Craig McPherson included two of the club’s Under-17s in his starting line-up, with a further three on the bench, all of whom were introduced as subs late on.

Highly rated forward Scott Tiffoney was handed his first start for the second string, and it was his perfectly-weighted through ball that put Ferris in to open the scoring with a cool finish on four minutes.

It was a high intensity start from the Ton, and Jon Scullion cracked the crossbar with a terrific hooked effort after Orr’s initial effort was parried out by Annan keeper Jordan Hart.

They were pegged back against the run of play on 18 minutes when a breakdown in communication saw Craig Knight push the ball past the outrushing Nicolas Caraux and into his own goal. But Orr restored their advantage five minutes later with a fierce drilled finish after excellent play from Dylan Stevenson, who did well to intercept a pass before feeding the striker. Yet that lead would only last four minutes due to another defensive disaster in which the Ton were caught sleeping at an Annan corner.

Rabin Omar passed short to Matty Flynn and the Galabankies playmaker picked out the criminally unattended Junior Ogen with a clipped cross that the Rangers loanee nodded past Caraux.

Both sides came close to taking a lead into the break as ex-Ton striker Peter Weatherson cracked the post with a 30-yard free-kick before Scullion drew a stunning save from Celtic loanee Hart. It was the hosts who would edge ahead when Ferris bagged his brace on the hour by collecting a Scullion cross with his back to goal, swivelling on a sixpence and hooking high into the net.

Three minutes later, Orr fastened onto a Tiffoney pass before calmly rounding Hart and sliding the ball into an empty net to secure the win.

Morton (4-4-2): Caraux; Langan (Mitchell, 80), Tennent, Milojevic, Knight; Ferris, Stevenson, Cairnie, Tiffoney (McWaters, 80); Orr, Scullion (Duffy, 83). Subs not used: McGowan (gk).