A 10-MINUTE hat-trick from Liam Boyce set the tone as Ross County booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Scottish League Cup with a devastating 7-0 win over Falkirk.
Boyce struck three times at five minute intervals before the break and the goals continued to flow in the second half, with Raffaele De Vita, Jonathan Franks, Brian Graham and substitute Darren Holden all getting in on the act.
County had the first effort on goal in the third minute when a Franks cross fell for Jackson Irvine, but his header never troubled Falkirk goalkeeper Danny Rogers. Graham had a couple of efforts on goal as County went for a quick second but Falkirk came back and a Luke Leahy free-kick from 20 yards flew over the crossbar.
Falkirk's Will Vaulks cut in from the right in the ninth minute but his ball across the face of goal was booted behind by Chris Robertson.
County had claims for a penalty in the 22nd minute when Graham appeared to be impeded as he tried to get on the end of a Boyce cross but referee Stephen Finnie was having none of it.
They made the breakthrough on the half-hour mark when a Franks corner was cleared out to Richard Foster who whipped the ball across goal and Boyce headed powerfully into the net.
County continued to press and they doubled their lead in the 35th minute when another Franks corner produced a scramble in the Falkirk box and when the ball fell to Boyce, he cheekily back-heeled home. Boyce completed his hat-trick five minutes later when he got on the end of another Foster delivery to head down into the net from the six-yard box.
County made the perfect start to the second half when they made it 4-0 in the 47th minute. In a sweeping move, Graham laid the ball off for De Vita who flashed an angled drive into the far corner of the net.
De Vita was involved again eight minutes later when he cut the ball back from the byline and Jonathan Franks smashed a shot from eight yards high into the net.
It got worse for the Bairns four minutes later when Graham headed a deep cross from Stewart Murdoch in from close range.
The goals kept coming and another pin-point delivery from Murdoch in the 81st minute was swept into the net by Holden for number seven.
