4 – St Mirren thumped Forfar Athletic 4-0 at the SMISA Stadium to make it through to Round 2 of the Viaplay Cup. A double from Mikael Mandron, a Mark O’Hara penalty and a goal from Alex Gogic, all in the first half, took Saints through and set up a home tie against Motherwell. Saints also defeated Arbroath 4-0 in their previous home match – the last time they won consecutive home matches by a margin of four or more goals was back in 1972, when Tommy Bryceland’s side beat Clydebank 4-0 and Hamilton Academical 7-1 at Love Street.
10 – Motherwell secured their place in Round 2 of the Viaplay Cup by beating East Fife 3-0 at Fir Park. Lennon Miller, Conor Wilkinson and Callum Slattery were all on target for Stuart Kettlewell’s side, as they won their group and set up a trip to Paisley in the next round. Including last season, the Steelmen are now unbeaten in their last 10 matches in all competitions, winning seven and drawing three. This is their best unbeaten run in over a decade, since Craig Brown led them to 11 without defeat from January to March 2010.
12 – Airdrieonians defeated Bonnyrigg Rose 1-0 at New Dundas Park to become the only club to earn maximum points in the Viaplay Cup group stage. Josh O’Connor’s penalty ensured that the Diamonds won their group with 12 points, and set a home tie against Ross County in Round 2. This is the first time Airdrie have made it through to the 2nd Round since the group stages were introduced in 2016. Ian Murray’s side have now won eight of their last nine matches, with the only exception being the cinch Championship play-off final second leg against Hamilton Accies, when they lost 2-1 but won a penalty shoot-out to gain promotion.
6 – Ayr United confirmed their spot in Round 2 of the Viaplay Cup by thrashing Alloa Athletic 6-0 at Somerset Park. Fraser Bryden scored twice and Nick McAllister, Jamie Murphy, Oli Pendlebury and Akheem Rose all made it on to the scoresheet to ensure Lee Bullen’s side won their group and set up a trip to Livingston in the next round. “Whole Again” by Atomic Kitten was at No 1 the last time the Honest Men recorded a six-goal winning margin at home – that was a 6-0 win over Falkirk back in March 2001, when Eddie Annand, David Craig, Mark Campbell, Lee Sharp, Gary Teale and John Bradford all found the net.
4 – Stirling Albion secured their place in Round 2 of the Viaplay Cup with a stunning 4-0 victory over St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park. Goals from Greig Spence and Lewis Milne and a Paul McLean double gave Darren Young’s side a huge win which ensured they finished as one of the best runners-up, and set up a home tie with Aberdeen. The Binos’ four-goal winning margin equalled the biggest ever victory by a lower league side away to top-flight opposition. All three previous instances also occurred in the League Cup – those were Greenock Morton 1-5 Stranraer in 1972, Partick Thistle 1-5 Ayr United in 1981 and Greenock Morton 1-5 Clyde in 1987.
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