MORTON were held to a drab goalless draw by Albion Rovers at Cliftonhill on Saturday – but received the boost of a bonus point after winning the post-match penalty shootout.

Scottish domestic football resumed with a round of fixtures in the new Betfred League Cup group section at the weekend.

As part of the revamp, the SPFL have introduced an innovation whereby any fixture that ends in a draw will head straight to spot-kicks, with the victors picking up an extra point.

Goalkeeper Andy McNeil was the Ton hero, doubling his team’s reward by saving from Alan Reid and Gary Fisher in a 4-3 triumph in the showdown from 12 yards.

Michael Tidser, Scott Tiffoney, Thomas O’Ware and Lee Kilday all converted while Ross Forbes was the only sinner for the Sinclair Street side, seeing his effort pushed clear by Ross Stewart.

The penalties injected an element of intrigue following a numbing 90 minutes that will be quickly forgotten besides the fact highly-regarded left-back Lewis Strapp made his competitive bow aged 16.

Dunoon-born defender Strapp was named at left-back, with fellow youth academy product Dylan Stevenson also starting for the senior side for the first time, as part of a midfield three.

There were also debuts for new signings Michael Doyle, Gary Oliver and Jamie McDonagh, for whom international clearance was received on the morning of the match.

His availability was welcome news for a stretched squad minus the services of injured pair Mark Russell and Conor Pepper.

Such was the thin spread of the current playing roster that Kilday was required to start and Ricki Lamie and Derek Gaston both to take places on the bench despite all three carrying knocks.

Gaston was not yet deemed ready to start, however, meaning McNeil would continue between the sticks on an afternoon from which he would emerge as the chief protagonist.

He was able to ease himself in with a straightforward save in the seventh minute, scooping up a tame, floated shot from Ross Davidson. McNeil should have been worked on 13 minutes, though, when Calum Ferguson drifted round the back unchecked to meet Davidson’s inswinging cross from out on the right.

The home striker was craning back as he connected with the delivery and failed to hit the target with his header.

Morton were enjoying the lion’s share of possession, but lacked cohesion as they attempted to transition from middle to front and toiled in their efforts to offer a threat in the final third.

Despite surrendering territorial control, Darren Young’s organised outfit still looked slightly more potent than their second-tier opponents - the emphasis is on ‘slightly’, however.

For all they had more attempts at goal, there was nothing that really bothered McNeil, who was able to comfortably gather a Fisher shot from distance in at his midriff on 25 minutes.

It was in the same minute that the Ton registered their first shot on target, McDonagh cushioning a McNeil punt into the path of Oliver.

The former Hearts kid dropped a shoulder to shuffle outside a desperate lunge and swiped at a left-foot shot that goalkeeper Stewart scrambled to smother low to his left.

It took until the 40th minute for either side to really register a serious shot at goal and force the 431 in attendance to sit up and take notice.

Handily placed on the edge of the box, Davidson seized on the ball after a low cross from the left was half cleared and unleashed a powerful drive that forced McNeil to spring to his right to push wide.

The visitors made an edgy start to the second half, prompting one confident Cliftonhill regular to proclaim: “C’mon Rovers, they’re there for the taking!”

Only a last-ditch clearance from Kilday, made off balance as he got his body in between Ferguson and the goal after he had chested down inside the box, prevented the prophecy from being realised.

The Ton goal survived another scare when McNeil dived at the feet of Scott McBride deep inside the box and the rangy wideman went to ground under the contact.

Albion manager Young said afterwards that he felt it was a spot-kick, as did the home support at the time, but referee Craig Napier was not of the same opinion and waved play on.

He also ignored appeals when Strapp slid in to prevent Ferguson from turning home the rebound after McNeil had plunged to his left to flick McBride’s angled drive across the face of goal.

At the other end, Stewart was a virtual spectator between the sticks, with a couple of Jon Scullion free-kicks fired into the wall the closest he came to being called into action.

The diminutive forward actually went closer to scoring in open play, rifling a first-time piledriver into the side-netting after Oliver did well to hold the ball in and tee him up on 79 minutes.

Duffy had set his side out in a Christmas tree formation – 4-3-2-1 – with Oliver and Scullion operating behind McDonagh in an attacking trident that wasn’t quite as piercing as the imagery it conjures up.

For the final 15 minutes, the Ton boss reverted to a traditional 4-4-2 by introducing wingers Caolan McAleer and Jai Quitongo off the bench.

It added impetus and a new-found urgency to the Ton’s attacking play, but that did not quite translate into scoring chances or goals.

The match ended in stalemate and headed to penalties to decide who would claim the first extra point of Group H.

Morton went first and midfielder Tidser exuded confidence as he rifled an unshakeable spot-kick right down the middle.

McNeil pressed home the advantage by propelling his frame to his left to parry Albion defender Alan Reid’s effort.

Teenager Tiffoney was brought on as a late substitute specifically to take part in the shootout, and he reaffirmed his gaffer’s faith by drilling high into the centre of the net.

Albion skipper Mick Dunlop was next up and made no mistake, slotting a left-footed effort inside the right-hand post.

Thomas O’Ware kept the momentum going for Cappielow club by sweeping another emphatic penalty into the net, electing to go high to Stewart’s right as he dived in the opposite direction.

McBride made it 3-3 with a well-taken effort, and there was an extra layer added to the contest when Forbes stepped forward to hit the Ton’s fourth.

The midfielder successfully converted his only effort from 12 yards last term, scoring in a League Cup victory against Elgin City, but saw a spot-kick saved in last Saturday’s friendly with Partick Thistle.

Jags trialist custodian David Crawford saved at a medium height to his left, and, perhaps looking to exorcise the ghost, Forbes went with an almost identical effort.

Unfortunately for the midfielder, the outcome was the same. Stewart also guessed correctly and pushed clear to give team-mate Paul Willis the opportunity to level things up at 3-3.

The Rovers No.10 made no mistake and immediately piled the pressure onto Ton’s fifth and final taker, captain Kilday.

If he was fazed, you certainly couldn’t tell as he calmly slammed a side-footed penalty into the top-right corner.

The pendulum swung again. Now it was all on Fisher to score and take the shootout to sudden death — or miss and surrender the bonus prize.

The strike was a fair one, but McNeil thrust down into the bottom-right corner to block with a strong left wrist and earn his team two points for the price of 
one.