5 things we learned from the weekend’s Betfred Cup action

Celtic’s 35-game winning run in the domestic cups came to an end as Ross County won 2-0 at Parkhead.

Goals from Ross Stewart and Alex Iacovitti ensured Celtic’s run of trophies will come to an end at either 11 or 12, depending on whether the Hoops beat Hearts in the delayed Scottish Cup final.

The shock result was one of several surprises in the Betfred Cup second round with St Mirren knocking out Aberdeen and Alloa defeating Hearts.

Here are five other things we learned from the weekend’s action.

Fans turn against Neil Lennon

Plenty of Celtic supporters have called for their manager to quit or be sacked on social media and radio phone-ins while banners have also been paraded outside the stadium. But things turned ugly after Ross County’s win with hundreds breaching coronavirus restrictions to hurl abuse towards their former skipper. Two police officers were injured in the protests as the pressure on Lennon ramped up.

There’s not much wrong with Livingston

Livingston went out determined to give departed manager Gary Holt a send-off and they were three up against Ayr inside 12 minutes. Their 4-0 victory only reinforced the surprise around Scottish football that Holt felt it necessary to quit following a slow but hardly disastrous start to the season.

Hearts are far from invincible

After suffering their first Scottish Championship loss of the season against Dunfermline the previous week, Hearts fell to their first ever defeat by Alloa. Alan Trouten’s penalty earned the part-time club their first victory over the Gorgie club in their 142-year history, at the 20th attempt.

Michael O’Halloran is a wing-back to watch

The St Johnstone attacker has been utilised in a more defensive role at times in the past few weeks and played there to devastating effect at Motherwell. O’Halloran drove into the box on a number of occasions before Saints fell behind, and then got to the byline and delivered two crosses which turned the game on its head as the Perth side won 2-1.

The kids are all right for Steven Gerrard

Midfielder Ciaran Dickson, 18, and 16-year-old defender Leon King were given the final 20 minutes of Rangers’ 4-0 win at Falkirk to show what they can do and Dickson in particular took the chance with a composed display. It was a fitting honour from the manager as he marked the 22nd anniversary of his own debut for boyhood favourites Liverpool.