Partick Thistle 5-0 St Mirren

A first-half blitz ensured Partick Thistle got their Betfred Cup campaign back on track with a 5-0 victory over St Mirren.Steven Lawless and Blair Spittal struck twice and Kris Doolan was also on the score sheet in a one-sided affair at Firhill.Abdul Osman was sent off for the hosts shortly before the hour mark but it mattered little as they moved up to second in Group H, with Saints staring at an early cup exit.Alan Archibald's men opened the scoring on 12 minutes which set the tone for the match.Saints failed to clear their lines and Doolan, who looked offside, collected the ricochet off Spittal and produced a composed finish from inside the box.Chris Erskine should have doubled their lead when he was presented with a gift from Ian McShane, but his shot was saved by goalkeeper Ross Stewart.However, the second goal soon arrived. From the resulting corner, Lawless played a one-two with Erskine in the box to drill the ball into the corner on 23 minutes.St Mirren had no answer to Thistle's slick link-up play in the final third and Lawless finished a lovely move on 34 minutes, sweeping the ball into the corner from 25 yards.Confidence was oozing through the Premiership side and Spittal curled in a delightful fourth from a free-kick on 38 minutes, leaving Saints boss Jack Ross bewildered.The only blot on Thistle's copy book was the sending off of Osman for a second bookable offence on Stephen McGinn.However, that failed to stop them from adding a fifth on the hour mark as Spittal converted from Erskine's delivery.McShane was denied a consolation for Saints towards the end with a stunning save from goalkeeper Tomas Cerny.ends