MORTON’S head of youth development John Sutton hailed his side’s strong performance against Falkirk on Monday.

The Ton ran out 3-0 winners at the Falkirk Stadium thanks to a double from Denny Johnstone and a Jack Purdue penalty.

It was the first game of the new-look SPFL Reserve League, after changing the format from the Development Leagues.

Both sides had a number of first team players in their starting 11s, with Morton including Johnstone, Derek Gaston, Robert Thomson and Scott Tiffoney.

Sutton insists it will benefit his youngsters playing alongside the seasoned squad members, especially with a number of under-17 players making appearances.

He told the Tele: “The boys did well. It’s really early days still but I’ve been really happy with them during pre-season and it’s good for them to get a result as it’s a bit of a step up, Falkirk had some really good players and it will hopefully give them some confidence going forward.

“Gats in goal was outstanding, Denny’s two goals were really good, Thommo was brilliant for us and Tiff was fantastic.

“It’s great for our boys to learn off them, and playing at this level can help bring them up.

“We had a lot of the first years coming on, and there’s a lot of competition for places.

“We just have to keep improving them all the time and hope they’ll be a first team player one day.”