THERE were 11 rather than 300 but Spartans channelled the spirit of the Greek warriors they were named after to hold Morton to a narrow 1-0 victory at Cappielow on Saturday.

This wasn’t exactly the siege of Thermopylae but the Lowland League champions contained their League One hosts for much of the match before they eventually progressed to the next round.

It took a sublime debut goal from 17-year-old rookie Cameron O’Neil to settle the tie and ensure Jim Duffy got his Ton tenure off to a winning start.

The Morton manager had already outlined his respect for Spartans in Friday’s Tele and knew his side would not simply swat their opponents aside as they sought safe passage to the second round.

But his cause was not helped by the absence of four key players due to a combination of injuries and suspension.

Watching from the stand were the trio of Fouad Bachirou, Conor Pepper and Stefan McCluskey, who were ruled out by a hamstring strain, a knee injury and a dislocated shoulder respectively.

They were joined in the directors’ box by the suspended Sean Crighton, missing due to a one-match ban carried over from a red card for Elgin against Formartine in last season’s competition.

The resultant reshuffle saw Thomas O’Ware start at centre-half with Joe McKee moved inside from the right to fill the vacated spot in the middle of park.

All of this opened up a place on the right of midfield, with Duffy giving O’Neil the nod after impressing in closed-doors friendlies.

The visitors, meanwhile, lined up in a 4-5-1 formation in an understandable attempt to make themselves difficult to break down.

Morton’s solution was to bypass the banks of four and five by hitting Andy Barrowman earlier and look for any knock downs or flicks-ons.

It was a game plan that looked as though it might prove effective when, with three minutes gone, O’Ware sent a long ball in behind the away defence.

Barrowman span and darted in behind, reaching the ball before Spartans goalkeeper Kevin Swain, but only managing to push it into the advancing custodian with an outstretched leg.

It might be partly borne out of necessity, but Duffy has shown that he is not adverse to playing young players.

As well as playing O’Neil on the right, the Ton boss also elected to start with 18-year-old Mark Russell on the opposite flank.

And the confident wideman was next up to test Swain when he forged forward down the inside-left channel and let fly with a well-struck shot from 25 yards.

The effort seemed to deceive Swain, who parried to his left initially and then scrambled across to smother at the second attempt.

Only a goal-line clearance by Craig Stevenson prevented Morton from opening the scoring on 19 minutes.

McKee sent over an outswinging corner which Ricki Lamie headed back into the danger area. David McNeil took a touch to control and stabbed towards goal, but Stevenson hacked clear. It was all Morton at this stage and the high tempo with which they were playing was rewarded with what turned out to be the winning goal on 27 minutes.

After a slick exchange involving a neat backheel flick from McNeil to McKee and then a quick return, McNeil slipped O’Neil through on goal with a first-time pass.

The former Barrhead Boys’ Club player, who had started the move in the middle of the park, was an unused sub for the top-team twice last term and featured regularly for the reserves But he belied his inexperience by coolly dinking the ball over Swain to finish off a sparkling move with the minimum of fuss. The celebrations had barely died down, however, when the hosts suffered a severe setback in the form of an injury to Barrowman, far right.

Captain Barrowman had been involved in a straight chase for the ball with Kevin Sivewright but pulled up clutching his hamstring, signalling that his game was over.

In an unconventional move, Duffy introduced Jordan Allan at left-back, reshuffled his defence and sent O’Ware up front to maintain a physical presence and aerial threat in the final third.

Although he didn’t quite look at home, and understandably so, O’Ware appeared to be enjoying the new role.

On 37 minutes, it was his knock down from an accurate Allan long ball that presented McNeil with an opening.

McNeil skipped around the outside of Sivewright and pulled the trigger, but Swain had burst from his line to block at his feet.

Ton really should have doubled their advantage six minutes before the break when McKee’s dangerous free-kick from wide on the right picked out Stefan Milojevic at the far post. The Serbian central defender was unmarked two yards but seemed surprised when the ball found him and failed to react to the glaring opportunity as it hit his thigh and flicked narrowly wide.

This inexperienced Ton team were good value for their lead at the break but allowed their visitors to find a foothold in the second half.

A Spartans opportunity created within the first 12 seconds of the second half seemed to change the whole dynamic of the cup tie.

Direct from the kick-off, Sean Muhsin and Michael Herd exchanged passes as they sliced through the Ton like a hot knife through butter.

Former East Stirling midfielder Herd went clear one-on-one with Derek Gaston, selected ahead of Nicolas Caraux, and bent the ball around the Ton keeper as well as the right-hand post.

Rocked by the near miss, Morton took around 10 minutes to properly regain their composure in the now-torrential rain.

They registered their first shot of the second half 11 minutes in when the vibrant Russell fired a 25-yard piledriver down Swain’s throat.

The attempt sparked a flurry of Ton attacking activity, with O’Ware forcing a smart two-handed save from Swain with a clever, swerving snapshot that any regular striker would have been satisfied with.

O’Neil followed that up with a hooked volley from the edge of the box, which he attempted to guide into the top corner by leaning back as he connected with the ball but didn’t quite succeed.

But Duffy’s men weren’t quite as dominant in the second period, and the absence of both McCluskey and Barrowman appeared more pronounced and left them lacking punch in attack.

While Ton were organised and well-drilled at the other end, Spartans still succeeded in creating two chances that could have seen them claim a shock equaliser.

Jack Beesley found William Bremner darting across the face of the Ton defence with a low cross from the right. His connection was poor, though, and he skewed wide.

Their best opportunity came on 70 minutes after keeper Swain had gathered Lamie’s header from a McKee corner and quickly bowled the ball out to set his side up for a rapid counter-attack.

Stevenson took the initiative and released sub Keith McLeod with a measured through ball that split the rapidly retreating Ton defenders.

Prolific striker McLeod was top scorer in last season’s Lowland League, but left his shooting boots at home on Saturday, dragging a weak shot well wide with just Gaston to beat.

Duffy was furious in the home dugout and let Lamie know: “Ricki! You’ve got to switch on there. That’s all it takes.” Despite a frantic final few minutes that left the Ton sweating — summed up by Gaston deploying the age-old trick of falling after claiming a cross to eat up time — there were no further lapses.

Although they made heavy weather of it, the Cappielow club held on for a relatively straightforward win that achieved the main objective: claiming a place in the next round. Not for the first time in history, the plaudits would go to a plucky group of Spartans who made superior opponents work for their eventual victory.