Betfred cup group h

MORTON 2

Lindsay (2), Quitongo (16)

BERWICK R 0

MORTON eased themselves into top spot in Group H and into the next round of the Betfred Cup.

Early goals from Jamie Lindsay and Jai Quitongo secured the Greenock men a place amongst the top eight seeds, with manager Jim Duffy saying: “It is a case of job done on the day. We knew we wanted a win and we got that.

“We have gained 11 points from the four games and four clean sheets, so we cannot be disappointed with that as we have topped a section with a Premiership side in it.”

“We were dominant in possession throughout the game and it was a convincing win.”

Lindsay, who joined the Greenock outfit on Friday on loan from Celtic, scored in the second minute. A Jamie McDonagh cross from the right was touched into his path 20 yards from goal by Gary Oliver and the 20-year-old sent a first time shot along the turf and flashing into the net.

Morton moved two ahead on 16 minutes when a Michael Tidser pass saw Quitongo beat the offside trap and skip past advancing keeper Sean Brennan to roll the ball into the empty net.

Morton looked to have won a penalty on 33 minutes when Kevin McKinlay sent Quitongo sprawling but only a free-kick at the edge of the box was awarded, which Ross Forbes hit into the wall.

Four minutes from the break, Berwick’s Michael McKenna was red-carded after directing comments in the direction of referee Alan Newlands.

With Morton’s place in the knock-out stages confirmed, the pace of the game slowed after the break. Forbes tried to lift things with a curling effort on 57 minutes from the edge of the box but his shot just cleared the crossbar.

Visiting manager John Coughlin said: “The day started badly with a row with the referee over socks before kick-off. We then gave away a quick goal and it became a long afternoon for us.

“Michael thought he was having some banter with the referee and he was giving as good as he was getting. Obviously, the referee thought otherwise.”