Dundee were in a precarious position ahead of today's Betfred Cup game against Dumbarton. They could have ended the day bottom of group A with a single point if Greg Stewart had not helped them to a morale-boosting first win in the new format of the Scottish League Cup with a hat-trick in the 6-2 win at Dens Park. Stewart had given his side an early lead and went on to ensure Paul Hartley's side got out of jail after their Championship opponents had raced into a shock first-half lead through goals from Frazer Wright and Gregor Buchanan. The home side turned on the style in the second half, though, with five goals as Stewart completed his treble while Kane Hemmings claimed a double and captain Darren O'Dea also got in on the act.
Dundee opened the scoring on 16 minutes when Stewart curled a free-kick from an acute angle over the Dumbarton defence and past visiting keeper Mark Brown. However, the Sons of the Rock equalised against the run of play just ten minutes later. Gregor Buchanan's cross caused panic in the home defence and, despite Robert Thomson failing to convert, defender Wright was on hand to scramble the ball over the line from point-blank range. Dumbarton then took the lead in the 34th minute. Ryan Stevenson's corner was met by Thomson whose shot cannoned back off the underside of the bar, and Buchanan stroked into the empty net.
Dundee equalised three minutes into the second half as Stewart and Rory Loy combined prior to Hemmings beating Brown. O'Dea's 73rd-minute header put the hosts back in front and Stewart made it 4-2 a minute later, before completing his hat-trick with 10 minutes left. It was Hemmings who completed the rout with five minutes left with another calm finish from six yards from a pass from Kevin Holt.