Elgin City’s interest in the Viaplay Cup ended with a heavy 5-0 defeat at Queen’s Park – in what was the first competitive game at the refurbished Lesser Hampden – with Spiders striker Ruari Paton notching four goals.
The visitors started brightly and Liam Harvey’s cross was almost sliced into his own net by the home side’s Charlie Fox on seven minutes.
However, Elgin fell behind two minutes later when Queen’s captain Jack Thomson’s shot was deflected into the path of Paton, who controlled the ball on his chest before slotting past Thomas McHale from six yards.
Over the next five minutes Elgin did well to keep the gap at one as McHale finger-tipped over another Thomson effort and Will Tizzard struck a post from close-range.
The visitors found themselves two down 12 minutes from the break, though, when Paton nodded in after Thomson had flicked on a Dom Thomas corner.
Elgin came close to getting themselves back into things just two minutes after the restart with Matty Jamieson robbed Tizzard and teed up Russell Dingwall with the visiting skipper just off target with a flashing drive.
Queen’s again then made Elgin pay quickly, with Paton taking a Thomas pass in his stride and sliding a shot past McHale to make it 3-0 on 53 minutes.
The visitors’ evening got worse on the hour mark when Jamieson was helped off with a shoulder injury, with Paton heading home his fourth shortly afterwards.
Ten minutes from time, the hosts completed the scoring when Charlie Fox forced the ball in from close range, and leaving Elgin with four losses to show for their four League Cup group stage games.
FT 5 – 0 Queens Park
— Elgin City F.C. (@ElginCityFC) July 25, 2023
Brechin finish League Cup group campaign with a flourish v Clyde
Brechin City ended their Viaplay Cup campaign with a 2-1 victory over League Two Clyde at the ZLX Stadium.
Goals from Ewan Loudon and Grady McGrath saw City go 2-0 up, and although Clyde pulled a goal back from Euan Cameron, City kept their composure and fully deserved their win.
Brechin keeper Lenny Wilson was called into action within the first couple of minutes, bringing off two point-blank saves in quick succession from Barry Cuddihy and Cameron Mulvanney to prevent the Bully Wee grabbing an early lead.
Clyde were dominating the early stages, but City gradually worked their way into the game and Fraser MacLeod tested Clyde keeper Neil Parry with a long-range effort after 16 minutes.
The Bully Wee were enjoying plenty of possession, however, Brechin always looked dangerous on the break and they grabbed the opening goal on the stroke of half-time when a great cross from full-back Chris Mudie found Loudon unmarked in the home penalty-box and he steered a header into the bottom corner of the net, giving keeper Parry no chance.
It took Brechin only a couple of minutes into the second half to double their advantage, when McGrath was in the perfect spot to fire the ball home following a Stuart Heenan corner.
Clyde reacted quickly and narrowed the deficit just a couple of minutes later when Euan Cameron collected a pass from Kian Leslie and slotted as left-foot drive past Wilson.
The hosts scorned a golden opportunity to level the match five minutes from time when Dylan Duncan blasted the ball over the bar from great position, but City held on for a deserved victory – their first three points in League Cup Group C.