St Johnstone suffered a shock defeat away to League 1 hosts Alloa Athletic in the Premier Sports Cup, with Dundee becoming the first team to secure passage from the group stage.
The Dark Blues needed two late goals to beat third-tier Annan Athletic, while Aberdeen had to come from behind to secure victory over Championship visitors Airdrieonians in Jimmy Thelin’s first home game as a technician.
Premiership rivals Ross County also had to come from behind to beat Hamilton Academical.
But Dundee United are in danger of failing to qualify despite an easy win over Buckie Thistle, as are St Johnstone after Craig Levein’s side slipped to third place behind hosts Alloa and East Fife in Group F.
There was also a surprise defeat for Partick Thistle as the Championship side lost 3-2 at home to traditional rivals Clyde, now managed by former Firhill manager Ian McCall.
A group
Aberdeen 2-1 Airdrieonians: The visitors took the lead five minutes before half-time, through a low shot from Ben Wilson, in a crowded area, the fifth goal of the season for the striker signed from Cliftonville.
However, Graeme Shinnie’s low shot deflected home four minutes after the break and created a second on the counter for Leighton Clarkson to score the winner in the 58th minute.
East Kilbride 1-3 Queen of the South: The Lowland League champions took the lead through Sean Fagan in the 33rd minute, but three goals in the final four minutes of the first half from Josh Walker, Reece Lyon and Brennan Dickenson put the League 1 visitors in control.
The hosts also had Andrew McDonald sent off for a second yellow card 15 minutes from time.
Group B
Buckie Thistle 2-5 Dundee United: Summer signing Kristijan Trapanosvki scored twice and Kevin Holt contributed two penalties for the visitors.
Trapanosvki kicked off after 19 minutes and a Holt penalty put them ahead at half-time against the Highland League champions.
Joe McCabe pulled one back three minutes into the second half but Trapanosvki and his summer teammate David Babunski put United ahead 4-1 before two more penalties – the first to Buckie’s Jack MacIver and then to Holt with 13 minutes remaining.
Stenhousemuir 1-4 Ayr United: Ross Taylor gave the League 2 champions a sixth-minute lead but George Oakley equalized two minutes later and Frankie Musonda put the visitors ahead midway through the first half before second-half goals from Anton Dowds and Jay Henderson.
The results mean United top the group with nine points after playing every game, but Ayr, who face Buckie, and Falkirk, who play their derby against Stenhousemuir, can overtake them on Saturday with wins.
Group C
Kelty Hearts 0-1 Peterhead: The third division hosts were unable to build on Saturday’s shock victory over Hibernian as Max Barry’s 27th-minute goal was enough to give the League 2 visitors a shock victory.
Queen’s Park 4-0 Elgin City: Two goals in four minutes just before half-time from Roddy MacGregor and Sean Welsh put the hosts in control and Dom Thomas and Joshua Scott added two more after the break.
Hibs, Saturday’s visitors Peterhead and Queen’s Park, who host Kelty, are all level on six points heading into their final games.
Group D
Dundee 3-1 Annan Atlético: Summer signing Simon Murray scored twice on his return to the Dark Blues but Annan threatened a shock after Tommy Goss equalized shortly after the striker’s 34th-minute opener.
However, Murray scored again with five minutes remaining and Seb Palmer-Houlden in stoppage time put the hosts two points above the visitors and secured top spot in the group with one game remaining.
Inverness Caledonian Thistle 0-0 Arbroath (3-5pens): Disappointing League Cup campaigns continued for both League 1 teams as they failed to score until the visitors claimed the bonus point following the penalty shoot-out.
Group E
Cove Rangers 0-2 Livingston: A Finlay Murray own goal inside six minutes put the Championship side ahead and Liam Sole secured victory with four minutes left to give the Championship visitors a third successive victory at the top of the group.
Spartans 1-0 Forfar Athletic: A goal from Blair Henderson four minutes from time was enough to give the hosts victory over their League 2 rivals and move into second place in the group.
Group F
Alloa Athletic 3-2 St Johnstone: Morgyn Neill put the hosts ahead nine minutes after the break, but the lead only lasted a minute thanks to Benjamin Mbunga-Kimpioka.
The Premiership visitors had Aaron Essel sent off for violent conduct in the 64th minute and two goals from Luke Rankin in the final six minutes gave the League 1 side a famous victory despite Jack Sanders’ stoppage-time response.
East Fife 4-0 Brechin City: Goals from Liam Newton, Nathan Austin and Scott Shepherd gave East Fife three half-time leads against the Highland League visitors and Austin scored the second shortly after the break.
These results mean that Alloa lead the group with eight points ahead of the meeting with Greenock Morton, with the Fifers one behind and the Saints another point behind as the bottom two face each other on Saturday.
Group G
Montrose 2-1 Edinburgh City: Craig Smith’s seventh minute goal gave Montrose an ideal start, Connor Young equalized in the 29th minute but Blair Lyons secured the victory in the 65th minute.
Partick Cardo 2-3 Clyde: Aidan Fitzpatrick gave the hosts an ideal start after five minutes, but Lee Ashcroft’s 27th-minute own goal leveled the scores and Logan Dunachie gave the visitors a shock half-time lead.
Brian Graham equalized after 15 minutes but Dunachie’s second secured a shock away victory four minutes from time.
The defeat leaves Thistle two points behind Saturday’s hosts Motherwell, with Clyde tied for second heading into the clash with Montrose.
Group H
Hamilton Academical 1-2 Ross County: Oli Shaw, Barnsley’s summer striker, gave Hamilton an early lead but County debutant Ronan Hale responded in the 25th minute and fellow striker Jordan White scored more three minutes later to give the Premiership side their third successive victory at the top of the group.
Stirling Albion 2-2 Stranraer (4-2 pens): Goals from Cameron McKinley and Ally Roy looked to have given Stirling victory but goals from Ryan Edgar and Deryn Lang within two minutes gave Stranraer an equaliser, although the hosts were awarded the bonus point on penalties.
