Finlayson 64; McAlister 75
GRETNA 2Yantorno 13; Horwood 49
THIS time last year Morton were enjoying the status of giant killers as the Greenock side, then in the second division, sent Kilmarnock crashing out of the cup.
J
im McInally's men, now firmly established in the first division, must therefore have had few fears about this visit from SPL strugglers Gretna.
However, that confident outlook looked wide of the mark as the Borderers briefly put their league worries aside to establish a two-goal lead. The gutsy Greenock side clawed their way back though with two deflected goals in the space of 13 minutes to set up a replay at Fir Park on Wednesday 23 January.
Both sides had a new face in their line-up with Morton introducing former Dundee defender Barry Smith, while Gretna handed a debut to Danny Hall, on-loan from Shrewsbury Town.
Sadly for Smith, he was at fault as Gretna struck the first blow in 11 minutes. The veteran defender failed to deal with a high ball, succeeding only in chesting it into the path of Gavin Skelton. He cleverly picked out Fabian Yantorno and the Uruguayan produced a flawless finish which left David McGurn helpless.
Morton had claims for a penalty turned down ten minutes later when Iain Russell, clean through on goal, went down under a challenge from the outrushing Tony Caig. However, referee Kenny Clark waved play on.
Former Gretna star Ryan McGuffie squandered a chance to score against his old mates when he shot straight at Caig. Moments later Russell went close with a header as the Greenock side ended the first half on a high.
They appeared to have been dealt a fatal blow when the visitors stretched their lead four minutes after the break as Skelton's high ball was deftly nodded down by Kenny Deuchar. The striker's flick was perfectly measured for Evan Horwood who drilled a low shot behind McGurn. However, the Gretna scorer got the final touch at the other end as Morton launched a rousing salvage act.
The goal, though, was the result of a fine run and shot from Kevin Finlayson who deserved the credit for throwing his side a lifeline.
Morton's equaliser in 75 minutes also came with the aid of a deflection when Jim McAlister's 20-yard effort appeared to bounce off Allan Jenkins on its way past Caig.
Suddenly Gretna looked in grave danger of being on the wrong end of an upset as Ton sensed their chance.
However, despite forcing four corners in injury time, the home side were unable to find a winner and Gretna held on for a replay.
The full article contains 448 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
