Edinburgh City travelled to Dingwall to meet Ross County, a side recently relegated from the William Hill Premiership, and it was a night Citizens fans may wish to forget.
Don Cowie’s men thrashed the men from Meadowbank Stadium 8-0 in the Premier Sports Cup, Group B, on Matchday four of five, three goals coming in the first-half and five in the second.
This left City boss Michael McIndoe with much to ponder on the long trip back to the Capital from the Highlands.
Northern Ireland international striker Ronan Hale completed his hat-trick with a penalty after 47 minutes after opening the scoring in 22 minutes. Jay Henderson added No 2 in 37 minutes and Hale was back on the scoresheet two minutes later.
He claimed his third from the penalty spot two minutes into the second half with Henderson netting his second after 57 minutes.
Joe Coyle scored a double after 76 and 89 minutes, his second completing the scoring, and Kieran Phillips also netted after 82 minutes.
Edinburgh City bosses thanked the 12 fans who travelled to support their team in the fixture and the dominant display from the second tier club who are close to sealing their spot in the next round.
Cowie was understandably pleased with the performance of his men and said: “We had to be patient for the first goal and a real moment of quality from Ronan breaks the deadlock.
“You could see the freedom which came after that.
“I spoke at half-time when it was 3-0, could we kick on from there and be ruthless and we got the two goals right after half-time. Overall 8-0, two debuts for Academy graduates, so delighted.”
On a positive note, City gave two Academy graduates their first professional appearance and, overall, Ross County had 23 shots against ten in reply, 12 on target against two from the opposition, and enjoyed 54 per cent of possession against 46 per cent
Partick Thistle still top the section with nine points from three games, followed by County on seven points also from three starts.
Third are Queen of the South with three points from the same number of games, Stranraer are fourth on four points from three starts and City prop up the rest with two points from four games.
