A late strike from Sean Longstaff earned Kilmarnock a 3-2 victory against Ross County in an action-packed encounter at Rugby Park.
There were three goals inside the opening 11 minutes with Kris Boyd breaking the deadlock after only 10 seconds before strikes from Christopher Routis and Alex Schalk put the visitors in front.
A Gary Dicker strike after 61 minutes looked to have earned the Rugby Park men a point but Longstaff took advantage of some poor County defending to win the match for the hosts.
Unsurprisingly, Ross County manager Jim McIntyre kept faith with the same starting line-up that defeated Dundee United 6-2 in last weekend’s Scottish Cup encounter.
New signing Jason Naismith, cup-tied for the tie with United, was named on the bench, where he was joined by Michael Gardyne on his return from a hamstring injury.
Kilmarnock, without a win in seven matches, made two alterations to the side beaten 1-0 by Hamilton in the Scottish Cup with Kris Boyd and captain Steven Smith replacing Jordan Jones and Nathan Tyson.
It was a horror start to the match for the Staggies, who fell behind after only 10 seconds.
A Paul Quinn clearance was charged down by Sean Longstaff sending Kris Boyd clear on goal and the former Rangers attacker showed excellent composure to lob the ball over the advancing Scott Fox.
The visitors could and should have equalised within five minutes but Alex Schalk dallied in front of goal before eventually firing straight at Freddie Woodman.
But County made no mistake in the seventh minute when they took full advantage of some static Killie defending.
The lively Schalk fed Routis, who drove the ball home from 12 yards for his third goal in two games.
And, with only 11 minutes elapsed, County were in front. A Kenny van der Weg header struck the crossbar and Liam Boyce reacted quickest, heading the ball goalwards for Schalk to prod the ball home from close range.
Kilmarnock almost got back level just before the half hour mark when a Rory McKenzie shot was superbly blocked by Paul Quinn.
The home side made a tactical change after only 33 minutes with defender Karleigh Osborne, already booked and not enjoying a great game, replaced by Iain Wilson.
Kilmarnock upped the ante after the break with Ross County goalkeeper Scott Fox making two fine saves to deny Boyd.
But the momentum was with the home side and they restored parity after 61 minutes when Dicker was afforded too much room in the penalty area to slot home from a Jordan Jones corner.
Gardyne had a chance to win it with two minutes to go but fired into the side-netting and the Staggies were made to pay for that miss.
Some sloppy play from County was ruthlessly punished by the home side with Jordan Jones feeding Sean Longstaff who calmly rolled the ball beyond Fox to win the points.