The ten-man Diamonds were undone by a well-oiled Dundee side as they were sent crashing out of the Premier Sports Cup at the Scot Foam Stadium.

Rhys McCabe sought to move on from the 5-0 defeat his side suffered a week prior at Somerset Park at the hands of Ayr United by making six changes to the team.

Kieran Wright returned between the sticks in place of Murray Johnson while a double change in defence saw Aidan WIlson and Craig Watson replaced by manager McCabe and Cammy Bruce.

The midfield also saw Rhys Armstrong, Lewis McGrattan and Chris Mochrie drop out for Adam Frizzell, Gavin Gallagher and Terrell Agyemang.

The high-flying home side, in contrast, made only one change to the side which eased past Hearts the previous weekend, as goalkeeper Jon McCracken made way for Trevor Carson.

They looked to have continued just where they left off in the opening minutes as Simon Murray fired a diving header narrowly wide, with Dundee controlling play from the off.

The Diamonds did have early chances of their own, when some good play by Bruce gained them a corner, and the resulting header from Mason Hancock forced Carson into a smart stop down to his left.

However, the Dark Blues soon took advantage of their early efforts, when in the 12th minute Seb Palmer-Houlden stabbed home his team’s first of the afternoon from close range after a stramash in the Airdrie penalty area.

The second would have followed soon after were it not for Wright, as Murray raced on to a long, hopeful ball over the top, only to be denied by a superb one-on-one save from the Airdrie goalkeeper.

Dundee continued to control the game, and they came close again in the 36th minute when a corner was flicked on and Scott Tiffoney was alone inside the six yard box to head goalward, but was once again denied by a quick Wright save.

Despite the goalkeeper’s best efforts, the second did come after 40 minutes, as a header from a corner looped over him and dropped into the back of the net.

The first half ended with the home side well on top, which was recognised by McCabe as he made three changes coming into the second half, replacing himself, Aiken and McMaster with Mochrie, Armstrong and McGrattan.

This made a great difference for the first ten minutes of the second half, as the ball rarely left the Dundee half, and Mochrie clipped the crossbar with a volley during this spell.

However, when Tiffoney latched on to a long ball over the top and smashed beyond Wright to make the score 3-0 in the 61st minute against the run of play, the Diamonds’ good work was undone.

Only two minutes later, Dylan MacDonald was shown a straight red card for manhandling Murray as he was through on goal; the resulting free kick sent crashing off the post by Luke McCowan.

The Airdrie manager saw fit to give Aaron Reid and Cammy Cooper a chance to impress, as they replaced Agyemang and Ben Wilson.

The home side also made a change, as Curtis Main entered the field of play, forcing Wright into another superb save only a matter of seconds after coming on.

A flurry of goals followed, the first of which came when Antonio Portales flicked home a header from the front post after a corner to put his side four goals to the good.

Only two minutes later, Frizzell grabbed a spectacular consolation goal for Airdrie, as his mazy run led him to the edge of the penalty area before he fired home a powerful strike through a mass of defending bodies.

Dundee’s fifth came soon after however, as an ingenious backheel finish from Main nestled beyond Wright after a pinpoint low cross.

The final nail in the coffin of the ten-man Diamonds side came with the very last kick of the ball, as Lyall Cameron bundled home after an initial block from the Airdrie goalkeeper.

Rhys McCabe will hope to put two poor results behind his team as they dust themselves off and look to get back to winning

ways at home to Queen’s Park in the William Hill Championship in a week’s time.