Dundee win & Motherwell through - Premier Sports Cup round-up

Dundee secured their first win under Steven Pressley at the third time of asking, but made hard work of the 3-1 victory at Lowland League Bonnyrigg Rose.

Pressley's side had been roundly criticised after defeats by Airdrieonians and Alloa Athletic left them with little hope of progressing to the knockout stages of the Premier Sports Cup.

Clark Robertson put the Premiership side in front on 20 minutes, but they were pegged back by Cameron Ross before half-time.

Bonnyrigg defended stoutly and seemed on course for a point before late goals from Emile Acquah and Billy Koumetio spared Dundee's blushes.

Alloa lead Group C on nine points, while second-place Airdrieonians can confirm Dundee's exit when they face Montrose on Wednesday.

Dundee finish their group-stage fixtures at home to Montrose on Saturday.

Elsewhere, Motherwell secured their place in the next round with a 3-0 win against Greenock Morton and Falkirk came from behind to beat Queen's Park 3-1.

Kilmarnock - the other Premiership club in action - were held to a goalless draw on penalties by Kelty Hearts and unable to earn a bonus point as the League 1 side triumphed 4-3 on penalties.

Falkirk moved to the top thanks to a double from Ethan Ross and Brian Graham's first goal for the club.

The Bairns went behind to Josh Fowler's early strike for Queen's Park, but rallied to maintain their unbeaten status in the competition.

Cove Rangers beat Brechin City 3-0 at Glebe Park in Group A's other game. David Eguaibor put the visitors 2-0 up before Mitch Megginson completed the scoring.

Cove have seven points, one behind Falkirk, while Spartans have six in third place.

Falkirk wrap up their group-stage fixtures against Spartans on Saturday, while Cove are away to fourth-place Queen's Park.

Partick Thistle and Ross County can both still win Group B after the two Championship sides beat lower-league opposition.

Aidan Fitzpatrick and Tsoanelo Letsosa earned Thistle a 2-0 win over Queen of the South, while Ronan Hale's hat-trick helped County put eight past Edinburgh City.

Thistle top the group on nine points, but County - who have seven points - can move above them when the sides meet in Dingwall on Saturday.

Three first-half goals continued Ayr United's flawless League Cup start as they overwhelmed Forfar at Somerset Park.

Dom Thomas, George Oakley and Curtis Main all found the net for Scott Brown's side, who now have nine points from their three matches.

Meanwhile, Arbroath's Arran Pettifer scored a hat-trick before half-time to set up a 6-0 victory over Annan Athletic.

A draw away to St Mirren on Sunday would be enough to guarantee Ayr top spot.

Dunfermline edged out Hamilton 2-1 at East End Park.

Andrew Tod put the hosts in front before half-time and although Oli Shaw equalised after the break, Lee Kilday's own goal moments late secured all three points for Dunfermline.

Neil Lennon's side have six points and finish their group stage against Stirling Albion on Saturday.

There were goals galore in Group F as Inverness Caledonian Thistle halted East Kilbride's momentum and St Johnstone beat Raith Rovers.

SPFL newcomers East Kilbride had won their past two matches, but went down 6-2 despite taking the lead against their Highland opponents.

And St Johnstone made it three wins from three as goals from Jamie Gullan, Josh McPake and Makenzie Kirk secured a 3-1 triumph.

The Perth outfit top the group on nine points and will look to make it four successive wins when they host Elgin City on Saturday.

Were they to slip up, Inverness could move above them with a victory at Raith.

Tawanda Maswanhise was the star of the show for Motherwell as they became the first side to progress to the knockout stages.

The Zimbabwe forward doubled Motherwell's advantage with a cool low finish after Apostolos Stamatelopoulos had tapped in the opener, but his second of the evening was even better.

Cutting inside from the left, Maswanhise bent a delightful curling shot into the top corner from outside the box to seal all three points.

Elsewhere in Group G, Clyde beat Stenhousemuir 4-3 on penalties after the sides drew 2-2.

Kilmarnock were left frustrated by Kelty Hearts, but Stuart Kettlewell's side still top Group H with one match to play.

The Ayrshire side dominated possession and had 19 shots, but were unable to break Kelty down in 90 minutes and were then beaten 4-3 on penalties.

East Fife had no such trouble against bottom side Brora Rangers - Alan Trouten scoring twice in a 3-0 win.

Kilmarnock have seven points from three matches, with both East Fife and Livingston a point further back. Kelty have five points from their three outings.

All to play for then on Saturday, as Kilmarnock host East Fife and Livingston take on Kelty.