THEIR numbers may have been small, but the 746 hardy souls at Cappielow last night were treated to a fine display as Morton romped to a 3-0 victory over Albion Rovers in a William Hill Scottish Cup third-round replay.

The hosts recovered from a shaky start to earn the dubious prize of a trip to Turiff for a tie which surely offers the realistic prospect of progress.

Three second-half goals during a 22-minute blitz made it convincing in the end for Allan Moore's side, but the Irn-Bru first-division outfit looked edgy in the opening stages.

The Coatbridge visitors were first to threaten when a long ball from Alan Reid found Chris Boyle, who turned on the edge of the box before shooting narrowly wide.

Boyle went close again, this time receiving a Peter Innes pass before seeing his effort saved by Derek Gaston, his former team-mate, in the Morton goal.

The hosts gradually found their feet and just after the half-hour mark David Graham saw his effort crucially blocked by Ciaran Donnelly.

Graham was guilty of squandering the best chance of the first half when Michael Tidser and Fouad Bachirou combined on the right before the latter's cross was somehow not converted as the Morton striker contrived to side-foot the ball wide from six yards.

However, the home side's brave band of followers didn't have long to wait before their persistence was rewarded.

Hardie had already gone close with a free kick when he met Graham's cross with a bullet header high into the net for his first goal for Morton in 51 minutes.

The Lanarkshire team were still recovering when they found themselves two adrift, Bachirou cutting the ball into the path of Tidser, who finished emphatically from 15 yards to double Morton's advantage within just two minutes.

At the other end, Donnelly saw a shot saved by Gaston as Rovers sought a lifeline.

Instead, Morton emphasised their second-half dominance when Tidser put the issue beyond doubt with a firm shot from David O'Brien's pass.

The closing stages were punctuated by a series of substitutions as both sides perhaps turned their attentions to important league matches at the weekend, with Moore, and the majority of the 746, going home happy.