A brace from Leighton McIntosh saw Dumbarton give League 2 champions East Kilbride a scare in an eight goal Premier Sports Cup thriller.

McIntosh, on his 50th appearance, put Sons ahead early on. Before Cami Elliott turned things around with a 15 minute hat-trick before half-time for Kilby.

Sons, in their third outing of the week, fought back. With Scott Honeyman’s free-kick and another McIntosh strike levelling things up with less than 10 minutes to play.

However, a Darragh O’Connor header restored Kilby’s lead late on, before ex-Son Craig McGuffie dispatched a penalty with the last kick of the game to add some gloss to the scoreline.

Having faced League Cup holders St Mirren and Scottish Cup finalists Dunfermline in their opening two games, boss Frank McKeown made two changes to the side which had lost at East End Park midweek – as Tommy Robson and Deryn Lang returned.

On a baking hot July afternoon, the opening exchanges in South Lanarkshire saw Mick Kennedy’s men dominate possession in their trademark style – but without creating any chances of note.

Just as the away fans were starting to get frustrated with a lack of possession, they saw their side take the lead.

Tenacious play from Kristian Webster and Kai Kirkpatrick won possession on the right wing, with Leighton McIntosh outmuscling Chris McKenna and drilling across Shay Kelly and into the net.

Sons should’ve had a second soon after as McKenna appeared to slip and played Scott Honeyman in on goal, only for the whistle of referee Mark Daly to bail out the big defender – with the Dumbarton man left in disbelief that he was adjudged to have conceded a foul.

That proved pivotal too, as the home side levelled with their first effort on goal.

An awkward bounce caught out Josh Todd in the middle of the park and the ball spun to Malik Zaid, who set off on a driving run before playing in Cami Elliott – who made no mistake with a clinical finish beyond Aidan Rice.

The goal – on the half hour mark – was immediately followed by a hydration break, with EK returning from the interval as the sharper side.

They made it 2-1 soon after, with ex-Son Finlay Gray’s cross met by the totally unopposed Elliot six yards – and he had the simplest of tasks to steer a free header in via the join of post and bar.

Dumbarton’s response was strong, with powerful play from McIntosh setting up a chance for Deryn Lang – but his drive was well blocked by Kelly.

At the other end, Aidan Rice denied Finlay Gray one-on-one, but the Celtic loanee was powerless to deny Elliott his hat-trick in first-half injury time.

His point blank range effort was superbly stopped by the 20-year-old, but nobody in gold reacted quickly enough – allowing the grounded forward to lash into the net.

The two goal deficit gave Sons a mountain to climb, but the introduction of Josiah Sowa and Scott Tomlinson after the hour mark injected new life into the visitors.

A sharp move around the edge of the area was stopped by the hand of Rhys Armstrong, with Scott Honeyman deceiving Shay Kelly from the resulting free-kick.

A long ball forward then saw Leighton McIntosh cause chaos in the EK ranks, as he outmuscled his man, swivelled and hammered beyond Kelly to level things up with less than 10 minutes to play.

However the joy was short lived as, two minutes later, Darragh O’Connor rose highest in a packed penalty area to guide a header beyond Aidan Rice to restore the home side’s lead.

Ali Omar almost found an immediate response for Dumbarton but couldn’t force a Tommy Robson corner home at the far post, as Sons threw everything forward.

However it was the home side who had the final say. Andrew Kyle hit the deck after a challenge from Scott Honeyman on the edge of the area, with referee Daly pointing to the spot – to the fury of the Sons fans behind the goal.

Former Dumbarton winger Craig McGuffie tucked home from the spot to make the final scoreline look somewhat more comfortable than it had been, as Sons’ quest for their first point of the League Cup continued.