A hat-trick from the deadly Nathan Austin handed Elgin back-to-back defeats in Group G of the Viaplay League Cup.
Elgin were a goal down before they had time to find their feet as Jack Healy pounced on a loose pass at the back and gave Austin a simple opportunity to whip a left-foot shot past Daniel Hoban after just two minutes.
It left Elgin with a mountain to climb but they were almost level eight minutes later when a free-kick broke to Russell Dingwall at the edge of the box but his strike was just wide of target.
Hoban was beaten again six minutes from the break when Healy beat his man and centred the ball for Austin and he made no mistake with his left foot.
Dylan Lawrence almost pulled a goal back two minutes into the second half when his header had Allan Fleming in trouble but it dipped wide.
𝗙𝗨𝗟𝗟-𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘 | East Fife 3-1 Elgin City
⚽⚽⚽Austin 2', 39' 79'
Dingwall 78'⚽ pic.twitter.com/WkMz5oyhaR— East Fife FC (@EastFifeFC) July 18, 2023
Elgin were much improved after the break and it took a terrific save from Fleming to deny Liam Harvey shortly afterwards.
The goalkeeper produced an even better stop after 61 minutes to keep out a vicious volley from the teenage striker.
At the other end, Hoban kept Elgin in it with a superb double save from Gregor Nicol and Ryan Schiavone.
Dingwall pulled a goal back with 13 minutes left when he thumped a low, 20-yard shot into the bottom corner.
But Austin completed his hat-trick two minutes later after great work by Nicol to kill off any comeback hopes.
Hamilton 1-0 Brechin City
Brechin City went down to a narrow 1-0 defeat from Hamilton Accies at the ZLX Stadium in Group C of the Viaplay Cup.
Andy Kirk, the Brechin City boss, felt his side paid the price for a poor first-half display.
“I thought that we were very poor in the first-half, probably the worst we’ve played for a long time.
“We didn’t get close to players, we got deeper as the game progressed and when we had a chance to put our foot on the ball we didn’t.
“We gave it away so we were really disappointed with a lot of aspects of our play.
“We spoke at half-time about a few things we needed to improve upon and it was about going out and showing confidence and self-belief and put our foot on the ball and start playing.
“We did that in the second-half so huge credit to the players for responding the way they did.
“The opening 45 minutes was extremely disappointing but the players came out in the second half and competed well against a very good team.”
Accies dominated the opening stages with Kevin O’Hara, Stephen Hendrie and Dylan Tait all going close but it was City who went closest to breaking the deadlock after 15 minutes when a Grady McGrath pass created an opportunity for Fraser MacLeod whose shot was tipped round the post by Accies keeper Jamie Smith.
The hosts continued to dominate proceedings and they deservedly grabbed the lead from the penalty-spot after 22 minutes.
A pass from Tait created an opportunity for O’Hara who was bundled to the ground by Hamish Thomson with the ex-Alloa and Dunfermline player stepping up to fire the spot-kick into the bottom corner of the net, giving City keeper Lenny Wilson no chance.
FULL TIME | Hamilton Accies 1-0 Brechin City
A first half penalty from Kevin O’Hara proves to be the difference between the sides at the ZLX Stadium this evening. pic.twitter.com/lM5QVOulBh
— Brechin City FC (@BrechinCityFC) July 18, 2023
City came more into the game immediately after the break in terms of possession but were finding it difficult to create any clear-cut chances.
Accies though still had the lion’s share of pressure and they almost doubled their advantage in the 67th minute when a Lee Kilday shot was cleared off the goal line by Chris Mudie.
City hit back and a Kevin McHattie cross from the left was headed against the bar by Marc Scott.
This gave Brechin confidence and they almost grabbed the equaliser in the 76th minute when Smith did well to parry a McGrath close-range shot but despite their best efforts, they were unable to take the match to penalty-kicks.
