MORTON put on the style as they booked their place in the SPFL Trust Trophy quarter final for the fourth year running courtesy of a 1-0 win at Hamilton Accies.
Filip Stuparevic's first half penalty was all that will separate the sides in the history books after this Friday night clash in front of the BBC Alba cameras, but the few hundred Ton footballing purists that made the effort to head to Lanarkshire came away knowing just how convincing a performance their side put in as a new-look 'Imrie ball' looks to take flight.
Early on it looked like it was going to be a long night for the Greenock men, who'd made three changes to the side who'd beat Raith Rovers last time around: there was an early scare for Gary Woods, who was making his first Ton appearance in a month, after his defenders were slow to react to a quick free kick on the right hand side.
The home side flooded the box with attackers for the set-piece, and the ball was worked back to Nikolay Todorov who shrugged off the challenge of Baird to somehow fire over from close range.
Ton would have their first real sight of goal through their newfound main man Filip Stuparevic when he flustered ex-Ton man Sean McGinty enough to give the ball away on the edge of the box, but the Serb's snapshot was easy enough for Dean Lyness.
Stuparevic's superb header against Raith Rovers six days prior had been the talk of Inverclyde in the week leading up to Friday's tie and it only took the big Serb 17 minutes to find the back of the net for the second time.
He sent Dean Lyness the wrong way from the penalty spot after ex-Ton man Reghan Tumilty gave whistler Ross Hardie no option when he hauled Michael Garriety to to the deck while attempting to defend a cross.
And he nearly had another 10 minutes later after a mesmerising passing move saw Niall McGinn wedge a ball into the box; the big man beat Barry Maguire in the air, and it took a sprawling stop from Lyness to stop it nestling in the net as Ton dominated the rest of the half.
In the early stages of the second half it looked like we'd see a proper cup tie as both Steven Bradley and Cammy Ballantyne saw chances spurned inside the opening two minutes.
It should've been a dream debut for Austin Samuels, who was given a half-hour run out after putting pen to paper in the hours before this fourth round clash: he was clean through on goal, after being played in behind by Grant Gillespie, but he fluffed his lines horribly, missing the ball altogether when one-on-one with Lyness inside the final 15 minutes.
But that missed chance wouldn't come back to haunt Morton as they coasted through to the quarter finals for the fourth year in a row ahead of this week's draw.
Ton did have Gary Woods to thank in the dying moments after his full-length dive stopped Euan Henderson's long range effort nestling in the top right hand corner, but despite the narrow margin of the win and the late, late scare, Imrie's men were well worth their place in the last eight - and consecutive clean sheets for the second time this season.
Hamilton Accies (4-2-3-1): Lyness, Tumilty (Olufunwa, 70) McGinty, Maguire (McGowan, 70), Longridge, Barjonas, Williamson, Bradley (O'Connor, 75) O'Hara, Henderson, Todorov (Shaw, 53) Subs not used: Albinson, Morgan, Hendrie. Bookings: Tumilty (16), Barjonas (24), Williamson(61)
Morton(4-2-3-1): Woods, Ballantyne, Baird, Broadfoot, King, Blues (O'Boy, 82), Lyall (Gillespie, 73), Garrity (Wilson, 73), McGinn (Davies, 64), Moffat, Stuparevic (Samuels, 63). Subs not used: Murdoch, Reynolds. Bookings: Ballantyne(60) O'Boy(90+4)
Scorers: Stuparevic (17, pen).
Man of the Match
Arron Lyall: The little magician is what this section says on the tin. He was superb against his former Ibrox teammates in Jamie Barjonas and Ben Williamson.
ATT: 711
Ref: Ross Hardie.
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