Celtic's supporters have not endured a trophy-less season since 2003 (a year more memorable for their march to the Uefa Cup final) and they kept alive their hopes of landing some silverware during this campaign with this victory at Cappielow on Tuesday night which earns them a fifth round tie at Second Division Stenhousemuir in the Active Nation Scottish Cup.
The outcome, particularly in cup competitions, is always of more importance than the performance and Celtic manager Tony Mowbray, after only one win in his previous five matches, will be glad to have got this potentially hazardous encounter of the way.
A solitary goal from Niall McGinn was enough to separate the financially astute visitors from a penurious home team which is currently third from bottom of the First Division.
Morton have not beaten Celtic since 1979 and, after a promising opening third of this tie, they rarely looked like levelling the scores once McGinn broke the deadlock. Even so, a one-goal lead is always precarious and Mowbray's men were never able to move into cruise control.
The home side certainly could not have been accused of freezing as they set about their more illustrious opponents from the first whistle.
Consequently, they created the first half chance after only four minutes. It was a fine passing move, too, with Dominic Shimmin threading the ball through for Brian Wake who, in turn, teed up a shooting opportunity for Allan Jenkins.
Unfortunately for the former Gretna midfielder, the pass was not as accurate as it might have been and he shot hurriedly wide from the edge of the penalty area.
Two minutes later Wake was claiming for a penalty kick following a tussle with Celtic's captain, Darren O'Dea, but referee Craig Thomson, who had taken up an excellent position, had no hesitation in waving play on.
An unforced error from Shimmin, who took his eye off a through ball from Marc Crosas, allowed McGinn to dispossess the defender but the winger's shot from 18 yards slacked conviction and was comfortably saved by Colin Stewart.
Celtic's defensive frailty was all too evident in the 19th minute when O'Dea allowed a Stewart clearance to bounce instead of attacking it.
The ball sailed over his head to Glenn Loovens, who passed it straight to Peter Weatherson and it required an excellent save from Artur Boruc to parry the striker's venomous drive.
Aiden McGeady attempted to inspire his team-mates with a surging run which took him past two opponents but his shot, from 15 yards, was wayward.
The visitors' performance was just as uneven and it was something of a surprise when they took the lead 10 minutes from the interval.
Marc-Antoine Fortune was the architect, using his strength to hold off his marker and deliver a cutback which McGinn drove emphatically behind Stewart from around the penalty spot.
Fortune might have created a second in the 41st minute but, following a fine solo run, he attempted to shoot from an acute angle rather than pass to two better-placed team-mates and Stewart was mightily relieved with that choice.
Morton's captain, Stuart Greacen, was cautioned for a shove on the busy Fortune and Georgios Samaras tested Stewart with a dipping half-volley from 25 yards as Mowbray's men foraged forward in search of a second goal with which to quell the home side's resistance.
That it proved so elusive was as attributable to the strike partnership of Samaras and Fortune as it was to Morton's disciplined defending. Celtic lack a focal point to their attacks.
Lee Naylor managed to block a netbound drive from Wake in the 73rd minute as Morton's tiring players, with nothing left to lose, threw caution to the wind in search of an equaliser.
That inevitably left them vulnerable to the counter-attack and Celtic believed they had settled the matter three minutes later.
A Naylor corner was flicked on by O'Dea and Samaras, lurking at the far post, forced the ball over the line from point-blank range, only for his "goal" to be disallowed, presumably for handball.
Naylor took a more direct approach but saw his shot from 20 yards beat Stewart only to rebound to safety from the inside of the goalkeeper's left-hand post.
Fortune then scorned the best opportunity of the evening, failing miserably to control a delivery from McGinn when unmarked, onside and just three yards from goal.
Match details
Morton (4-4-2): Stewart; McGuffie, Greacen, Shimmin, Reid; Finlayson, McFarlane (Graham 88), Jenkins, McAlister; Wake (Kane 78), Weatherson. Subs: Cuthbert (g), Monti, McGregor. Booked: Greacen, McFarlane.
Celtic (4-4-2): Boruc; Hinkel, Loovens, O'Dea, Naylor; McGinn, McGeady, Crosas, Zhi; Samaras, Fortune. Subs: Zaluska (g), McCourt, Mizuno, Thompson, Forrest. Booked: Samaras.
Referee: Craig Thomson.
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