Live updates from Borough Briggs as Ross County take on Elgin City in the Betfred Cup
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Full time thoughts
Elgin ran County close at times, but in the end their quality shone through.
Paton and Lakin's finishes were both really good, and it still doesn't feel like the Staggies were at their best.
They are the strong favourites to win the group now, but perhaps more importantly they scored a few goals tonight after struggling to find the net in recent weeks.
I get the impression this will be a confidence boosting win, and if moral hits the roof then this County team could be very dangerous indeed.
There is no time to be added, so it has finished Elgin City 1–4 Ross County.
80' Elgin pull one back
The home side do get one back, as a corner is only cleared to the edge of the box where Cameron is waiting to slot into the bottom corner, leaving Laidlaw stationary.
County were going to make a triple change anyway before that goal, and proceed with the substitutions as Tillson, O'Connor and Williamson come on for Grivosti, Paton and Kelly.
76' Lakin adds another
Hylton gets taken down about 20 yards out from goal, and Lakin steps up to find the top corner.
It may have taken a slight touch off the wall, but it was nothing to steer the ball away from goal, and the on-loan midfielder makes it 4–0.
74' Lakin audaciously tries to catch the Elgin keeper off his line, but McHale backpedals quickly and manages to gather the ball in.
70' Final subs of the evening for Elgin, Mailer and MacBeath coming on for Osadolor and MacEwan.
67' County substitution as goalscorer Shaw comes off, replaced by Lakin.
64' Another change for Elgin, with McHardy coming on this time in place of Spark.
60' Double change for Elgin, Peters and Sopel coming on for Hester and O'Keefe.
56' Another Reid corner comes in, this time falling to Mckay at the back post, but his half-volley goes the wrong side of the post.
51' Paton makes it three
That is a brilliant finish from Paton, who is really growing into a vocal member of Ross County's midfield.
He made the run beyond Mckay, who dropped deep and found Paton with the pass, but the Canadian still had a lot to do to find the net.
It was not a complicated goal, he shot from just inside the left-hand side of the box with his weaker foot, but it finds the inside of the post and then the net in what was a really impressive effort.
Game over? We have been here before...
46' Speculative shot from Oli Shaw, coming in from the left wing, slies wide of the mark.
The second half is under way!
Half time thoughts
Elgin will feel the scoreline is harsh, but it has been clinical from County when they've gotten into the final third.
The hosts have had more shots at goal, and Laidlaw has been the busier keeper thanks to Kane Hester, but it's the Staggies with a two-goal advantage.
County usually like to pass the ball around which can leave them open at the back at times, but they haven't been able to string too many passes together all that often while still letting Elgin advance on them.
It has been impressive from the home side really, but County won't care one bit. They lead, and look good for the group at this point.
Half time: Elgin City 0–2 Ross County
44' Iacovitti doubles County's advantage
From the resulting corner, Reid swings the ball in towards the six-yard box where Iacovitti connects with a header.
McHale actually makes a good reaction stop first time around, but Iacovitti is on hand to head the rebound
42' Elgin had been causing County a lot of problems with their pressing, making it difficult for their visitors to get up the pitch.
They do eventually feed Mckay through on goal and he cleverly drops a shoulder to make McHale commit, only for Bronsky to make an important block – a feat he repeats from Charles-Cook's follow up.
21' Goal disallowed!
Elgin briefly think they have equalised, only to be denied by the offside flag.
Osadolor's free kick is almost misjudged by Laidlaw, who is then helpless to stop the follow up, but the assistant referee raises his flag and preserves County's lead.
20' Hester looks the most likely to score as he wins the ball from a County throw in and charges towards goal.
He goes past a couple of Staggies defenders and shoots from the edge of the box, but Laidlaw again shows that he is equal to the forward.
16' Hester again proves a nuisance to the County backline, forcing Laidlaw to dive low to his left after hitting Cameron's knock down.
11' Hylton wins a free kick in a great position for County, and Shaw and Reid stand over it.
It is the goalscorer, undoubtedly high on confidence, who hits it, and though the wall gets a touch it spirals into the danger area.
It looks like Hylton is going to get a chance to double the lead, but McHale is out quickly to charge him down.
7' Straight from the restart, Elgin move forward and Hester finds enough space to have a shot.
Laidlaw gets down to parry it back to the striker, but he cannot sort his feet out quickly enough to get a follow-up strike away.
5' Shaw scores again
Oli Shaw has scored in his third consecutive match for Ross County to give them the lead in Elgin.
It came from a corner which was not cleared properly, falling to Shaw who slotted home inside the box.
It is not all good news for the Staggies though, as Carl Tremarco, who was instrumental in winning the corner, has been forced off after pulling up with his hamstring.
We have kick off in Elgin!
10 minutes to go
There is another new captain for the Staggies this evening with Iain Vigurs remaining on the substitute's bench, and it's Billy Mckay who is one of several changes to the County line-up.
Elgin City: McHale, Cooper, Spark, McDonald, Bronsky, MacEwan, Dingwall, Cameron, Hester, Osadolor, O'Keefe.
Substitutes: Kelly, Mailer, Peters, McHardy, MacBeath, Sopel, Wilson, Hay, Loveland.
Ross County: Laidlaw, Tremarco, Shaw, Mckay, Grivosti, Hylton, Iacovitti, Charles-Cook, Kelly, Paton, Donaldson.
Substitutes: Munro, O'Connor, Vigurs, Lakin, Tillson, Stewart, Reid, Wright, Williamson.
