Sammon brace sees Kilmarnock through

CIS Cup review:Former UCD striker Conor Sammon ensured there was no upset at Rugby Park when he grabbed a brace to send Kilmarnock into the third round of the Co-operative Insurance Cup in a 3-1 win against plucky Morton.

The Irn-Bru First Division side had produced the result of the round this time last year when they sent Hibernian crashing out of the competition but there was to be no shock this time as Sammon netted either side of the break after the Greenock outfit had restored parity through Ryan McGuffie.

Killie opened the scoring after 24 minutes when Sammon was tripped in the box by Ryan McWilliams and referee Mike Tumilty immediately pointed to the penalty spot. Sammon brushed himself off and stepped up to rifle home a right-footed shot which left McWilliams no chance in the Morton goal.

Just when the home side thought they would be heading into the interval with the advantage, their First Division visitors hauled themselves level with a minute of the first half remaining with a penalty of their own. This time, Brian Graham was fouled in the box by Tim Clancy and McGuffie did the honours from the spot, sending a confident, low strike past Alan Combe.

Killie were back in front with 64 minutes gone when Sammon grabbed his second of the night. The ball broke kindly for Kevin Kyle and he whipped across the face of goal where Sammon was waiting to direct a header past McWilliams from close range.

Kyle then put the gloss on the win late on, hours after being plucked from the international wilderness when he was named in George Burley's Scotland squad for next month's World Cup double-header against Macedonia and Holland.

Ross County outplayed Clydesdale Bank Premier League opponents Hamilton for long spells in a thoroughly deserved 2-1 victory in this Co-operative Insurance second-round tie at Victoria Park.

Man of the match Paul Di Giacomo opened the scoring just after the half hour-mark with a fine opportunist strike

Michael Gardyne swung a ball in from the left and Richard Brittain headed the ball against the crossbar but Di Giacomo latched onto the rebound to fire the ball into the net.

Brittain increased the lead seven minutes into the second half with a decent strike from 15 yards.

Accies got a consolation in injury time when Simon Mensing drilled the ball low into the net.

First-half goals from Andis Shala and David Goodwillie gave Dundee United a comfortable 2-0 win over Alloa in their Co-operative Insurance Cup second-round tie at Recreation Park.

United's German striker Shala headed the visitors into a 23rd-minute lead from Craig Conway's corner before Goodwillie grabbed the second seven minutes from the break.

Paul Dixon's searching 50-yard pass sent Goodwillie racing clear of the Alloa defence and he confidently drove in to the home side's penalty area before knocking the ball past David Crawford.

The tie therefore was effectively over by the interval and the Tannadice men cruised to the final whistle with Shala and Prince Buaben missing sitters and Alloa goalkeeper Crawford making a fine save from Shala to keep the scoreline respectable.

Queen of the South came from behind to stun Partick Thistle 2-1 with an injury-time winner in Co-operative Insurance second-round tie at Firhill.

Thistle led through Simon Donnelly's first-half opener but substitute David Weatherston came off the bench to score twice.

The hosts went ahead after half an hour thanks to Donnelly's superb 22-yard free-kick, their first shot on target.

The Doonhamers drew level when Weatherston scored with his first touch, drilling a Burns cross high into the net in 64 minutes.

And Weatherston grabbed a dramatic winner in injury-time from another Burns delivery.

Mickael Antoine-Curier scored twice as Dundee cruised to a 4-2 win at Forfar.

Summer signing Leigh Griffiths opened the scoring and Antoine-Curier's double made it 3-0 just past the half-hour mark.

Stephen Tulloch pulled a goal back after the break but and Andy Tod own goal ended any realistic hope of a dramatic comeback before Ross Campbell scored another consolation for the home side.

Three first-half goals were enough to ease Inverness into the third round at the expense of Albion Rovers.

Robert Eagle, Adam Rooney and Nauris Bulvitis all scored before the break before Grant Munro completed a 4-0 rout in the second half.