6 – Heart of Midlothian kicked off their Premier Sports Cup campaign with a 2-0 victory over Peterhead at Balmoor. It was the Jam Tarts’ first ever win over the Blue Toon – their only previously meeting was a 2-1 Peterhead win at Balmoor in this competition in July 2017. Including last season, Robbie Neilson’s side have now kept six consecutive clean sheets in all competitions, which is their best run since December 2017-January 2018, when they kept a club record eight in a row. Hearts have not lost their first game of the season for eight years – the last time they did so was against St Johnstone in 2013/14.
17 – Livingston defeated Brechin City 3-0 at Glebe Park to maintain their impressive Premier Sports Cup group stage record. Since the start of 2017/18, the Lions are unbeaten in 17 group stage matches – they have picked up 15 wins and two draws, both of which were followed up by bonus point penalty shoot-out successes. Livi are now unbeaten in their last 10 matches against Brechin in all competitions, with their last defeat coming in February 2011.
9 – Dunfermline Athletic defeated cinch Championship rivals Partick Thistle 4-2 at Firhill to give new manager Peter Grant the perfect start to his reign. Goals from Nikolay Todorov (2), Aaron Comrie and Kyle MacDonald handed the Pars their first away win of 2021 – they had gone 13 matches without success away from home, with their last win coming at Arbroath in this competition in November. Dunfermline have now won their opening match in each of the last nine seasons, with their last defeat coming against Forfar Athletic in July 2012.
1 – Newly-promoted cinch League 1 side Queen’s Park pulled off one of the surprises of the Premier Sports Cup weekend by defeating cinch Championship side Queen of the South 1-0 at Palmerston. The Spiders are now unbeaten on their last five visits to Dumfries, picking up four wins and a draw since their last defeat back in August 1995. Amazingly, this was Queen’s Park’s first ever League Cup win over Queen of the South – they had met on 17 previous occasions in this competition, with the Dumfries side winning 15 and the other two being drawn.
3 – Stirling Albion also caused a Premier Sports Cup upset with a 3-2 victory over cinch League 1 side Cove Rangers at Balmoral Stadium. Kevin Rutkiewicz’s side led 2-0 before being pegged back by a Fraser Fyvie double, but a stoppage-time goal from Nathan Flanagan handed them three points. It was the Binos’ first ever win over Cove – they had lost all three previous meetings during the 2019/20 season.
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