Dundee manager Paul Hartley will have enjoyed this William Hill Scottish Cup fourth round tie just a wee bit more than he did Sportscene.
Indeed, this 3-1 win over Falkirk was extremely pleasurable viewing for Hartley, who had a go at the BBC highlights programme earlier this week after pundit Pat Nevin criticised his team’s defending.
Now the Dens boss, definitely not a fan of Nevin and Co himself, can look forward to hearing others tell him about the TV analysis of the Dark Blues’ fifth round tie at Dumbarton a week on Saturday.
Kane Hemmings was the man who stole this particular show, opening the scoring on 39 minutes and then adding a second on the hour after Paul Watson had levelled for the Bairns four minutes before the break.
Not content with scoring himself, Hemmings then laid the ball on a plate for his captain Gary Harkins to finish things off on 74 minutes.
Dundee had started without central defender Darren O’Dea, who wasn’t registered in time for the original fixture. It was the same story for new Spanish striker Arturo.
Kevin Holt was in his usual place after recovering from the cut near the ear he suffered against Aberdeen on Friday night, although he was wearing a protective guard.
There was a welcome return for Julen Etxabeguren, who started on the bench for the Dark Blues. The Spanish defender was back available following the serious eye injury he suffered against Motherwell in December.
When the action got under way on the patched-up Dens pitch, Dundee’s Nicky Low had the Falkirk defence in a spin with an early cross into the goalmouth then Craig Sibbald’s shot was blocked up at the other end.
Aaron Muirhead saw his close-range strike zip wide of the post as the Bairns continued their bright start before Low tried his luck from the edge of the box for the home side on 11 minutes, with keeper Danny Rogers making a comfortable save.
Hemmings raced on to a Greg Stewart through ball for the Dark Blues on 15 minutes but he was, correctly, flagged for offside and Rogers saved his shot anyway.
With the Dens men upping the tempo, a great move three minutes later saw Harkins lift a lovely chipped pass into the path of Nick Ross, who shot over the bar from a tight angle.
Dundee goalie Scott Bain came to the rescue for his team on 24 minutes when he leapt to push a strike from Will Vaulks around the post for a corner. Rogers then punched a Harkins corner away from right under the Falkirk bar.
On 39 minutes, almost out of the blue it was 1-0 to the Premiership side.
There didn’t seem to be too much danger when Hemmings collected the ball at the edge of the box.
He took a touch and then slammed in a shot which took a deflection, struck the underside of the bar then almost burst the net.
However, the hosts could only hang on to their lead for two minutes.
The Bairns’ equaliser was scrappy John Baird’s played the ball past Bain and, as Holt tried to clear the danger, Watson bundled it over the line from close range but it still had the visitors jumping for joy.
In the second half, Falkirk went on the front foot and it took a great challenge from Gadzhalov on Sibbald to stop them in their tracks on 51 minutes.
On the hour, though, the Dark Blues restored their lead with a well-worked goal.
Hemmings was the scorer and he finished well from in front of goal blasting the ball into the roof of the net – after a perfect cross from the right from Paul McGinn.
On 74 minutes, Dundee moved clear in the tie when skipper Harkins was played in by Hemmings before drilling a low shot past Rogers from the edge of the box.
To cap a great night for the home team, Etxabeguren came on as a sub to replace Gadzhalov for the last quarter of an hour or so.
With five minutes to go, Stewart’s shot clipped the post when he looked certain to score then, in stoppage time, Bain saved well from Vaulks.
Attendance: 4,279.
Dundee: Bain, Holt, Konrad, Stewart, Low (Loy 71), Hemmings, Ross, McGowan, McGinn, Gadzhalov (Etxabeguren 76), Harkins. Subs not used: Mitchell, Irvine, Curran, Kerr, Wighton.
Falkirk: Rogers, Leahy, Muirhead, McCracken, Vaulks, Taiwo (McHugh 67), Aston, Baird, Sibbald, Kerr, Watson. Subs not used: Tokarczyk, Smith, Cooper, O’Hara, Gallagher, Maybury.
Referee: Willie Collum.