1 hour ago Elgin City 0 Kilmarnock 1
Kilmarnock picked up their first victory of the 2026/27 season with a 1-0 win over Elgin City at Borough Briggs this afternoon.
Joe Hugill produced a last-gasp goal to ensure the points came home with Ayrshire’s finest, as Elgin putting up a good fight on their own turf.
The warm weather failed to reach the Highlands, where the chilly breeze was more akin to Autumnal conditions rather than the sunnier climes experienced back home in recent times.
The first half was an ugly affair, with very little pace to the game, and both teams relinquishing possession easily after spells of holding onto the ball in the middle of the park.
In what was undoubtedly best described as a scrappy game, the first notable flashpoint occurred on 35 minutes, when Jamie Brandon was shown a straight red card for a late tackle near the touchline. Referee Duncan Nicolson took his time to consider his decision but reached for his back pocket to send the right back for an early shower. Erik Ring was subbed on to fill the hole vacated by the defender, as Ieuan Owen was sacrificed.
Into the second-half, the visitors started with more intent. They had the ball in the net through a deflected Greg Kiltie shot after only a couple of minutes, but Hugill was adjudged to have been stood in an offside position before his lay-off to the skipper.
It took until the 71st minute until Killie managed to threaten again. Ring delivered a dangerous cross into the box, and with Tyreece John-Jules being held by the centre-half, he managed to lay the ball back to the edge of the box for Tom Lowery. The midfielder’s shot failed to seriously trouble the keeper, but it was a shot on target as Killie pushed.
Lowery came even closer just minutes later when a lovely interchange on the edge of the box between he and Kiltie saw the former burst into the area and get a shot away, but the keeper managed to palm the ball out for a corner.
Just as it looked like we’d be headed for a second successive penalty shootout, Hugill was played clean through by strike partner John-Jules. The frontman was in the exact place he needed to be, with plenty of grass to run onto, before picking his spot in a one-on-one with the keeper to open the scoring on 92 minutes.
It was far from pretty, but the 10-men of Killie did just enough to end the game on a positive note and earn all three points.
Crowd: 909.
Team: Stryjek, Brandon, Deas, Hugill, Kiltie, Lowery, Schjønning-Larsen (Bowie, 83’), Mathurin (John-Jules, 45’), Brown (Stanger, 52’), Owen (Ring, 42’), Rice (O’Hara, 52’).
Unused subs: Ferrie, McKenzie, Cleșcenco, Thomson.
Booked: Bailey Rice, Ethan Brown
Sent off: Jamie Brandon.
