds defender Luca Gasparotto, the hosts would have snatched your hand off for the stalemate.

Aided by Airdrie’s lack of cutting edge, Ton showed the required resolve to hold on for the draw and save their Scottish Cup skin.

It was their first 0-0 draw since a scoreless 90 minutes against Raith Rovers back on Saturday 11 January.

But on a weekend that saw English clubs Manchester United and Aston Villa lose matches after seeing men shown red cards, it was an outcome that was met with more relief than rancour.

Jim Duffy’s men live to fight another day, with the sides set to do it all again at the Excelsior Stadium on Tuesday 11 November.

But the Cappielow side will have to perform a whole lot better than they did at the weekend, including the 62 minutes before McKee was given his marching orders.

They were fortunate not to fall behind after just four minutes when Lee Kilday took a fresh air swipe at Scott Gray’s low cross with Liam Watt arriving just behind him.

Diamonds left midfielder Watt drilled at goal but Derek Gaston made the first of a handful of important saves over the tie with a strong block.

With top scorer Declan McManus unavailable at parent club Aberdeen’s behest, Ton boss Duffy elected to start the returning Stefan McCluskey, who operated just off Andy Barrowman, pictured inset.

McCluskey, had not featured since the 2-0 win over Stirling Albion three weeks ago due to a calf problem, was joined in the starting line-up by brother Jamie.

The older McCluskey sibling had also recovered from a knock and took Mark Russell’s place on the left of midfield.

And the brothers, starting together for only the second time this term, combined to carve out their side’s first opening.

It was on five minutes that Jamie threaded a pass through to Stefan, leaving him with just goalkeeper Andrew McNeil to beat.

The former Hibs shotstopper saved with his feet and then scrambled across to his left to block Conor Pepper’s follow up.

McCluskey, in particular, should have scored, but the near misses signalled a positive spell in which Ton menaced through McKee’s set-pieces.

The playmaker fired a flat free-kick over the wall and narrowly wide of the left-hand upright on 14 minutes.

Then, in identical fashion to how he has on so many occasions this term and to important effect at Dunfermline last week, he picked out Thomas O’Ware with a whipped, outswinging corner.

Ton’s longest serving player, who kept his place in central midfield after an impressive performance at East End Park, again won his aerial duel but headed harmlessly over the top.

Despite occurring in the 20th minute, the incident marked the end of Morton as an attacking force in the encounter.

Airdrie took up the initiative and began to dominate, and only another impressive Gaston save prevented Keigan Parker from breaking the deadlock.

The former St Johnstone forward volleyed across the face of goal from an acute angle, and the Ton No1 shot out his right foot to stab the ball to safety.

Gaston, more than the average goalkeeper, tends to use his feet to save. It can be unorthodox yet effective, as it was on Saturday.

But there was no part of his body he could have used to keep out flame-haired midfielder Nathan Blockley’s swerving drive as it flashed narrowly over his postage stamp top corner.

Whenever Morton did get forward, their final ball would invariably let them down. Right-back Lee Kilday, for example, was getting into promising positions but regularly delivered from too deep.

They were missing the presence of McManus, whose movement, speed, and quality strikes fear into defenders and adds a different dynamic to their game.

At the other end, they enjoyed a major let-off on 35 minutes when Parker chopped inside Ricki Lamie too easily and then curled a shot off the face off the crossbar with his left foot.

Diamonds No8 Scott Fraser, on loan from Dundee United until January, was cutting an impressive figure in the midfielder.

The 19-year-old cut a swathe through the Morton midfield and slipped the ball to Jim Lister down the inside left channel.

The former Dumbarton hitman, strangely sporting gloves despite the relatively mild temperature, side-footed at goal from an angle.

But Gaston came to the rescue, blocking with his legs once again to ensure his side would get through to the break on level terms.

The second half started in similar fashion, with Parker sending Gray through the centre of the home defence with a clever pass.

He looked certain to score, but lacked composure in the face of the onrushing Gaston and saw his finish smothered by the Ton keeper.

While the visitors were proving far from deadly in the final third, they were creating openings from which to score.

Ton, on the other end, were struggling to make meaningful opportunities. Their chance - half-chance really - saw Barrowman fire a snapshot straight at McNeil.

However, they really should have made more of a counter-attack, sparked when Jamie McCluskey sent brother Stefan scampering clear down the left on 63 minutes.

While Stefan was breaking down the flank, Conor Pepper made a lung-bursting run through the middle totally unchecked.

But the former Clyde forward didn’t appear to notice Pepper and instead cut inside into trouble, and lost possession.

It was around 30 seconds later that any hopes the hosts had of sneaking a win virtually vanished with McKee’s dismissal.

The 21-year-old saw an attempt to slide the ball to McCluskey intercepted by Luca Gasparotto, and it prompted the frustrated midfielder to charge into a challenge.

Although there wasn’t much of a collision, the way in which McKee rashly threw himself into the tackle was enough for George Salmond to show the red card for the use of excessive force.

Duffy filled the void by moving to a 4-4-1 formation while administering a reshuffle that saw Pepper moved into the centre of midfield.

Jamie McCluskey then switched sides to take the Irishman’s place on the right while brother Stefan was dropped back into the left midfield berth.

It was a short-term fix, however, as he elected to replace Jamie McCluskey with Mark Russell shortly thereafter, likely in the belief that the younger brother would offer more to a team with 10 men.

Despite having almost half an hour left to play, the hosts held firm and reduced Garry Bollan’s men to two clear attempts on goal.

On 71 minutes, Watt picked up possession 25 yards from goal and let fly with a stinging strike that glanced off Stefan Milojevic.

The deflection left Gaston rooted to the spot and watching with bated breath as the ball fizzed wide of his right-hand post for a corner.

The Ton goalkeeper survived a few further scares when he took a safety first approach with the wet weather in mind and punched clear at corners rather than try to claim.

Gaston rounded off an efficient afternoon between the sticks with a straightforward save when Lister swivelled and hooked an effort down his throat six minutes from time.

But he was given a final helping hand to close out the game, Sean Crighton making a crucial block to prevent Gray from sending the Ton spinning out of the cup at the death.

A team with more quality might well have made Morton pay, but the Diamonds were found wanting in the front areas and failed to put the tie to bed at the first time of asking.

While Bollan was cursing his side’s inability to finish, Duffy and his players were breathing a huge collective sigh of relief, safe in the knowledge they had a chance to put things right in 10 days’ time.