Montrose 0 Ross County 1

Ross County left it late to take three points in their opening game of the Betfred Cup group stage with a contentious late penalty by Brian Graham sealing a 1-0 win over Montrose.

Graham converted from the spot in the 86th minute to ensure the Premiership side edged past their League Two hosts.

Montrose had the first chance when Gary Fraser broke through the Staggies defence before shooting from 25 yards only for the ball to miss the post by inches.

Martin Woods was the first to come close to scoring for the Premiership side but his overhead volley from close range went too high and moments later an Alex Schalk low drive from inside the box was caught well by Montrose goalkeeper Jordan Millar.

It was Montrose with the next chance close to the break when Chris Templeman's chipped effort was denied by Scott Fox. Fraser again blasted a shot over the crossbar in the closing moments of the half.

Montrose came close to breaking the deadlock when a Paul Watson free-kick landed to Ross Campbell in the box but the ball hit Fox's legs only for Fraser to strike the rebound just wide of the post.

Ross County created a few chances for themselves in the opening stages of the second half but Kenny Van Der Weg fluffed the first opportunity as he hit his effort high after decent work from Michael Gardyne found him down the left.

On the hour mark it looked as though Ross County took the lead but Chris Robertson's close-range shot was ruled offside. It was almost 15 minutes later when Jonathan Franks had the next chance for either side but Miller was quick to catch the shot from just outside the box.

With four minutes to go County were awarded a penalty when Michael Bolochoweckyj tripped Graham inside the box with Graham stepping up to send Millar the wrong way to hit the back of the net and that decided the match.