St Mirren are through to the fifth round of the Scottish Cup after a thoroughly deserved 2-0 win over Premiership side Dundee at Dens Park.
Goals from John Sutton - his 40th for the Buddies - and Jack Baird earned Saints the victory and sees them in the hat for the last 16.
Saints had won seven out of eight cup ties this season coming into the match with the only loss coming to Premiership opposition when Hamilton defeated the Buddies 3-0 at New Douglas Park.
But there was to be no repeat of that this afternoon as St Mirren outplayed and outfought their top tier opponents.
The home side could have taken an early lead though through Marcus Haber. The Canadian striker, who recently signed a new deal at Dens, was played in and was one on one with Billy O'Brien after beating the offside trap. But from a tight angle he smashed the post.
Saints were battling hard in the early stages and won two corners in quick succession. However, Dundee dealt with the danger on both occasions.
The warning signs remained though as Dundee had two half chances through Faissal El Bakhtaoui and Craig Wighton. The first saw Mark O'Hara pick out El Bakhtaoui but the striker sliced the chance wide. Then Wighton went on a run which culminated in the forward smashing towards goal but he didn't connect well enough and it went wide.
Debut goalkeeper Billy O'Brien made a terrific save to deny Cameron Kerr after the midfielder's long range effort as the home side looked to crank up the pressure. O'Brien pushed the ball by the post and looked confident as he punched away the resultant corner.
The Buddies took the lead on 24 minutes through John Sutton. It was the Englishman's milestone 40th goal for the Saints and his 10th this season. It was a great finish as he picked the ball up on the edge of the box and curled beyond Scott Bain in the Dundee goal to send Saints fans delirious.
There was no let up from the visitors and Stephen Mallan's flick inside the area found the head of ex-Dundee player Gary Irvine who headed just over the bar. Then Kyle McAllister, celebrating his 18th birthday, also went close to doubling Saints lead when his shot from outside the box went whizzing over.
Dundee were still very much in the game and made O'Brien work with the goalkeeper making several good stops to keep Saints ahead. He made a fantastic save to tip Wighton's effort over the bar. From which the home side should have been level when Haber rose above the St Mirren defence but somehow headed wide. And it was Haber who made O'Brien work again with the Welsh U21 international pushing the Canadian's shot away.
Half Time: Dundee 0-1 St Mirren
Like last week against Dunfermline, Saints got the second half off to a flier when Jack Baird doubled the visitor's advantage a little over three minutes in to the second period. St Mirren won a corner that was headed back out and found its way to Mallan after Wighton slipped in the box. Mallan's footwork was good as he moved away from the Dundee player to find Baird who wrapped his foot around the ball and beyond Bain.
The Buddies were clearly in the mood after coming out from the break and had a series of corners in a good ten minute spell. Sutton could've grabbed his second when was on the end of one of the corners but could only watch as Bain tipped over.
After a blistering start from the away side the second half became a fairly quiet affair. Dundee rarely threatened in the second half barring winning a few corner kicks which didn't cause The Buddies any harm.
Substitute David Clarkson almost added a third for Saints after coming on as a sub. The striker burst through on goal only to see his attempt denied by the feet of Bain.
In the end, two was to be enough as Saints march on into the fifth round of the Scottish Cup.
Full Time: Dundee 0-2 St Mirren
St Mirren: O'Brien, Magennis (Whyte, 74), Baird, MacKenzie, Irvine, Fjelde, Storie, McAllister (MacPherson, 90), Mallan, Morgan, Sutton (Clarkson, 85)
Subs Not Used: Langfield, Webster, McLear, O'Keefe
Dundee: Bain, Holt, Hateley (Duffy, 58), O'Hara, Extabeguren, McGowan, Gadzhalov, Kerr, El Bakhtaoui (Williams, 58), Haber, Wighton
Subs Not Used: Mitchell, Vincent, Ross, Curran, Gomis
Referee: Bobby Madden
Assistant Referee: Graham Chambers
Assistant Referee: Jordan Stokoe
Attendance: 3622 (523 Saints supporters)
