A spirited Dundee were denied a cup upset by a superb show of goalkeeping by St Mirren’s Trevor Carson.
Despite being the better side over 120 minutes, the Dark Blues still couldn’t find a way past the former Dundee United man in the penalty shootout.
Carson saved all three of the Dundee penalties with Greg Kiltie’s final spot-kick sending the Buddies into the next round and Gary Bowyer’s side out of the Scottish Cup.
That was after an costly first-half for visitors with two key players going off injured.
Tyler French suffered a serious leg injury early on before Cammy Kerr also went off injured.
By the time extra-time arrived there hadn’t been many chances to note – apart from one in each half for Lyall Cameron.
Carson, though, was equal to both efforts from the Dundee youngster.
Dundee had had the better of the 90 minutes but almost went behind two minutes into extra-time.
A dangerous ball into the area caused a scramble with a mixture of dogged goalkeeping from Legzdins and the post denied Alex Gogic.
Carson wasn’t to be out-done at the other end, however, as he pulled off another sprawling save to deny Kwame Thomas a debut goal just shy of minute 100.
In the end, it took penalties to split the sides with Carson once again the hero for the home side.
Key moments
Dundee’s early gameplan was torn up after French suffered his bad injury early on.
There was some danger as Alex Gogic ran at the former Wrexham man 30 yards from goal.
And French took him down, but he did so awkwardly and came off second best.
It took the better part of five minutes for medical staff to get the Dundee man ready for the stretcher with oxygen administered.
Helping out, too, was former Dens physio Gerry Docherty, now at St Mirren.
The moments that decided the tie, however, came from the spot.
Legzdins got his team off to the perfect start as he saved from Eamonn Brophy but the outfielders couldn’t follow his lead.
Zak Rudden, Kwame Thomas and Cameron all saw their penalties saved as the Dark Blues headed out.
Dundee’s star man: Lyall Cameron
He may have started the match as a substitute but Lyall Cameron certainly made an impact after replacing Cammy Kerr in the first half.
Busy and displaying real quality, the playmaker was a thorn in the side of the Premiership defence.
And he really should have got himself on the scoresheet, first seeing Carson pull off a good save in the first half and after the break failing to connect properly with a golden chance on 71 minutes.
Carson again denied him from the spot in the shootout to put a sour note on an otherwise excellent display.
Player ratings
Legzdins 7, Kerr 6 (Cameron 41, 7), Marshall 6, Sweeney 7, Ashcroft 7, McGhee 7 (Robertson 95, 6), French 4 (Anderson 12, 6), Mulligan 6, McCowan 7 (Rudden 90, 6), McMullan 6 (Sheridan 66, 6), Jakubiak 7 (Thomas 66, 6).
Sub not used: Sharp.
Manager under the microscope
Dundee boss Gary Bowyer chucked in a surprise with his set-up as French stepped into midfield rather than into the back three.
Shaun Byrne was missing through injury with Jordan McGhee continuing in midfield.
The big call came up front as Zak Rudden dropped to the bench for Alex Jakubiak’s first start since August, a few days after Bowyer had praised his training levels.
The former St Mirren man led the line in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
French’s day lasted only 12 minutes, however, after requiring lengthy treatment and a stretcher for a serious injury after fouling Gogic.
Then came injury for Kerr and a second substitution before the break. Cameron was the man coming on, seeing Josh Mulligan move to right-back with Cameron in behind Jakubiak.
The second half saw another change of tack for the final 25 minutes. Dundee’s XI was on the short side for much of the game – Cillian Sheridan and new boy Thomas changed that.
Rudden joined them for extra-time, adding more height, but they couldn’t force the all-important opener.
Man in the middle
Colin Steven let challenges go, infuriating both sides but didn’t impact the game too much.
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