Airdrie beat crisis club Morton with three fine strikes in the later stages of the game at Cappielow Park.

The goals, from Fabrice Moreau, Tero Pilvi and David Fernandez, plunged Morton into deeper trouble at the bottom of the First Division.

Airdrie dominated throughout, and although in the first half they were sloppy in front of goal, the winning margin was no more than they deserved.

Meanwhile, the Morton troubles continue and it will be small comfort to manager Allan Evans that his team were beaten by a quality side who are unbeaten in their last eight fixtures.

But it was Morton who almost opened the scoring after six minutes when Derek Anderson went close with a left-foot volley from distance.

The Diamonds began to exert their authority on the match with some fluent moves.

Fernandez was particularly impressive and forced Morton goalkeeper Andy Carlin into a smart save.

The second half began quietly with only Moreau going close after arrowing a shot a few inches over from an acute angle.

In the final stages Airdrie took control, finally being able to break down the dogged Morton defence.

In the 71st minute the outstanding Moreau got on the blind side of the home defence and shot past Carlin low into the left-hand corner for the opener.

Nine minutes later, a second goal ended Morton's resistance.

Fernandez somehow worked his way along the by-line beyond Morton's static defence and, from his low cross, Pilvi was on hand for the easiest of finishes.

It was appropriate that star man Fernandez rounded off the match by scoring the third four minutes from time.

He beat the offside trap and clipped the ball over Carlin from a tight angle.