Ross County moved to within one victory of winning their Premier Sports Cup section following a 2-0 victory over Alloa Athletic.
The Staggies were largely dominant against their League One opponents at Recreation Park, with Josh Sims and Jordy Hiwula on target.
County did have to weather a rare Alloa attack late in the first half with the score at 1-0 – with debutant goalkeeper Jake Eastwood saving a penalty from Wasps striker Connor Sammon.
The victory means County will reach the last-16 of the competition as group winners if they secure another victory at home to East Fife on Saturday.
Malky Mackay rang the changes for the trip to Clackmannanshire, with Ben Purrington, Alex Iacovitti and Sims the only players remaining in the starting line-up from Saturday’s 1-0 win over Dunfermline.
There were two debutants, with goalkeeper Eastwood and defender Callum Johnson making their first outings for the Staggies, with William Akio watching on from the stand.
County had accumulated four points from their opening two Premier Sports Cup games, meaning their pursuit of top spot in Group C was in their own hands.
The Staggies are still in the process of building towards their opening Premiership game away to Hearts on July 30, with their cup group stage coming to a conclusion this weekend.
County started on the front foot, and the first serious chance they fashioned led to their breakthrough on 17 minutes.
Kazeem Olaigbe was the instigator, with the young winger showing some neat footwork to carve out a cross to the far post which teed up Sims perfectly to nod a cushioned header past Jay Hogarth.
The visitors looked to add to their advantage, with Jordan White unable to get enough power on an effort across goal after he was played in by Dominic Samuel.
Olaigbe continued to cause huge problems for the Alloa rearguard with his trickery down the left flank, but it was White who came close to adding a second goal on the half-hour mark. A tackle by Jordan Tillson inside the Wasps penalty box forced the ball into White’s path, with his early strike met by a fine save by Hogarth.
The Wasps goalkeeper also had to be alert moments later to grasp a dipping long-range effort by Tillson.
Alloa had seldom threatened in the first half, but they were gifted the perfect opportunity to level on 40 minutes when Jack Baldwin was penalised for clumsily tripping former Staggie Ross MacIver inside the box.
Sammon stepped up to take the spot-kick, but his effort lacked power and was ultimately an easy save for Eastwood.
Samuel had a chance to double County’s tally before the interval when he attempted to lift the ball over Hogarth from the edge of the box, but his effort lacked the height to trouble the goalkeeper.
At the other end, Scott Taggart was inches from finding the net when his curling effort from distance drifted just over.
Mackay made a half-time change, with Purrington replaced by George Harmon at left-back in another debut outing.
County started the second half at a high tempo, with an Olaigbe corner picking out Tillson, who was unable to make a clean connection on his header.
David Cancola was next to try his luck, but could not keep his curling effort from the edge of the box down.
Good work down the right hand side by Samuel led to an opening for substitute Jordy Hiwula, however, he couldn’t direct his effort on target.
Alloa again came close to an equaliser on 76 minutes when a Scott Taggart cross was not dealt with by Eastwood, with MacIver unable to get enough contact to force it goalwards.
County looked to add to the scoreline in the dying stages, with Hiwula finding the arms of Hogarth with a volley from Owura Edwards’ delivery, while Alex Iacovitti sent an Edwards corner well over.
Hiwula was presented with a wonderful opportunity to wrap up the points in stoppage time, but he snatched his effort wide after being slipped through on goal by Cancola.
The forward made up for his miss with the last kick of the match, though – when he got in behind the Wasps defence to slot home.
ALLOA ATHLETIC (4-2-3-1) – Hogarth 7; Stanger 7, Graham 7, Taggart 6, Church 6; King 6, Miller 6 (Khyyam 77); McLaren 6 (Cawley 51), Rodden 6 (O’Donnell 77), MacIver 6; Sammon 6 (Scougall 65). Subs not used – Burt, Buchanan, Comrie.
ROSS COUNTY (4-2-3-1) – Eastwood 7; Johnson 6 (Randall 56), Baldwin 7, Iacovitti 7, Purrington 5 (Harmon 46); Tillson 6, Cancola 6; Olaigbe 8 (Dhanda 65), Samuel 7, Sims 7 (Edwards 56); White 6 (Hiwula 56). Subs not used – Munro, Loturi, Watson, Harmon, Paton.
Referee – Chris Graham 6
Man of the match: Kazeem Olaigbe
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