Montrose boss Paul Hegarty was delighted his side avoided a Scottish Cup shock as the Gable Endies won away at Preston Athletic.
Three second-half goals from Gary Fraser, Chris Templeman and Jonny Court saw the Angus side through, with the Lowland League outfit finishing with eight men.
Hegarty said: “The problem is when you have so many chances you say to yourself it’s not going to be your day. We had at least eight or nine chances and you’re probably talking about maybe two or three gilt-edged chances.
“Even when it was 2-0 I wasn’t confident we would see the game out because they started to put men on and put men up and obviously put us under a wee bit of pressure but the bottom line is we’re through and I’m delighted.”
Montrose quickly took control of the game with striker Templeman’s height causing problems for the home defence.
Their first big chance came when Templeman rose to meet a long-range free-kick and headed just past the post. Fraser was next to test home goalkeeper Craig Pennycuick, with his strong header pushed just wide.
He came even closer minutes later as he got on the end of a through ball to lob the keeper but it was cleared off the line.
On the stroke of half-time Athletic defender Reece Cochrane headed the ball on to his own bar from a Montrose corner as the visitors continued to dominate.
Preston were awarded a penalty straight after the restart following a push in the box but Montrose keeper Allan Fleming saved Kieran McWalter’s effort.
Three minutes later Montrose won a penalty of their own. Fraser sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to make it 1-0.
Templeman doubled the lead with a low, left-footed volley from outside the box which trickled in following a deflection.
Court added a third goal when an awkward free-kick landed at his feet and left him the simple task of tapping the ball into the net.
In stoppage time Athletic were reduced to nine men following red cards for Ross Colquhoun and Daniel O’Rourke. A third red card for the home side was shown to Gavin Stevenson after the final whistle.