St Mirren 0-0 Dundee (AET; 3-1 on pens)
- Published
Chances were few and far between in a hard-fought game
Goalkeeper Trevor Carson inspired St Mirren to Scottish Cup fourth-round victory after saving all three of Dundee's penalties after a stalemate.
Neither side rustled up a clear chance until extra-time after a drab game.
Kwame Thomas came closest for the visitors in front of their raucous support, but he and Zak Rudden faltered with Dundee's first two spot kicks.
Lyall Cameron was also thwarted by Carson before Greg Kiltie converted to send Stephen Robinson's side through.
Dundee haven't played since 6 January after having three home games postponed and the break appeared to take its toll on a few players.
Tyler French was stretchered off inside the opening six minutes following a collision with Alex Gogic - and will remain in hospital overnight - before Cammy Kerr departed with a back injury later in the first-half.
An opening period that witnessed very little creativity in an evenly-contested affair petered out. With neither manager impressed with the lacklustre showing in front of goal, a raft of changes followed.
Alex Grieve found the back of the net with one of his first touches after being introduced, but his close-range effort came from an offside position.
Cameron forced one of the only saves of the 90 minutes. The tricky forward carved out space in the box to take the shot on the turn but Carson had it covered.
Mark O'Hara's effort from the edge of the box was the only real effort of note in the additional 30 minutes of action, but somehow Adam Legzdins parried away after the attempt struck several defenders.
Thomas joined on-loan from Sutton United in the midweek and came close to a dream start as he connected with Cameron's cross, forcing Carson into a splendid stop.
It would not be his last on an afternoon when he was to the fore.
Player of the match - Trevor Carson
Has to be Carson, doesn't it? Three saves in the shoot-out and others from Cameron and Thomas
What they said
St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson: "We made hard work of it. We're in the next round, which is the positive. The other positive is Trevor Carson - outstanding with the penalty saves. He and our goalkeeping coach Jamie Langfield had done their homework.
"Credit to Dundee. It was like a Premiership tie. The boys who stepped up showed real nerve, good quality to finish. We owe it to Trevor and Jamie that we are through to the next round. The boys know that they can be better."
Dundee manager Gary Bowyer: "There is pride but, at the end of the day, we lost. The chances we created, we didn't need to go to extra-time. The way we took the game to St Mirren, we were very good.
"You can see from today's performance that there's not much of a difference between some of the teams in the Premiership and the Championship."