Glasgow Times

Jim out but not down in defeat

- By CHRIS JACK

JIM DUFFY was proud of his Morton players as they pushed Rangers all the way in their Scottish Cup clash at Ibrox yesterday.

The Ton stunned the home crowd as they took a sixth-minute lead through Michael Tidser but they couldn’t hold on to secure a quarter-final berth.

Kenny Miller pulled the Light Blues level before Martyn Waghorn netted on the hour mark to dash Morton’s dreams of a cup giant-killing.

Aiden Nesbitt, on loan from Celtic, spurned a glorious chance to put Duffy’s side in front early in the second half before Luke Donnelly fired over in the final seconds after a defensive mix-up from Wes Foderingha­m and Lee Hodson.

There would be no last-eight berth for the Ton but they left Ibrox with credit after another impressive showing under Duffy this season.

The Cappielow boss said: “We are delighted with the performanc­e. The commitment the players showed was tremendous.

“We are a side that works hard and is organised but I felt today we had moments of quality.

“It’s disappoint­ing to lose the game, of course it is.

“I’d like to congratula­te Rangers for getting into the quarter finals, good luck to them.

“But from our point of view we scored an outstandin­g goal and had two of the clearest-cut chances of the game, which you have to take when you come to Ibrox.

“When Rangers scored the second goal they had good possession.

“They upped the tempo and moved the ball quickly and we had to hang in for 15 minutes.

“But we managed to see that period out and going into the closing stages of the game I felt we could get an equaliser.

“It just wasn’t to be but it I think we made it an exciting match and made it a difficult afternoon for Rangers.

“That was always the request we gave to the players to make it uncomforta­ble for Rangers – and they did that.

“Ultimately Rangers just had extra quality in key moments and that’s why they won.”

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