Livingston thrash Stenhousemuir to continue perfect Betfred Cup form

Livingston cruised to a comfortable 4-0 Betfred Cup group-stage win over Stenhousemuir to move to within touching distance of the knock-out rounds.

Gary Holt's charges made it three wins from three in the group as an early Alan Forrest double and a first-half strike from Matej Poplatnik ensured there would be no cup shock at Ochilview.

After the interval, substitute Aaron Taylor-Sinclair rounded off the scoring.

Livingston made a quickfire start against Stenhousemuir as they took just 40 seconds to break the deadlock.

Forrest was sharp as he latched onto a flick from Jay Emmanuel-Thomas and then displayed great composure as he surged into the penalty area to dispatch a low shot beyond Paddy Martin.

After eight minutes, Livingston had doubled their advantage as Forrest claimed his second of the evening.

The winger picked up possession on the left-hand side of the penalty area and cut onto the right foot to curl home a glorious shot into the far corner.

Livingston extended their lead as Poplatnik notched their third on the half-hour mark.

It was a quick passing move which cut through Stenhousemuir, which ended with Emmanuel-Thomas playing a perfectly-weighted defence-splitting pass for Poplatnick to run onto and the Slovenian produced a clinical finish.

Emmanuel-Thomas went close after the interval but fired into the side-netting from close range.

But Livingston did not have to wait long for a fourth as Taylor-Sinclair got on the scoresheet after 65 minutes.

Taylor-Sinclair had been on the pitch for just five minutes after replacing Nicky Devlin and was left unmarked at a corner to head home from close range.