Greenock Morton 2-1 Motherwell: Hosts Spring Scottish Cup Surprise

Morton dominated Premiership Motherwell to become the first team to reach the Scottish Cup quarter-finals.

George Oakley, who had hit the woodwork earlier, doubled the hosts' advantage with a solid low drive.

Jack Vale's shot deflected into Darragh O'Connor's net and the visitors narrowed the gap, but their first defeat of 2024 was inevitable.

The best eight draw will take place on Sunday during BBC One Scotland's Airdrionians v Hearts broadcast on Sports Scene, with the program starting at 16:30 GST.

And Morton, the 1922 champion, is undefeated in 13 matches and aims to advance to the tournament semifinals for the first time since 1981.

Motherwell goalkeeper Liam Kelly avoided early embarrassment when he spilled a free-kick and the Scotland international recovered before any of the Scots could score.

Dougie Imrie's hosts suffered another crisis when Oakley latched on to O'Connor's header and sent his shot over the crossbar.

The visitors were unable to get into a rhythm and fell back from Muirhead's set pieces. Kelly hit Peyton with a hard shot from the right side and it crossed the line.

The second period largely followed the flow of the first period. Oakley pounced on the loose ball and raced towards goal, driving it through the legs of Callum Butcher and beating Kelly.

Jiri Bouyab makes his debut in a triple change from Motherwell, with Adam Devine and Vale also brought on, and Andy Halliday and a fit-again John Obika come off the bench as Stuart Kettlewell plots his return. Appeared.

And Motherwell bounced back. Theo Bea threatened with a header, Ryan Mullen converted comfortably and moments later Vale sent a shot wide, collected Devine's pass and scored after O'Connor intervened.

The final minutes were tense, but Morton remained resolute.

Player of the match – George Oakley

The striker tenaciously thwarted the Motherwell defense and scored a brilliant goal.

what they said

Morton director Dougie Imrie: “I'm really happy. This is a big win for the club. I'm also really happy for the players. We were able to get the second goal at the right time.”

“The four back-up members responded.” [Blair Spittal and Theo Bair] very well. We tried to fill the midfield. For men, my players are outstanding and I'm proud of them. If we can get a draw at home and get this kind of support, then everyone is going to be there.”