Airdrie’s KDM goal glut continued with five different scorers putting Elgin to the sword as the Diamonds advanced to the last 16.

Having scored six and seven in the group phase, a 5-0 win over the Moray side was a welcome turnaround for John Rankin’s men after recent league results.

The Airdrie boss made six changes as he refreshed his side for the clash at the Albert Bartlett, with Kieran Wright, Kwame Boateng, Craig Ross, Gavin Gallagher, Kian Taylor and Robbie Mahon coming back into the starting line-up. Cade Melrose, Sam Fisher, Adam Devine, Ewan Simpson, Callum Burnside and Dapo Mebude were the players to drop out.

The sides had met in pre-season with the visitors taking the lead in an eventual 1-1 draw, but there were no such complications this time round as Lewis Gibson fired Airdrie in front inside two minutes.

Robbie Mahon set the tone for an excellent evening with a direct run, earning a corner which the wide midfielder took himself. Declan Gallagher won the header at the back-post, and Gibson’s improvised backheel finish went through the legs of Elgin keeper Joe Morrison and nestled in the back of the net.

Chances were exchanged three minutes later as Mahon was crowded out on the edge of the box following a good run and pass by Taylor, with Elgin breaking at pace only for Calum Brown to send his angled strike into the side netting.

Airdrie’s midfielders continued to make good forward runs, Gibson and Gavin Gallagher winning corners and pinning the visiting defence back, but it took a ninth-minute Ross header to test the keeper again, with Morrison gathering easily.

Mark Gallagher called Wright into action in the 13th-minute, but his ambitious lob was a comfortable catch for the Diamonds loanee.

Reghan Tumilty joined the attack on 18 minutes, seeing his angled strike take a touch on the way over, with Gibson’s long-range effort flying just wide 11 minutes later.

Gavin Gallagher made it 2-0 on 36 minutes with a trademark run and finish after Gibson’s pass had allowed Mahon to cut the ball across goal for the midfielder to grab his sixth of the season.

The Irishman was giving the Elgin defence a torrid time, earning Darryl McHardy a booking for a cynical trip before seeing his cross cleared after tying two men in knots three minutes before the break.

Connor Smith went close with a curling effort just before half-time, and the Diamonds took a comfortable lead into the break.

Elgin’s double-substitution during the interval did little to stem the flow of traffic, and it was Taylor who was next to threaten for Airdrie, just missing the target with a 49th-minute header.

Gallagher almost got his second with a clipped effort which just cleared the bar on 51 minutes before drawing a good save from Morrison two minutes later.

The Elgin keeper was fortunate not to conceded just before the hour-mark, Tumilty’s 56th-minute cross resulting in a mishit clearance which broke kindly for the keeper, and two minutes later Josh Gentles closed down a kick-off only for the ball to spin back into Morrison’s arms.

Smith and Gallagher went close before Gentles found himself unmarked at the back post, firing over when it looked certain the net would bulge again.

Airdrie did get their third a few minutes later, and it was Matty Yates who stroked home with aplomb immediately after coming on as he outstripped the defender to reach Gibson’s overhead pass.

Another Diamonds sub almost had a similar impact seven minutes later as Tom Pickford was denied by a brave Morrison save, but the loose ball fell to Mahon who crossed for Tumilty to steer home a back-post header for Airdrie’s fourth.

Three minutes later it was five, and it took a horror-show from the Elgin defence to give Mahon the goal his performance so richly deserved, Owen Cairns attempting to head back to Morrison unaware that the keeper had raced out of his box to clear. Mahon, whose ball forward had forced the error, put the afterburners on to race through and tap into the empty net.

Wright was finally called into meaningful action with nine minutes remaining, diving to smother a 20-yard Kieron Willox effort.

Pickford was unable to drop his lob under the bar after Morrison had gifted possession on 83 minutes, and some fancy footwork from Airdrie sub Callum Burnside went unrewarded as Taylor’s return pass drifted out of play in the final minute.

The final whistle called time on a good night’s work, and the Diamonds now look to take their five-star form into the league with a visit to Alloa’s Indodrill Stadium on Saturday.