Peterhead v Kilmarnock
Peterhead welcomed premiership side Kilmarnock to Balmoor this weekend in the final Premier Sports cup group stage matchday. Both sides faced a quick turnaround, having both been in action on Tuesday night. Peterhead narrowly lost 1-0 to Raith Rovers in Kirkcaldy, whereas Kilmarnock defeated Hamilton Accies 1-0 at Rugby Park. Kilmarnock as yet had not conceded a single goal in their group stage campaign, with a pair of 1-0 wins and a 0-0 draw with Raith Rovers.
Peterhead made three changes to Tuesday’s lineup, Adam Carnwath, Zak To and Cammy Smith dropping to the bench and being replaced by Tobias Davies-Browne, Blair Yule and Lyall Keir.
The hosts started the game brightly, foraying into the Kilmarnock box on a handful of occasions and flashing dangerous crosses across goal, but never finding a man in Peterhead colours to apply the finishing touch. Having survived the early scares, Killie grew into the game and looked to pose a threat of their own. Strikers Hugill and John-Jules playing on the shoulder of the Blue Toon defence kept Peterhead on their toes, with Kiltie playing behind the strikers looking to drive at Brown and Kerr.
Killie’s first big chance fell to Hugill on 15 minutes, the striker driving towards goal but was met by the onrushing Jack Newman, who closed down the angle and denied the number 9. O’Hara went closer still on 33 minutes, flicking a cross towards the far post and seeing his effort come back out off the upright. Peterhead’s defence remained resolute, limiting the visitors to any other real goalscoring chances in the first 45.
Half-time: Peterhead 0-0 Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock went close to breaking the deadlock very early in the second period, once again through Hugill. The striker this time drove his shot towards the near post and hit the side netting, although some fans in the away end thought his attempt was in for a moment. Killie then hit the woodwork once again just before the hour mark, substitute Lowery curled an effort with his right foot that had Newman beat, but not the frame of his goal.
Two of the Blue Toon’s substitutes them combined for what was probably Peterhead best chance of the game. Fraser Mackie and Cammy Smith had only been on the pitch a matter of seconds when they combined to create a 1-on-1. Mackie slipped a ball in behind for the chasing Smith, but his touch took him away from goal and he too could only find the side netting. There was one more excellent save to be made by Newman before 90 minutes were up, tipping a powerful John-Jules header onto his crossbar before the ball was cleared to safety.
Full-time: Peterhead 0-0 Kilmarnock
As it is the Premier Sports Cup group stage, a shootout after the 90 minutes took place for the prize of a bonus point. Both teams scored all 4 of their first 4 penalties each, before Mathurin stepped up for Killie. His penalty was saved by Newman, who dived low to his right and got a strong hand on the shot. Cammy Smith was given the task of taking the final penalty to win it for the Blue Toon, slotting home cooly down the middle as Stryjek dived to his right.
A bonus point that was not enough for Peterhead to advance from the group stages, but a confidence booster for the Blue Toon none the less, as they host Ross County at Balmoor next weekend in the first game of the 2026/27 league season.
Full-time: Peterhead 0-0 Kilmarnock (Penalties 5-4)
