LINLITHGOW Rose finally made their Scottish Cup exit in Dingwall but not without giving their 800 travelling fans some moments to savour in a 4-2 defeat by Ross County.
The Junior side were level at half-time and, even when County moved 3-1 in front, Ruari MacLennan stunned the Premiership side with a special goal.
Jim McIntyre had made a handful of changes after the heroic win over Celtic but it disrupted his team.
“I felt we were sloppy in possession of the ball. We were too deliberate and didn’t move it quickly enough and invited pressure,” he admitted.
Linlithgow suffered an early setback when Paul Quinn steered a 10-yard shot into the net following a corner after four. But Linlithgow refused to lie down.
Brian Graham came close to adding a second goal for the home side with a well-directed header but Ally Adams was across his goal quickly to keep the effort out. Remarkably, Linlithgow were level before half-time with a bizarre goal, the ball finally breaking into the net off County’s Jamie Reckord.
Graham headed County back in front early in the second half and Alex Schalk made it 3-1 soon after.
MacLennan pulled a goal back in 76 minutes for Linlithgow but Graham soon made it 4-2.
Stefan McCluskey, meanwhile, scored a hat-trick as Morton eased into the quarter-finals with a 4-1 win at Annan Athletic.
“I thought we played well,” said manager Jim Duffy. “We dominated the game and thoroughly deserved to win.”
Denny Johnstone was denied by home goalkeeper Jordan Hart early on and, from the resultant corner, Thomas O’Ware’s header was cleared off the line by Martin McNiff. O’Ware came close again from another corner but the ball was hacked off the line by Ryan McStay with Morton claiming it had crossed the line.
It was no surprise when McCluskey thumped a shot high into the net midway through the first half after good work from Johnstone to put Morton in front.
Declan McManus missed a good chance for Morton’s second but it was Joe McKee who made it 2-0 with a left-foot shot in first-half injury-time.
McCluskey made sure with his second goal midway through the second half and Bobby Barr presented him with an easy opportunity.
Two minutes later, McCluskey completed his hat-trick with a shot from the edge of the area.
Matt Flynn headed a late consolation for Annan but it was Morton’s day.
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