ON Morton’s last visit to Alloa Athletic, the Indodrill Stadium was still referred to as Recreation Park and provided the backdrop for the denouement of a shameful season.

For it was in Clackmannanshire that the Ton’s relegation to the third tier was officially confirmed after a meek 2-0 loss to the Wasps.

It was painfully appropriate that condemnation to life in League One would be sealed at the home of one of the three part-time sides that finished above the Cappielow club that season.

Results against Alloa perfectly encapsulated the ineptitude of the campaign as a whole: four matches, four defeats, zero goals scored and seven conceded.

The image of Dougie Imrie slumping to the turf at the shrill sound of the full-time whistle in April 2014 will linger long.

Not for the current management team or the vast majority of the squad who were not with the club at the time, but in the minds of supporters and the likes of Thomas O’Ware, for whom travelling through to the scene of the crime and picking up this 1-0 victory served to exorcise some demons.

Turning attentions to the present day situation, the Indodrill was the scene of the Morton’s first win of a 2015/16 Championship campaign that has opened in encouraging fashion.

After positive performances against the likes of Falkirk, Hibs, and St Mirren and an excellent League Cup win at Queen of the South, it was important for the Ton to get a league victory on the board.

And there wouldn’t be many more opportune fixtures than against a struggling Wasps side that had lost their five most recent fixtures, conceding 16 goals in the process.

Moreover, two of those defeats had been suffered at the hands of League Two opposition in cup competitions.

Coincidentally, an Elgin City outfit the Greenock men had despatched 5-0 at Cappielow following a second-half goal glut were one of the clubs in question.

It all served to put a little bit of pressure on the shoulders of a Ton side who came into the game minus the services of several first-team players.

Frank McKeown was at home recovering from his recent knee operation, while Joe McKee, Mark Russell and Derek Gaston were joined in the stand by skipper Peter MacDonald.

There was also hugely positive news from the treatment table, though, when the teamsheet arrived bearing a surprise inclusion on the bench in midfielder Michael Tidser.

Things also looked bright on the park as Duffy’s men got off to a sparkling start, creating a glaring chance within the first minute.

With just 43 seconds played, Ross Forbes lifted a cross into the box looking for Denny Johnstone in the centre.

The frontman challenged Jason Marr and the ball broke invitingly for Stefan McCluskey 10 yards out, but he failed to make a sweet connection with the volley and saw his shot bounce harmlessly wide.

Forbes, deployed on the left side of the midfield, was the creator again on five minutes, swinging a dangerous free-kick in behind the Alloa defence.

Johnstone ghosted in on the blind side and hooked an angled shot back across goal and against the face of the crossbar. An offside flag meant it would not have counted in any case.

On 15 minutes, another Forbes set-piece - an inswinging corner on this occasion - prompted a panicky response in the Alloa box.

Ton got the break of the ball again as it sat up perfectly for O’Ware. The 22-year-old was left cursing himself after firing a half-volley down the throat of goalkeeper David Crawford from seven yards.

Danny Lennon’s side were living on their nerves but eventually settled and came into the game as the half wore on.

Former £5million Sunderland striker Michael Chopra gave a glimpse of his glory days with a sharp turn and shot inside the box.

But Grant Adam, between the sticks for the second consecutive match due to Gaston’s thigh injury, showed sharp reactions to beat the ball wide in what would be his only real save of the day.

His shutout also owed something to the vital intervention of team-mate Lee Kilday on 16 minutes, though.

Wideman Mark Williams must have thought he had found the net with an angled drive until stand-in skipper Kilday popped up on the line to hack clear.

Forbes and McCluskey peppered the home goal with shots that were just off target while Bobby Barr sent in some teasing crosses that found no takers as Ton stepped up their search for a goal.

They should have punished a home slip up right on the stroke of half-time when Kyle McAusland sent a sloppy pass straight to Michael Miller 20 yards from goal on the left of the box.

Midfielder Miller quickly pushed the ball inside to Johnstone lurking centrally, but the Birmingham City loanee hurried his shot and fired straight into the grateful grasp of Crawford.

Despite playing on a truly abysmal artificial pitch that made slick passing football impossible, Ton bossed the entirety of the second half.

While they were watertight at the back and had the game firmly in their grip, their efforts to break the deadlock were proving fruitless and a little uncoordinated.

On 59 minutes, for example, both Luca Gasparotto, who was cruising through the game at the back, and Kilday got in each other’s way attempting to attack a Forbes cross.

Duffy decided to change things and sent on Jon Scullion in place of Miller and reshuffled his midfield, with Forbes moved inside one and now flanked by McCluskey.

Diminutive frontman Scullion added a little bit of craft in the final third and the visitors looked a more threatening proposition in the final half hour.

O’Ware narrowly cleared the crossbar with a well-struck rising drive from distance on 61 minutes, prompting one main-stand wag to tell his team: ‘That’s what a shot on goal looks like, Alloa!’ Barr was beginning to pose a real threat and Celtic loanee Michael Duffy was cautioned for halting his driving run down the right-hand side by foul means on 67 minutes.

The free-kick came to nothing, but a flowing counter-attack down the left involving Forbes, McCluskey, and Scullion presented the winger with a chance shortly afterwards.

He cut through the ball but sent his strike swerving over the bar and away from goal, and it seemed as though it just might not be Morton’s day.

In their four outings prior to this one, the Greenock men had been far from prolific, scoring just two of the chances that had come their way.

When a goal failed to come through conventional methods on Saturday, Ton decided to take a different tack on 72 minutes – and immediately made the breakthrough.

The ever-energetic Conor Pepper was fouled on the halfway line after surging past a third man as he broke forward from left-back.

Instead of taking the set-piece quickly, all of the big men were sent up into the opposition box with the exception of Ricki Lamie, who launched a raking free-kick forward.

Showing impressive aggression and desire, O’Ware attacked the ball just inside the area and sent a looping header sailing over Crawford and into the top-left corner to open his account for the season.

Forbes almost added a second 10 minutes from time, but his powerful drive took a wicked deflection and flicked over the top in what was the last meaningful moment of action in the match.

On paper, the margin of victory was narrow, but at no time did the lead appear under any real threat.

An Alloa side bereft of confidence never looked capable of breaking down the visitors’ disciplined and organised back four.

Between the sticks Adam was a virtual spectator as the Ton kept their third consecutive clean sheet, and their fourth in six matches, to provide the foundation for a well-earned victory.

There might be a long way to go, but on this evidence it would be hard to imagine the current Cappielow squad finishing below the Wasps in the second tier this time around.