Ross County required a late penalty from attacker Brian Graham to begin their defence of the League Cup with a 1-0 victory.
With the match looking destined to go to a penalty shoot-out, substitute Graham netted five minutes from time to get the Staggies off to a winning start in the newly-revamped competition.
County manager Jim McIntyre handed starts to three of his new signings, with Erik Cikos, Jay McEveley and Kenny van der Weg slotting into defence.
Montrose should have taken the lead on five minutes, when defender Andrew Steeves’ long ball released Gary Fraser in behind the visitors’ defence, but he harmlessly shot wide of Scott Fox’s goal when one-on-one with the County goalkeeper.
County’s threat came however, with Jonathan Franks striking a powerful shot wide from a narrow angle on 13 minutes, before Martin Woods’ acrobatic effort from Michael Gardyne’s delivery drifted just wide moments later.
Alex Schalk was next to threaten with a drilled low effort from the edge of the box which forced good reactions from Montrose goalkeeper Jordan Millar to get down and smother. The Highlanders were dealt a blow on 26 minutes however when defender Andrew Davies hobbled off, being replaced by Chris Robertson.
The home side showed no shortage of belief as the first-half drew to a close, with Chris Templeman’s strike deflected past the post and Fraser’s free-kick brushing the roof of the net.
County had goalkeeper Fox to thank for keeping them level early in the second-half, firstly beating away Templeman’s goalbound header before reacting quickly to block Fraser’s follow up attempt.
The let-off brought a reaction from the Staggies however, with Gardyne crashing a shot off the post, before Schalk stabbed an effort just over.
County thought they had made the breakthrough on the hour-mark when substitute Robertson had the ball in the net, however despite not connecting with the ball, Liam Boyce was penalised for offside for interfering with play.
The Staggies finally found the net with five minutes to spare, when Gardyne’s progress was halted by Montrose defender Greg Pacazio, with substitute Graham stepping up to confidently send Millar the wrong way and secure all three points for the Staggies.
