Scottish League Cup: St Mirren lose shoot-out against East Kilbride as top-flight sides struggle

St Mirren lost a penalty shootout to Lowland League champions East Kilbride as all three Scottish Premiership sides struggled in the Scottish League Cup.

Jim Goodwin’s men were held to a 0-0 group-stage draw over 90 minutes.

Lacklustre Hibernian took until 68 minutes before breaking the deadlock at home to Championship part-timers Alloa Athletic and going on to win 2-0.

Hamilton Academical were held 2-2 at home by second-tier Partick Thistle but did manage to win their shootout 6-5.

It turned out to be an unhappy debut for Raffaele De Vita as the forward on loan from Livingston had a decisive spot-kick saved by Accies goalkeeper Owain Fon Williams.

But the bonus point still leaves the home side a point behind Thistle in Group F with a game remaining for both sides.

There was another worry for Accies, with Ronan Hughes being stretchered off with a head knock, but manager Brian Rice will be pleased with the quality of the finishes from another midfielder, Ross Cunningham, as the 21-year-old scored a double in his first start for the club.

Meanwhile, Dunfermline Athletic suffered a shock defeat by League Two side Edinburgh City and Peterhead held second-tier Dundee at Dens Park, although the hosts took the bonus point.

Result of the day

St Mirren are another Premiership side who might have to rely on qualifying for the knockout stage as one of four best runners-up in the eight groups as they failed to to get any lift from playing in the shadow of a bouncy castle at K Park.

Goodwin began his reign with a home defeat by Dunfermline before his side needed an 88th-minute penalty to overcome Edinburgh in midweek.

The goodwill that greeted the return of the popular former Buddies midfielder from Alloa could quickly disappear judging from the angry reaction by some visiting fans in the new town as David Brownlie scored the winning penalty after Alan Martin saved from Cody Cooke.

One consolation for the Paisley side was Danny Handling’s late winner against a Pars side who are now only two points ahead.

Hibs signings save day

Hibs took a while to subdue Goodwin’s former side before taking the three points in Group C, although they still lie a point behind leaders Arbroath.

They eventually broke the deadlock when Christian Doidge scored his first goal since signing from Forest Green Rovers, the striker lifting it over hesitating goalkeeper Neil Parry, who then had to go off injured following his collision with the striker.

Tom James added the second as the defender scored his first goal since arriving from Yeovil Town.

Elgin City are ahead of Hibs on goal difference after their 3-0 win over League Two rivals Stirling Albion, with striker Shane Sutherland scoring a double to take the summer arrival from Peterhead’s tally to four for the season.

Strachan made to wait

Luke Strachan, the forward signed during the summer from Peterborough United, will need to wait at least another few days before making a bit of history at Dundee.

The 18-year-old is Gordon Strachan’s grandson and would have made it three generations of the family to have played for the club had he come on as a substitute against Peterhead.

The former Scotland head coach, now the Dens Park club’s technical director, was watching from the stand as assistant Jimmy Nicholl and coach Dave Mackay took charge for the day with James McPake absent because his wife is in labour.

The manager missed a painful afternoon for the Dark Blues as they were held by the League Two champions led by former Dundee manager Jim McInally before winning the shootout 4-2.

Dundee and Peterhead are also tied at the top of the Group D table, two points ahead of Inverness Caledonian Thistle, who eased to a 4-1 win at home to Raith Rovers.

Colourful support in Ayr

Ayr United mascots were at the fore against Falkirk, with the furry Pandamonium sporting a Welsh flag in honour of Kilmarnock’s shock midweek Europa League defeat by Connah’s Quay Nomads and a 33-year-old making up for missing out as a kid.

A tetchy game against last season’s Championship rivals, Falkirk, led to the relegated side losing Mark Durnan to a red card and having an Ian McShane penalty saved by goalkeeper Ross Doohan as the hosts held on for a 2-1 win over the 10 men to lead Group G by a point from Livingston.

In the group’s other game, Berwick Rangers, who lost their opening game 7-0 to Ayr, were thumped again 6-0 away to Stranraer, which means the side who dropped out of the Scottish Professional Football League into the Lowland League have now conceded 42 goals since they last scored one.

Don’t forget your PJs

Considering manager Jim Duffy has been complaining about the difficulty of putting a squad together and could only fill five of the available seven places of the subs bench, you would have thought the person printing the Dumbarton team lines would know all the new signings.

Not so, but they will surely know who PJ Crossan, who was released by Celtic this summer, is now after the former Dunfermline striker opened the scoring against Queen of the South.

It was too good to last, though, and the visitors quickly responded with goals from Paul Paton, Gary Oliver, Stephen Dobbie and Connor Murray, with his third of the season, as the Championship side completed the scoring within 22 minutes to move a point behind Motherwell in Group E.