DAVID Weatherston took advantage of a disastrous defensive display by Morton to bag a hat-trick and fire Queen of the South to a resounding 4-0 victory at Cappielow.

Willie McLaren opened the scoring with an early penalty, but it was Queens' whippet winger who stole the show by using his electric pace to repeatedly beat Ton's awful offside trap and score a memorable treble.

The hosts got off to the worst possible start when Carlo Monti rather inexplicably shoved Derek Holmes over at the far post, leaving referee Frank McDermott little choice but to point to the spot.

The foul occurred with just 29 seconds gone, and after a delay of a further 33 seconds, McLaren fired his spot-kick beyond Colin Stewart's despairing dive into the top corner to open the scoring.

Morton's first response came from Allan Jenkins, who almost levelled in the third minute when he swept Darren Young's cut-back towards goal, but Stephen McKenna was perfectly positioned to clear off the line.

Ten minutes later, Jenkins burst from midfield to chase down Derek Lyle's angled pass, but Queens goalkeeper David Hutton was alert to the danger and raced from his line to clear from under the Ton midfielder's nose.

For all Morton were dictating play, it was Queens who were really in control as they sat deep, patiently biding their time before utilising Weatherston's speed to spring lightning counter-attacks.

And it was no surprise when, in the 32nd minute, this tactic directly resulted in a second goal for the Doonhamers.

Veteran campaigner Allan Johnston picked the ball up just inside the Ton half and released Weatherston with a perfect slide-rule pass.

There were calls for offside, but Kevin McKinlay had failed to push up with the rest of the defence and Weatherston exploited the mistake by charging through on goal and curling the ball over the advancing Stewart.

Jenkins tested Hutton with a powerful drive, and Brian Graham hit the target with a weak header as Ton huffed and puffed towards the end of the half.

At the interval, Allan Moore switched to 3-5-2 to match his opponents in an attempt to redress the balance, but the move failed to pay off as the opposition took the initiative upon the restart.

In the 49th minute, Stewart was forced to dive full length to his left to parry Johnston's low drive.

Then, just one minute later, Holmes beat Stewart to David O'Brien's short back-pass and rounded him before cutting back from the byline, but fortunately for Ton, there were no takers.

Morton eventually woke from their slumber, and Lyle curled a free-kick over the wall from 25 yards, but Hutton was never unduly troubled.

The diminutive keeper then did well to gather a looping header from Jenkins at the second attempt, and watched Graham hook a shot over the crossbar as Moore's men launched a desperate search for a goal to spark a comeback.

But their efforts were futile, as Weatherston accepted Rocco Quinn's precise pass and whipped a perfect finish beyond Stewart to make it 3-0 while the Ton defence stood waving their arms for an offside flag that would never arrive.

Weatherston completed his hat-trick with an almost identical goal in the 76th minute. He sped onto Daniel Carmichael's through ball and advanced on goal before cooly dispatching the ball beyond Stewart to inflict Morton's worst home defeat in five years.