St Mirren picked up three points in Premier Sports Cup Group D after a 2-1 win away to Forfar Athletic.
Goals from Jayden Richardson and substitute Mikael Mandron had Saints in control. Kieran Inglis pulled one back for the hosts with a fine strike heading into the final 10 minutes. But the Buddies would see the game out to secure a first win of the new season.
There were four changes to the side that drew 0-0 with Arbroath on Saturday. Oisin Smyth came in for the suspended Mark O'Hara, while Alex Iacovitti, Conor McMenamin and Jonah Ayunga also made their first starts of the season. Scott Tanser, James Scott and Mandron dropped to the bench.
A bright start was rewarded when Richardson opened the scoring on 9 minutes. The wing-back ran on to a pass from McMenamin and finished emphatically beyond Marc McCallum in the Forfar goal to open his Saints account.
Killian Phillips came close to doubling our lead just two minutes later when his side-footed effort from the edge of the box slid just by the post. It was again the Irishman who almost added our second as we approached half-time. McMenamin flipped the ball over the top for Ayunga who brought it under control before laying the ball off to Phillips on the edge of the area and he fired inches over with McCallum at full-stretch.
The manager made a change at the break when he brought Mandron on in place of Roland Idowu.
Early in the second-half, McMenamin did well to fashion an opportunity for himself when he chopped in from the left, but smashed high and wide. Richardson had a chance to score his second on 55 minutes when a ball to the back post found the defender, but he got his connection wrong and sliced the effort wide.
Peter Urminsky had to remain alert on 67 minutes when Craig Slater tried to catch him out at his near post with a free-kick. The Slovakian moved across quickly to push away.
Saints would add a second with 15 minutes remaining. Substitute James Scott broke down the right-hand side and slid the ball across the area for Mandron to finish from close range to score his first of the new season.
But hopes of a comfortable finish in Forfar were dashed when Loons substitute Inglis scored a tremendous effort from 25 yards to halve the deficit going into the final 10 minutes.
Scott almost put the game beyond doubt heading into the final minute when he cracked a strike off the far post from the edge of the area.
Forfar would threaten an equaliser deep in stoppage time as they looked to take the game to penalties. Urminsky was at full stretch as he tipped over Lewis Martin's header to ensure the points returned to Paisley.
Full-Time: Forfar Athletic 1-2 St Mirren
St Mirren: Urminsky, Fraser (c), Gogic, Iacovitti (King 68), Richardson, Phillips, Smyth, John (Tanser 83), McMenamin (Taylor 68), Ayunga (Scott 68), Idowu (Mandron 46)
Subs Not Used: Tamosevicius, Hutchison, Penman, Mooney
Forfar Athletic: McCallum, Martin, Dolzanski, Morrison (c), C.Scott (Rodden 69), Jamie Richardson (Lemon 46), Slater (Inglis 69), Mailer, Lorimer (Cannon 57), Rennie (Allan 79), Shepherd
Subs Not Used: Stafford, Whatley, MacLean
Referee: Dan McFarlane
Assistant Referee: Sean Carr
Assistant Referee: Steven Wilson
