HOURS before emerging from a serious car crash shaken but unscathed, Declan McManus had been celebrating firing Morton to a fantastic 3-1 win away to Peterhead.

The hitman bagged a brace and set up Ross Caldwell for a third in stoppage time at Balmoor as the Ton came back from behind to claim three priceless points in the north east.

His second goal arrived three minutes from time and sparked wild celebrations that recalled Thomas O’Ware’s late, late winner back in August.

In terms of the Cappielow club’s title aspirations, this was another incredibly valuable victory which stretched their unbeaten run to an impressive seven matches and kept them hot on Stranraer’s tail.

But in the grander scheme of things the events involving McManus and Joe McKee were a reminder there are far more important things than football.

Thankfully, a tragedy was averted. And so despite the result paling in significance at present, Saturday may eventually be remembered for positive reasons come the end of the campaign.

After opening the scoring against Stranraer the previous week, McManus retained his starting spot and was paired with returning striker Peter MacDonald after a four-week lay-off.

The only other change to the starting line-up that successfully overcame the league leaders saw Stefan Milojevic replace the suspended Ricki Lamie in the centre of defence.

It was the Serb defender’s first appearance since a 1-0 loss to Airdrie on 3 January, and he was given a baptism of fire as the hosts came storming out from the start.

Barrel-chested forward David Cox would prove an awkward customer for the visitors all afternoon, and he was the main protagonist in the early going.

On five minutes, he teased Ton full-back Mark Russell before delivering an inswinging cross with his left foot from wide on the right which Jamie Redman just failed to connect with at the far post.

The former Kilmarnock man appeared to have licence to rove across the frontline and found the in-rushing Gary McDonald with a pull-back from left.

Cox managed to scoop the ball into the danger area from right on the bye-line and the Ton players appeared to stop, believing it had gone out of play.

McDonald didn’t, though, and forced a fine reflex save from Derek Gaston with a firm, side-footed effort from 12 yards.

While the Blue Toon were attacking with purpose and pace, Ton were struggling to find much cohesion at the other end and were reduced to speculative shots from distance.

McManus pinged a snapshot past Graeme Smith’s right-hand upright, while Conor Pepper fired a foot or so over the bar with a swerving strike from 25 yards.

Up top MacDonald understandably looked a little rusty but wasn’t helped by the quality of service he was receiving at times.

One hurried and over-hit pass into the channel from Milojevic left the Ton skipper figuratively shrugging his shoulders.

Blue Toon frontman Andy Rodgers, on the other hand, was having a more fruitful time, and he brought out another fine save from Gaston on 35 minutes.

Picking up possession on the left-hand corner of the box, he whipped in a low curler that Gaston scrambled to claw around the right-hand post.

The Ton custodian claimed the resultant flag-kick and instantly launched a long-ball in behind for MacDonald to chase.

After collecting close to the touchline, the 34-year-old rolled back to Ross Forbes, who thrashed an angled drive over the junction of bar and post.

While the visitors had failed to test Smith in the home goal, Gaston made it a hat-trick of vital stops six minutes before the break.

On this occasion, Rodgers was the provider, expertly holding off Milojevic before slipping an angled pass in behind Mark Russell for Nicky Riley to run on to.

Wideman Riley, who perplexingly finds himself at League One level despite always seeming to be one of Dundee’s top performers against the Ton in recent years, was through on goal.

But Gaston, perhaps standing a few extra yards off his line due to the incessant thumping of the advertising hoardings by a group of over-eager young fans, was out in a flash to block at his feet.

Jim McInally’s men had been the better side, and opposite number Jim Duffy replied by making a slight tweak at the break by moving Jamie McCluskey from right to left.

Pepper moved out to the right and this allowed Forbes to come into the centre, where his controlled passing and pressing is most effective.

But it didn’t make much difference to the pattern of play initially as the Blue Toon quickly got themselves back on the front foot.

And Gaston was the grateful recipient of a more straightforward save when, on 54 minutes, Ryan Strachan’s low cross ran on for Riley to rifle a left-footed drive straight at him from 15 yards.

The prospects of a win looked bleak when they finally fell behind to a controversial penalty two minutes later.

Sean Crighton felled Rodgers with an awkward standing challenge right on the edge of the box, and referee Barry Cook initially awarded a free-kick.

However, he quickly re-evaluated his decision based on the advice of far side linesman Craig Sim – and instead pointed to the spot.

It appeared the wrong decision in real time and this looks to have been back up by a slow motion replay in Peterhead’s own video highlights package.

Nevertheless, striker Rodgers stepped up and fired to Gaston’s left while the Ton keeper dived in the opposite direction to open the scoring.

Taking into consideration the teams’ respective performances up until that stage, a Ton comeback appeared unlikely.

Crucially Duffy’s men were back on level terms within four minutes through, who else, but that man McManus.

A huge deal of credit must go to O’Ware for the way he pounced on a slight slip by Kevin Dzierzawski, drove forward and picked out the striker with an intelligent disguised pass.

McManus was far from flustered inside the box, taking a touch to steady himself and a second to push the ball outside Dzierzawski’s desperate sliding attempt to recover the situation.

Only then did the Ton No 10 pick his spot, calmly slotting under Smith and past Strachan on the line to restore parity.

Although Rodgers later sent a placed shot straight at Gaston and Jamie Stevenson fizzed a 35-yard free-kick against the top of the bar, the equaliser had knocked some of the conviction out of the hosts.

The decision to replace the dynamic Cox with Jordan Brown on 81 minutes also seemed to work against them.

Conversely, the earlier introduction of sub Caldwell, on 68 minutes, seemed to have the exact opposite effect, with the bullish striker’s energy and direct style injecting new life into the Ton.

The former St Mirren man would have a huge say in the outcome of the match, making crucial contributions as the Greenock outfit scored twice in the closing stages to seal the win.

On 87 minutes, he charged clear down the left and picked out McManus with a square pass which Ton’s top scorer stretched to turn into the net via the post to hit the 15-goal mark for the season.

Then, in the fourth minute of stoppage time, the roles were reversed when Caldwell controlled and slammed past Smith after McManus found him with a drilled cross from the right. Since signing in January, Caldwell has offered a fantastic return of four goals and four assists in five starts and two sub appearances.

Also impressive was the first-class attitude he demonstrated by coming off the bench to such great effect instead of perhaps sulking at the fact he wasn’t selected from the start.

The win meant Ton had picked up six points out of six at this notoriously difficult venue, a feat they have only achieved once before.

It was back in season 2006/07 that the Cappielow club won 4-2 and 2-1 at Balmoor on their way to the Second Division title.

But if this weekend’s events reminded us of anything it’s that promotion or relegation, no matter how important they might seem, are far from the be-all and end-all.