Duffy’s delight as terrific Ross fires

Loan star Frank Ross inspired Morton to a comfortable win as the Cappielow men booked their place in the quarter-finals.

The Aberdeen player opened the scoring and proved too hot to handle for a hard-pressed Dumbarton defence.

Home boss Jim Duffy declared: “Frank was terrific today. He is a talented young player and that’s why we brought him in from Aberdeen.

“He was a joy to watch and, like all flair players, you need to get him on the ball as much as possible.

“We are in the quarter-finals, which is fantastic for the players and it’s something we have had to work hard to reach.

“We handled the game well and took our opportunities against a hard-working side. We had to earn it today.”

Morton came firing out the traps and Ross gave a sign of things to come by stinging the palms of Scott Gallacher with a powerful shot.

Minutes later, Ton deservedly capitalised on their bright start when Ross finished a flowing move to score his first goal for Morton.

The 19-year-old midfielder surged down the left flank and played a neat one-two with Gary Oliver before scoring calmly from a tight angle.

Morton continued to dominate and were cutting effortlessly through the visitors’ defence.

Michael Tidser produced a wonderful slide-rule pass to release Andy Murdoch and the midfielder looked to have been pulled back by Andy Dowie before toe-poking narrowly wide.

The visitors regained their composure and began to