MORTON'S five-game home unbeaten run ended last night but boss James Grady says his side can take heart from their showing against the league leaders.

An early header from Richie Foran and a deadly clincher from the division's top scorer Adam Rooney meant Morton finished empty-handed.

But Grady is convinced his side will win their battle for first division survival if they reproduce the form which at times threatened to dent the title hopes of the Highlanders.

The Cappielow boss said: "The first half is as well as we've played all season and they've had one shot and got a goal.

"That's why they are where they are, because they took that chance and we didn't take ours.

"It's been our Achilles heel this season, where we don't kill teams off when we're on top and that's probably why we are where we are and Inverness are at the top." Indeed, the story of the match was told in an opening spell which the hosts dominated, only to find themselves behind after just six minutes.

Morton might have opened the scoring in the first 90 seconds when David Witteveen latched onto Peter Weatherson's flick.

The on-loan Hearts striker, who scored three at the weekend, almost continued where he left off with a crisp shot which had Ryan Esson at full stretch to turn behind.

Michael Tidser's corner was headed narrowly over by Ryan McGuffie before Witteveen found himself through again but pulled his shot wide from the edge of the box.

If Morton lacked the killer touch in front of goal, Caley were utterly clinical as they scored with their first attack.

Rooney switched play with a clever pass to Jonny Hayes, whose teasing cross found Foran rising above the home defence to plant a header high into the net.

Undeterred, the Greenock side continued to make the running and Esson was quickly in action again to deal with dangerous deliveries into his box by Tidser and Weatherson.

Weatherson's deft chip found Witteveen at the back post, but the Austrian's header was too close to Esson.

Referee Brian Winter enraged Morton fans in 25 minutes when Witteveen, released by Weatherson's defence-splitting pass, was brought down on the edge of the area by Stuart Golabek. The striker appeared to have been denied a clear goal-scoring chance, but Golabek escaped with a yellow card.

Having enjoyed another fine spell, Morton were almost hit with a second suckerpunch when Neil MacFarlane lost possession to Eric Odhiambo. The ball was quickly played to Hayes on the right flank and his curling effort clipped the bar.

After the break, Witteveen continued to threaten and his enterprise almost paid off with an effort from close to the halfway line which caught Esson off his line but drifted wide.

Caley had a let-off in the closing stages when Stewart Greacen's netbound header was blocked by Ross Tokely.

The Highlanders cashed in with the clincher five minutes from time when Rooney swapped passes with Russell Duncan and calmly beat Stewart.

The Ton remain in fourth bottom spot but have played more games than both Raith Rovers and Ayr United below them.

Grady knows his team still have a fight on their hands, but added: "If we play like that, the law of averages says you are going to win more games than you lose.

"The players have all got belief. They have played the team at the top of the table tonight and any neutral watching that first half would have thought we were the team at the top." Caley boss Terry Butcher said: "It was a hard-fought win because Morton played very well. They are a big strong side and have a good shape about them."