Nial McGinn picks up where he left off for Aberdeen

McGinn opened the scoring after just three minutes when he headed in a Chris Clark cross and, 20 minutes later, he added his second, with Clark again playing a huge part.

Six minutes from the break, Huntly found themselves 3-0 down when Scott Vernon raced onto a through-ball to net. McGinn completed his hat-trick after an hour before, conveniently, Guild pulled a goal back for Huntly from the penalty spot.

Inverness Caledonian Thistle dominated against Elgin City at Borough Briggs but took time to make the breakthrough. Gary Warren finally broke the deadlock with a header deep into the second half and Richie Foran made it 2-0, the final score, with another header.

Ross County found the going hard at Peterhead and trailed at half-time to a neat finish from Andy Rodgers after 36 minutes. Bryan Gilfillan scored a second for Peterhead from the penalty spot with just a minute left to give his side a 2-0 victory.

In a thriller at Bet Butler Stadium, Partick Thistle edged Dumbarton 4-3. Dumbarton took an early lead when Mark Gilhaney netted with a close-range header but Partick were level five minutes later when James Craigan slipped the ball home.

Partick moved in front when Ross Forbes scored with a low shot and Stephen O’Donnell added a third before half-time. Scott Agnew pulled a goal back with a deflected shot early in the second half. Trialist Mark Kerr made it 4-2 with a 25-yard shot from Forbes’ quickly-taken free-kick. Mitch Megginson kept Dumbarton in touch with a 71st-minute strike but Partick held on.

Dundee had a narrow 1-0 win over Forfar at Station Park with Carlo Monti heading the only goal from Jamie Reid’s cross after half-an-hour.

In a competitive match at New Bayview, Cowdenbeath’s Jamie Stevenson and East Fife’s Ismael Bouzid were both sent off in the second half. Neither side could find a goal in a 0-0 stalemate.

At Somerset Park, Ayr United lost 4-1 to Rotherham United. Alex Revell opened the scoring with a 53rd-minute header and then added a second before Mitch Rose made it 3-0. Michael Moffat countered for Ayr from the penalty spot but Ben Pringle completed the scoring for Rotherham.

East Stirlingshire beat Craigroyston 2-1 in Edinburgh with Jordan McKechnie and Kevin Turner supplying the goals. Andy Johnston, a trialist, scored for Craigroyston.

In the Ramsdens Cup, Spartans beat Threave Rovers 4-2 in their qualifying round, first leg match at Ainslie Park. Robbie Ross opened the scoring in the 48th minute from Jack Beesley’s cross and then added a second seven minutes later from close in. Sean Milligan pulled a goal back and Scott Wilby equalised from the penalty spot.

But Kevin McLeod put the home side back in front with a penalty and Chris Anderson scored a fourth on the stroke of full-time.