Aberdeen 1-1 Kilmarnock

Kilmarnock striker Kris Boyd earned his side a Scottish Cup quarter-final replay with an equaliser against Aberdeen from the penalty spot.

Boyd scored his 17th goal of the season after Jordan Jones was brought down by Shay Logan and Kari Arnason.

Aberdeen had taken the lead in the first-half through captain Graeme Shinnie, whose attempted cross flew in.

Both sides missed chances to win, and they will meet again on 13 March at Rugby Park.

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The first half was far from a classic, with too many passes being over hit by both sets of players, although for long spells it was Aberdeen who carried the majority of any threat going forward.

Aberdeen captain Graeme Shinnie scored the opening goal when his cross flew past Jamie MacDonald into the net

That was especially the case when Shinnie was in possession, as the Aberdeen captain was the outstanding player on view in his return from a two-match suspension.

There was no doubt that Aberdeen missed his drive and determination in the recent defeats against Hibernian and Celtic, but Shinnie certainly made up for lost time here as was highlighted by the early opener.

Kilmarnock right back Stephen O'Donnell suffered a difficult time tracking the left back's runs and paid the price when Shinnie edged Aberdeen towards the semi-final after just nine minutes.

He broke clear on the left, laid the ball back to Ryan Christie and when the on-loan Celtic midfielder returned it to him in space, Shinnie attempted a cross into the box but ended up striking an acute angled drive that flew into the far corner of the net.

Kilmarnock were awarded a penalty when Jordan Jones was brought down by Shay Logan and Kari Arnason

It's not an incident that Kilmarnock goalkeeper Jamie MacDonald will want to see again, as he was badly at fault for allowing the ball to flash past him.

That left a side who hadn't scored twice in a game against Aberdeen since their last win at Pittodrie in December 2012 looking to end that run to progress, but ultimately they would be happy to earn the replay.

That might not have been possible had it not been for two brilliant goal-saving blocks when first Greg Taylor halted Aberdeen midfielder Kenny McLean in his stride and Rory McKenzie did likewise to deny Aberdeen striker Adam Rooney.

At the other end, Kilmarnock centre-back Kirk Broadfoot finally forced Aberdeen goalkeeper Freddie Woodman into a save two minutes from the interval with a powerful header from a McKenzie corner, which the on-loan Newcastle United man tipped over.

Kilmarnock striker Eamonn Brophy was booked after claiming for a penalty after a challenge by Aberdeen Ryan Christie

Boyd should have levelled from the resulting corner, but the experienced striker was leaning back as he sent a volley from 10 yards sailing high into the Richard Donald Stand - but the abuse he received from the Dons fans certainly backfired later.

MacDonald was able to redeem himself in the second half with a save that kept the visitor's in the tie, the Kilmarnock goalkeeper diving superbly to keep out Arnason's header from a swerving Niall McGinn free kick.

Overall, there wasn't a great deal of skilful football on display - not helped by the poor quality of the Pittodrie pitch - but Kilmarnock's fight and determination not to be beaten must have pleased the 1,368 travelling fans.

Their efforts to travel to Aberdeen in the challenging winter conditions were rewarded with Boyd's 17th goal of the season to provide another chance to try to end their dismal run of results against Aberdeen.

If the opener was a disaster for MacDonald then Logan and Arnason were left feeling foolish when Boyd levelled from the penalty spot midway through the second half.

The Aberdeen defenders left it to each other to clear what seemed a harmless through ball from Taylor and when Jones nipped between the dithering pair, Logan tripped him from behind as Arnason also tried to stop the Kilmarnock winger.

Boyd took a great deal of delight in lashing the penalty into the roof of the net before setting off to celebrate in front of the Aberdeen supporters who had been giving him stick.