William Hill Premiership trio Kilmarnock, Livingston and Falkirk all enjoyed comfortable home victories as they progressed to the second round of the Premier Sports Cup.
Motherwell and Hearts had already booked their places in Sunday’s draw along with European qualifiers Celtic, Rangers, Aberdeen, Hibernian and Dundee United, meaning there were nine spaces still up for grabs going into the final weekend.
Killie, Livi and the Bairns were joined in reaching the last 16 by lower-league sides Partick Thistle, Alloa, St Johnstone and Morton.
[[Dundee]] – eliminated after losing their opening two fixtures – are the only top-flight side out of the tournament so far, with St Mirren aiming to make it through on Sunday. Dunfermline have a chance of joining them if Saints fail to beat Ayr, who are all but through as long as they do not lose heavily in Paisley.
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Falkirk sealed top spot in Group A by defeating Spartans 4-0 at home through goals from Dylan Tait, Scott Arfield and a Calvin Miller brace. Cove Rangers finished second but were not in the mix to be one of the three best runners-up after losing 2-1 at Queen’s Park.
Teenage defender Ben Brannan scored a double as Kilmarnock pipped top-flight rivals Livingston to top spot in Group H with a 4-0 home victory over East Fife. Summer signings Marcus Dackers and Djenairo Daniels were also on target for Stuart Kettlewell’s side.
Livi struck four times in the first half as a 6-0 home win over Kelty Hearts helped them finish as one of the three best runners-up. Robbie Muirhead notched a double, while Andrew Winter, debutant Adam Montgomery, Shane Blaney and Stevie May were also on target.
Partick maintained their perfect record to win Group B with a 3-1 victory at Ross County, while Stranraer beat 10-man Queen of the South 1-0 in the other match in the section.
There was drama in Group C as [[Alloa]] came from behind to defeat Airdrie 3-2 and secure qualification at the expense of the Diamonds. A 2-2 draw would have been enough to take both teams through, but Steven Buchanan’s 89th minute winner meant only the Wasps progressed.
In the other match, Dundee saved some face after their humiliating start by making it back-to-back wins with a 5-0 triumph at home to Montrose. Simon Murray hit a first-half double before second-half strikes from Clark Robertson, Ryan Astley and Luke Graham.
St [[Johnstone]] sealed top spot in Group with an 8-0 home win over 10-man Elgin, while Raith Rovers beat Inverness 5-1.
With Hearts already having finished top of Group E, [[Dunfermline]] gave themselves a chance of finishing as one of the three best runners-up as they won 2-0 at home to Stirling. The Pars will go through if St Mirren lose to [[Ayr]] or draw and fail to pick up a bonus point.
Hearts have put themselves in a commanding position to claim a seeded place, finishing on 12 points with a positive goal difference of 15. Dunfermline can move on to nine points and will be looking to add to their goal difference of two when they host Stirling, to push for a best runners-up place.
Morton followed Group G winners Motherwell through as one of the best runners-up after winning 3-0 at home to Clyde, while Stenhousemuir beat Peterhead 1-0.
In Group D, where Arbroath went down 1-0 to Forfar, Ayr will be looking to hold on to top spot away to St Mirren on Sunday. The Honest Men have such a good goal difference that they will go through as long as they do not lose heavily.
