A Charlie Adam-inspired Dundee booked their first Scottish Cup quarter-final appearance since 2016 with a hard-fought win at Peterhead.
The Dark Blues didn’t have everything their own way, however, as the young League One side impressed for much of the contest.
Indeed the Blue Toon made most of the running in the opening hour but found themselves two goals behind thanks to an Adam penalty and a Niall McGinn finish.
Josh Mulligan would return to his old club to complete the victory, making it 3-0 with two minutes to go.
Penalty
There was no Zak Rudden for Dundee with the striker cup-tied. McGinn took his place up top with Zeno Ibsen Rossi made his debut in the centre of a back three.
And he had some defended to do early on as the League One side started brightly.
Not much was happening in either goalmouth, though, until a burst from Paul McMullan earned Dundee a penalty kick on 32 minutes.
The Dark Blues won the ball in the Peterhead half and McGinn set the speedy McMullan in on goal with the winger touching the ball past Brett Long before the goalie piled into him.
Skipper Adam stepped up to give his side a lead they had scarcely deserved.
Minutes later and the Blue Toon were millimetres from levelling the score as Hamish Ritchie turned the ball onto the post.
Luckily for the visitors, the ball dribbled across goal and out for a goal kick.
And luck was on their side once more as the game drifted towards half-time.
A slip from Lawlor after receiving a McGhee backpass had the goalkeeper scrambling and he took out Peterhead’s Ryan Duncan.
Despite the howls from the home support, referee David Munro wasn’t minded to even up the penalty count and waved it away.
Clinical Dundee
Peterhead remained on top and Grant Savoury brought a flying stop from Lawlor from a free-kick.
The class of Charlie Adam counted, though, as Dundee extended their lead on 53 minutes.
The Dark Blues skipper had space to lift his head and picked out a beauty of a ball over the top for McGinn as the forward scored his first goal for the club.
At this point, Dundee had only managed two shots on goal but they’d been clinical.
The damage had been done as the Dark Blues comfortably saw out the cup-tie and even managed a third late on.
Substitute Mulligan, having not long finished a loan spell at Balmoor, curled a fine finish into the corner with two minutes remaining to send his side into the last eight.
Teams:
Peterhead: Long, Duffy, Conroy (McLean 67), McDonald, Brown, McCarthy, Ritchie (Brown 82), Brown, Payne (Lyle 75), Savoury, Duncan (Cook 82).
Subs not used: Cullen.
Dundee: Lawlor, McGhee, Sweeney, Rossi, Kerr, Byrne (Mulligan 57), Adam (McGowan 75), Anderson, McMullan (McCowan 57), McGinn, Mullen (Elliott 86).
Subs not used: Sharp, Fontaine, McDaid, Chapman, Robertson.
Referee: David Munro
Attendance: 1,598
