​St Mirren began their defense of the Premier Sports Cup with a comfortable 4-0 victory over Dumbarton, while second-tier Greenock Morton suffered a shock home defeat to Linlithgow Rose, the champions of the Lowland League. In another upset, Scottish Cup finalists Dunfermline Athletic were humbled by East Kilbride, who sit in the third tier. Dundee recovered from a slower start to beat Airdrieonians, avoiding a surprising home loss to the League One side, and Premiership rivals Falkirk hammered Edinburgh City. Dundee United required a stoppage-time penalty to see off fourth-tier Stirling Albion, and there were wins for Arbroath, Ayr United, Hamilton Academical, Partick Thistle, Queen’s Park, Raith Rovers, Ross County and Stenhousemuir.
Who has your Premiership club recruited or released this summer? Devlin joined Rangers after leaving Hearts—what might he bring to the club? O’Neill hinted at talks involving Iheanacho and Saracchi—gossip on the rumour mill. Queen’s Park had to come from behind to defeat Highland League champions Brora Rangers, with Sam Nixon giving Brora the lead in the 16th minute. Aidan Connolly fired in the equaliser before the half-hour, Michael Ruth put the Championship side ahead just after the hour, and Nikolay Todorov’s header sealed a confident win in Aberdeen’s group.
Relegated Kelty Hearts earned the bonus point after drawing with last season’s League 1 opponents, Queen of the South. Ross Cunningham put Kelty ahead in the 28th minute, and although new player-manager Nicky Clark equalised three minutes later, it finished with a victory for the visitors on penalties.
It looked as though Stirling and new manager Steven Whittaker might force a penalty shoot-out against United, but Zac Sapsford was fouled while meeting a cross from 16-year-old debutant midfielder Cohen Leiper, and the striker converted the spot kick to hand United the win. Arbroath needed a late strike from Ryan Flynn—five minutes from time—to see off League 2 hosts Spartans. Andy Winter’s long-range drive gave Arbroath the lead six minutes before the break, but Bradley Whyte levelled for the Edinburgh side ten minutes after the break.
Samuel Ramos gave holders St Mirren the lead with a near-post finish, before fellow midfield debutant Chris Mochrie capitalised on a mistake by Dumarton’s trialist goalkeeper to double the advantage. Ramos added a second, and Thomas Falconer rounded off the scoring by chipping the goalkeeper from close range. East Kilbride had to make an early change against Dunfermline, but substitute Lewis McGrattan made an immediate impact when he curled a precise drive from just inside the penalty box after 24 minutes. Two long clearances from goalkeeper Shay Kelly set up fellow debutant Finlay Gray and Cameron Elliott to help the League 2 champions claim a deserved win over Neil Lennon’s side.
Dundee avoided a repeat of last season’s group-stage defeat by Airdrieonians, but the match stood as a testament to the unpredictable nature of cup football, where lower-league sides can threaten the establish clubs in the early rounds.