MORTON progressed to the second round of the League Cup in convincing fashion with a second-half demolition of League Two side Elgin City at Cappielow.
Stefan McCluskey tapped home just after the break to set Morton on their way, before on-loan Birmingham striker Denny Johnstone added a second.
Two goals from the impressive Jon Scullion and a late penalty from Ross Forbes wrapped things up for Jim Duffy’s men, and he hopes that they can now carry the momentum from the victory into next week’s Championship opener at Falkirk.
“Generally we played well but we needed the first goal to get everybody relaxed, and once that went in we played very well,” he said.
“Sometimes you’ve got to do a lot of hard work in the first period to get your rewards in the second period, and that’s pretty much how it went.
“We had a lot of the ball and a lot of opportunities that we didn’t capitalise on, but the first goal was the turning point.
“Everybody got a wee spring in their step and we went on to win comprehensively, but we had to work hard in the early part of the game.”
Duffy was delighted that new boy Johnstone got off the mark on his debut.
“It’s always good for a player when he comes to a club to get a goal early and that will help him,” Duffy said.
“The front players did very well and we kept a clean sheet, so overall it was a good day’s work.”
Fellow Championship side Dumbarton lost 4-3 in a penalty shootout to crash out of the competition after a 1-1 draw with East Fife at New Bayview.
Kevin Cawley had grabbed his first goal for the Sons midway through the second half to draw them level after Nathan Austin had put East Fife ahead.
It was to be a day of mixed emotions for Cawley though, as his crucial spot-kick miss sent Dumbarton out of the competition.
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