Shankland’s treble came as no surprise to Mccall

Ayr United manager Ian Mccall was delighted with his side’s 3-1 win over Morton but a trio of other Championship managers were not as happy after the first Saturday of the Betfred Cup.

The Greenock side led through Michael Tidser’s free-kick before Lawrence Shankland’s three-pronged intervention. “Lawrence did what we expect him to do and we could have won by more,” Mccall said. Morton manager Ray Mckinnon was not as pleased, saying: “We lost poor goals and that was really disappointing.”

Dundee United’s Csaba Laszlo was also frustrated as his side draw 1-1 with visitors Arbroath and missed out on a bonus point after a 5-3 penalty kick defeat.

A United win looked likely when Nicky Clark scored 13 minutes from time, but Bobby Linn netted an Arbroath penalty before the end. “The players are getting used to each other but that will come,” Laszlo said.

Paul Hartley was disgruntled as Martin Rennie’s goal on 18 minutes saw Montrose win 1-0 at Falkirk. “We did not do enough and there was a lack of energy,” Hartley said.

Partick Thistle won 2-0 at

Stenhousemuir with Shea Gordon scoring twice, while Ross County beat Elgin City 2-0, with Declan Mcmanus and Josh Mullin on target.

Nathan Austin’s double gave Inverness Caledonian Thistle a 2-0 win over visitors Cove Rangers, while

Queen of the South got the better of Stranraer 5-3.

Jordyn Sheerin’s double helped Cowdenbeath win 2-0 at Raith Rovers, with

Peterhead securing a 5-4 penalty kick success at Brechin after a 0-0 draw.

Spartans and Dumbarton ended goalless, but the Sons won the shoot-out 4-3.

Edinburgh City recovered from the loss of a late goal to enjoy a 4-1 penalty success at Clyde. City led after Conrad Balatoni’s header, before Martin Mcniff levelled.