St Mirren U18s hopes of a Hampden trip in May were extinguished as the young Saints were beaten 2-0 by Dundee at the semi-final stage of the Scottish Youth Cup.
A double from Michael Hunter saw the Dee progress to the final where they will face Kilmarnock at the National Stadium.
The Young Saints made a nervy start and Ashton Leiper passed up a big opportunity for the visitors in the opening 10 minutes when he fired over from close-range at the far post.
The Buddies looked like they had began to settle with Jack Lavery having a big opportunity to put the hosts ahead on 22 minutes. He won the ball deep in the Dundee half and showed good strength to carry the ball into the box from the left-hand side. Space opened up for an effort, but he saw his shot from the angle saved by Warren Lyall in the Dundee goal.
The visitors took the lead with less than 10 minutes of the first-half remaining. Ethan Crombie's delivery into the box found Hunter who got his knee on it to take it beyond Grant Tamosevicius.
Stephen McGinn reacted to the first-half showing by making a double change at half-time as he introduced Lewis Marshall and Theo McCormick in place of Innes Clark and Joshua Farquhar. And it was McCormick who would come close to drawing Saints level 10 minutes after the restart with a strike from the edge of the area that Lyall had to be at full stretch to tip over the bar.
There was a warning sign for the Buddies just before the hour mark when Tamosevicius made a big save to push away a long-range strike from Leo Howett. But just a minute later Dundee would double their advantage when Hunter scored his second with a powerful shot from the edge of the area to secure the Dee's place in the final.
Full-Time: St Mirren U18s 0-2 Dundee U18s
St Mirren: Tamosevicius, Barr, Falconer, Mcevoy, Clark (Marshall 46), Hutchison, Farquhar (McCormick 46), Hunter, Thompson, Carey (c), Lavery
Subs Not Used: Kelly, Gray, Robinson
Dundee: Lyall, Leiper, Scott, C.Perrie, Baird, Oosenburgh, Crombie, Mitchell, L.Perrie (Paterson 90), Howett (Rooney 77), Hunter (Bruce 85)
Subs Not Used: Byrne, Boyd, Bland
Attendance: 1,420
