Dundee booked their place in the Premier Sports Cup quarter-finals by seeing off League One Falkirk at Dens Park.
The Dark Blues were in control for much of the contest but took until the final stages to finally shake off John McGlynn’s in-form Bairns.
In fact, had they been sharper in the opening half, Falkirk could have shocked their hosts.
But Dundee came strong in the second half with the breakthrough coming on 55 minutes as Lyall Cameron capped a Man of the Match performance with the opening goal.
The deal was done on 80 minutes as Lee Ashcroft celebrated his first start of the season with a trademark header to send his side into the last eight.
Any remaining doubt was extinguished with two minutes to go as Gary Oliver saw red for handball on the line, giving Zach Robinson the chance to make it 3-0 from the spot.
Back to winning ways but what did we learn from the Dark Blues tonight?
Changes
Injuries are biting for Gary Bowyer with four changes from Friday’s 3-1 loss at Ayr United.
Paul McGowan was the only one left out by choice with Jordan Marshall, Zak Rudden and Luke McCowan missing through injury.
Added to that Alex Jakubiak and Cillian Sheridan’s continued absence, Dundee were two players short of a full matchday squad, highlighting Gary Bowyer’s desire to add new faces.
There weren’t any changes to system on the pitch but players were shuffled around as Cammy Kerr and Josh Mulligan took up the left flank.
Tyler French was in at right-back with Ashcroft making his long-awaited return in central defence.
Striker shortage
With Rudden out, Zach Robinson was the last striker standing for Dundee.
The AFC Wimbledon loanee has impressed in substitute appearances up till now.
This was his chance to impress from the start.
Hold-up play was decent, touch good, but the final bit of quality eluded him when it mattered.
Until 55 minutes and he poked the ball through for Lyall Cameron to net the opening goal.
And then he got his reward for the hard work up top, taking responsibility – and the ball from Cameron – to power home the penalty for his second goal for the Dark Blues.
Lyall Cameron
Youngster Cameron had impressed in the earlier round of this competition, scoring twice in the group stage.
He’s had to be patient in the league campaign with sub appearances here and there.
Tonight he got his chance to impress and he certainly did that.
In a fairly nondescript opening period, Cameron was the one who stood out for the Dark Blues.
And he stepped that up in the second half, finishing with real composure.
With his third goal of the campaign, the 19-year-old has already matched his tally in League One last season.
Low on lefties
With both Marshall and McCowan out of action, Dundee’s starting XI was somewhat lop-sided.
And, at times, the pace of their attack suffered when both full-back Kerr and winger Mulligan wanted to turn back onto their favoured right foot.
Niall McGinn would be the obvious selection to mitigate against that, he’s played on the left flank plenty of times in his Dens career.
However, the Northern Ireland international appears to be out of favour, though he did come off the bench for the final 11 minutes.
Could he be one manager Bowyer would let go before Thursday?
On this evidence, the Dark Blues certainly need another option on the left-hand side.
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